Thread: First time with a straight

I received a straight razor for Christmas. Five days later, call me scar face. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Many thanks.

Welcome to SRP,

Sorry to hear about your difficulties. First, tell us what razor your using and was it honed by someone from SRP or is it "factory honed". Next, did you use a plain leather hanging strop just before each shave, for 30-50 roundtrip laps? What was your beard prep?

Btw, where do you live? maybe we can find someone local to help.

Many thanks for your email reply. I am using a new Dovo Solingen. I used the strop a week ago when I first received the razor as a gift. My friend who gave it to me uses a straight razor himself and said that the blade needed to be stropped only every few weeks. I may have some miss information here. I am using some shave cream from a store called The Art Of Shaving. I begin with pre shave oil and finish with after shave cream balm. I have read various Internet articles on straight razor shaving and am a little confused about the grain of the beard. I only shave down from my sideburn to my jaw. Am I supposed to relater and make a second pass in the opposite direction? And I am afraid that I currently have so many bruises and nicks on my chin that I have gone back to my regular razor for now on that area of my face.
I live in Knoxville, Tennessee. Many thanks in advance for any assistance you might be able to provide. Jay

Jay, the razor needs to be stropped before each save. Now your razor may not be shave ready at all, unless bought from a vendor that makes sure that they're honed before use, usually most straights needs some work coming from the factory. Do you know where it was purchased?

There's extensive information in the "Beginner's Wiki", on this site:

Straight Razor Place Wiki:Books/Beginners Guide - Straight Razor Place Wiki

That's a pretty reliable "single-source" guide to what works, and what doesn't work. If somebody told you the blade needed to be stropped every few weeks, either:

a) you misunderstood what he said, or

b) he's living on a different planet from most of us, or

c) he has a razor we would _kill_ to own.

A dull razor isn't the _only_ thing that can make your shaves hell. But if the razor is dull:

. . . You'll have to use pressure on it to cut hair;

. . . . . because of the pressure, it's more likely to cut you, and give you razor burn.

If the razor is sharp, and you press on it too hard (or use the wrong angle against the skin), that can also cause cuts and burn.

If the razor is sharp, but your beard prep is really bad, you'll have to press harder - same result, cuts and razor burn.

It's often a lot easier to figure out what's happening "in person", than over the Internet.

. Charles

PS -- straight razor shaving isn't a "black art". But we haven't been taught the rules by our fathers, and we have to resort to books and the Net.

Hello again,

I did a quick search of the SRP members database and here is a link to a list of guys with a location of Knoxville

http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...rt=posts&pp=30

You might try sending a few of them a PM and see if they can provide some 1 0n 1 help with stropping and shaving technique.

Your razor, Dovo, is a very good razor so you have no quality issues there. I do seriously doubt that your razors edge is up to snuff. It most likely has a factory edge.
Go to the SRP Classified Ads/Member Services and look for guys who are offering honing services to get your razors edge in shape.

Let your face heal, learn to strop, get your razor honed, then start over, in that order.

Hope this helps,

Many thanks Charles. I wil strop my new razor Please let me know about cutting with/against the grain.
My best
Jay

To get a good shave against the grain:

. . . . . your razor must be _really_ sharp, and
. . . . . your technique must be pretty good -- you must control the razor angle very closely -- and
. . . . . your face prep must be pretty good -- unsoftened beard hair, or weak lather, will make things difficult.

I'd suggest that you forget about shaving ATG until you can handle shaving WTG smoothly -- no skipping, no balking, no cuts, no razor burn.

Lots of people don't shave ATG -- just WTG and XTG (across the grain). That should leave very little (or no) visible beard. I can feel hair when I don't shave ATG (which I often do with a safety razor), but I don't think anybody else can see it.

. Charles

Many thanks, Charles. I stropped my razor this morning for the first time. 20 strokes in each direction. I think that it helped. I avoided areas of my face with previous nicks. Shaved only against the grain. At least I think that I did. I am not sure how you can tell. The end result was a smother shave and no cuts!
I appreciate your assistance. Jay

There's an article in the Wiki that might be helpful:

Shaving passes - Straight Razor Place Wiki

When you run your fingers over a section of beard, the direction that feels "smoothest" is WTG. The direction that feels the most stubbly is ATG.

I suggest shaving _only_ WTG until you can do that with no cuts, and no razor burn.

Charles

PS -- Ignore "part 2" of that article -- it covers "advanced techniques" that can get you into trouble.

PPS -- I suggest more stropping -- maybe 40 laps (up and down) between shaves.