Thread: Introduction...

Hi - first post here and been spending the past week just looking thru the forum. I have tried the Dovo Shavette a year ago but made myself so raw that I swore I would never again try such a lethal instrument on my face. Well that was a year ago and I must be stupid...

I have been using a Merkur DE razor for a few years now and I have decided to send a straight I had from my grandfather to Larry at Whipped Dog for honing.

Anyway, I still cut myself every day with the safety razor so I've alot to still learn. Heck, I would cut myself with a Mach 3 every time as well which is why I used electric for 15 years before trying the DE which I really love using. My face just must be crazy sensitive.

So here begins my journey...

Welcome and have fun

Welcome! I'm new too - but not so sensitive - at least around the chops

Welcome to SRP. Sorry to hear about shave cuts. What blade are you using on the DE? How many shaves do you get out of one blade before replacing it?

I've used Merkur and Gillette DEs for several years before switching to SRs. I learned that DE blades work differently on people. For example, some guys can get a great shave from a Feather blade, but others may get cut up by it. I've had good shaves with Wilkinson Sword and Derby Extra blades.

I can't use Feather blades. They rip me to shreds. I am better with Merkur blades but even those get me for the first 4-5 shaves. Then I get about 10 shaves before they start to pull. I have tried hardly any pressure and I have tried different angles. Honestly I think I must be doing something wrong for the past years. I cut myself with cartridges too btw. I tried preshave oils, different creams and consistencies, shaving directions, etc. I have spent hours watching the mantic59 videos. I think all I can do I can do left is post a video of myself. My first step was joining a community like this right? . Just prepare for bloody violence...

Hi, welcome. I used to cut myself at times with a plastic thingy, and a couple with a straight and once with a DE. The DE affair, many moons ago, was an attempt to use the Australian army issue DE, and I pressed. Hard. I never used a DE until this past year, several months after taking up using a straight mostly every day.

In almost all instances I cut myself because of too much pressure, wrong angle or going sideways. What about an adjustable DE? I've never used one, but it might be a good solution. Yeah, post a video, it might help.

Carl

FWIW --

If you want to continue with DE shaving, two suggestions:

a) Accept this as gospel truth:

In almost all instances I cut myself because of too much pressure, wrong angle or going sideways.

"Too much pressure" means anything over the weight of the razor head. Try holding the razor by the tip of the handle, so you can't apply pressure to the blade.

b) The aluminum Weishi razor is really mild -- there's very little blade exposure. So you're less likely to get cuts, and the cuts are usually shallow. They're about $12 - $15 _including postage_ from sellers on eBay. With a sharp blade (Feather or Astra) they give a pretty good shave.

Or try an adjustable DE . . .

. . . Charles

Thanks. Actually I do use an adjustable Merkur Futur but I set it to the middle setting of 3 and I leave it. I know I can sacrifice closeness for no nicks but isn't the point of all this to get that BBS?

Honestly, I just read about so many without issues and this is what frustrates me. I can't accept that other folks are having the issues I do or else nobody would be using a DE. I guess I will keep debugging and get around to taking that video. I had 5 nicks this morning - a very typical morning. I should buy stock in whatever company makes styptic pencils.

There are lots of people (me!) who are satisfied with less than a BBS, most of the time.

I recently read a piece about shaving with a Futur, which suggested doing the first pass (with the grain) at 3,
. . the second pass (XTG) at 2,
. . the third pass (ATG) at 0.

I figure that shaving is supposed to be comfortable. If a setting of "3" nicks, and a setting of "1" doesn't nick and leaves a bit of stubble, I'd use the "1", and do multiple passes. That worked pretty well with a Weishi (a very mild shaver) and a Feather blade.

Charles

Hmmm. I never considered changing the setting for each pass. I'm going to try that.