Hi from sheffield, England.

First of all a big thanks to the forum contributors without which i'd be in a world of pain.

I've been wet shaving with the more expensive disposables pretty much all my adult life, some thirty years or so, due to the escalating costs of these i'd been pondering on a change to DE's, then...out of the blue it hit me!, negate all the costs and use a straight razor!.
So after some interweb browsing i came upon this gem of a site and soon realised it aint as simple as i first thought....no matter, it was already decided.
After reading quite a lot i got some pointers on were to start, ordered a dovo best quality razor and strop from the invisible edge and read the forums some more while i waited for it to arrive.

Once it arrived i couldn't wait to shred my face, slapped my usual shaving gel on and went to work...or so i thought, you guys make it look so easy on the Youtube videos, i was doing a razor dance trying to get comfortable with it, eventually managed to do the right cheek and was all fingers and thumbs doing the left side, that was it...done, finished off with my usual razor and brutally humbled.
Second attempt i faired a little better, both sides fairly comfortably and some of the neck, got a little cocky and went for the top lip, which ended with a decent size nick and me putting the razor away,
but it was an improvement!.

I'n the mean time i ordered some proper shaving cream and a brush, which i used today and it made a massive different, i did all my face WTG apart from the chin, couldn't get to grips with that plus i was feeling some razor burn, so i called it and went to wash off the razor in the sink when tragedy struck....
Yes... you guessed it, the razor collided with the bottom of the basin.

It now seems to have a tiny flat spot right on the very tip of the toe, i'll see how it shaves but it looks like i might have to send it off, which is a crying shame but lesson learned.

Anyway...thats my introduction out of the way.


Paul.

Hi Paul,

First, Welcome to SRP!

Sounds like a pretty typical start to straight shaving. Watch your angle and pressure, and stretch your skin, and you'll make progress. Angle--keep the spine one or two spine-widths above your skin. Pressure--no more than it takes to scrape off the lather. If your razor is properly sharp, the whiskers will follow. If you aim to remove whiskers you'll probably use too much pressure and end up with razor burn. Stretch--this is critical. I start by stretching from my upper chest, shaving my collarline downwards toward my stretch points. Once I've got about 2 inches up from the collarline, I move my stretch points upwards and shave toward them again, and so on...

You'll want to map out your growth grains as you work out this straight-razor stuff; it's a bigger factor than with disposables. I don't know about DEs and how sensitive they are to grain. With straights, though, the easiest and gentlest passes are with the grain. They may not give the very closest shave, but they're least likely to cause burn or nicks.

I've got my face mapped out so I always work ahead of my next stretch points, so I never have to try to stretch a zone by gripping soapy skin.

It took me three or four months to completely shift from disposable to straight. I used the straight on the easiest parts and finished up with the disposable, and just extended the straight's range as I got more comfortable with it. You don't have to go all-in right from the start. It's supposed to be fun, not painful.

Speaking of pain, I'm so sorry to hear you dinged your blade. I gave a wedge a hard whack on the tap once, just after I had finally honed it to a useful point. If yours is really just at the tip of the toe, you may be able to shave with it still. But if there's any question, yes, send it out. Stick your pin in our user map, and see if there's anyone nearby; there's probably someone who'll help. You'd think that in Sheffield some restless ghost would just apparate and take care of it for you!

Best wishes to you.

Welcome to SRP Paul. Glad to have you aboard.

+1 on roughkype's advice. Blade angle and pressure are among the keys to a great straight razor shave.

As for dinging your blade...Depending on the seriousness of the damage, it may be possible to hone that ding out of your blade.

In the future, try wiping your blade on a flat bath sponge that you can get at any drug store. Some SRP members use that to wipe lather off of their blade to avoid hitting the blade on the faucet.

Take care--and continued smooth shaving.

Welcome to SRP!
seems like you got some good advice so far, the tap and the basin can both be cruel to an edge. before sending it out though you might want to consider a hundred or so laps on the canvas/ linen of your strop followed by 60 on the leather. if the damage is not to bad this could help getting the toe back in shape... or can do more if it is helping, without having the blade in hand or good pictures of the damage it is hard to tell how much and what type of work it needs.

enjoy,
jim

Welcome, Paul. Let me see....You are in Sheffield and bought a Dovo? Tsk, Tsk! Don't worry. You will get the feel for it. The proper tools needn't be expensive, nor complicated. Prep and technique is key!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sharptonn

Welcome, Paul. Let me see....You are in Sheffield and bought a Dovo? Tsk, Tsk! Don't worry. You will get the feel for it. The proper tools needn't be expensive, nor complicated. Prep and technique is key!

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Ha!, i know.. i know, i'll get a sheffield blade at some point in time:D, no rush.

Great advice guys, much appreciated, i'll be using a cloth from now on to wipe the lather off , as for the dink, i think i got lucky, it's on the rounded part of the toe just as the blade part ends...if you know what i mean. i stropped the living bejesus out of it so i reckon i'm back in business.

Thanks again!.

Paul.

Welcome

Hi I only just joined but I'm originally from just outside Rotherham. Went to Sheff the other week, like I had never been it's changed so much round the old
peace gardens.

Dave

Welcome to SRP!
I am bran knew to the world of straight shaving, sooooo I don't have any advice for you, but then again, there are a lot of knowledgeable people here to answer any of your questions! :D Good luck with this endeavor!