Re-starting in Omaha

Hello,
I am just getting starting straight razor shaving. I took it up briefly maybe 20 years ago, but I think I got frustrated and put the razor away - unfortunately didn't think to dry it and it rusted so my wife pitched it.

Anyway, I gave myself a Dovo Bismarck for Christmas and Walkin' Horse strop, so have finished my first week of straight razor shaving. I only cut myself a couple times the first shave, and seems like I am cutting myself more now than a week ago. Maybe I'm getting overconfident!

I have read on this site that too much pressure may be the culprit so will try to watch this.

The other thing I'm struggling with is trying to figure out when to switch hands, when to use which hand, etc. I don't mind using my left (non-dominant) hand, but in watching a number of videos, some folks use their left hand for everything on the left side of their face, but others use their left hand on the left cheek but use the right hand for the neck, for example - so I guess everyone adopts their own technique.

Along those lines, I am also trying to figure out how to visualize the area I'm shaving better - esp on the neck. Seems like I am always craning my neck to try to see where I'm at.

Anyway, a mostly fun journey so far! I like the self-reliant aspects of straight-razor shaving -- i.e. buying the equipment you need to "do it yourself." I would like to get a hone but figure it's best to just concentrate on shaving technique for now.

I am glad to be part of this forum. Looks like a wealth of info and experience here.

Hi Steve and welcome!

A couple of suggestions based on what you've written:

• Let your beard grow for a couple of days and then run your hand across your face and neck paying close attention to which direction you feel like you're going against the grain in different areas. Note that the direction will change in different parts of your face/neck/chin.
• Do your first pass with the grain. This will necessitate changing hands and directions numerous times through the shave.
• Organize your shave so you're "cleaning" the lather off your face via WTG strokes that allow you to get a good grip on your skin to stretch it. To try and make this clearer, on my face a WTG shave is going down away from my sideburns but a WTG on my neck is going up toward my chin. Because of this, my first strokes are on my sideburns down toward my chin (WTG). This gives me a nice lather-free area to grip to stretch the skin over my jawbone. I pull that taut and continue to shave downward until I reach the end of my jawbone. When I release the skin I've shaved about an inch below my jawbone on my neck. I then move to my neck shaving upward and stretching the skin by pulling down near my collar bone.

Hope this is clear. One thing I've found so far is that it's really important that the skin be stretched flat when shaving. You'll get a lot smoother shave with less irritation that way.

Welcome again!

Thanks, Greg! Great tips - will definitely give them a try.
Steve

Yes your right about the pressure, keep it light. Also keep your blade just slightly raised off your face, I think most say 30 degrees. I agree with Greg use with the grain (WTG) until your comfortable to move onto ATG and XTG. Also use short strokes and stretch the skin, keep your face lathered and wet. I know what helped me a lot were video's (sounds like you're all ready doing this). As far as which hand to use, I use my left hand for the Left side and right for the right, although certain area's I do tend to stick with my dominate hand, like the neck. Sounds like a good idea to focus, like you said on the shaving aspect before you get the hones. I've been at this since 2010, and honing for me has been a hit and miss especially trying to set a new bevel.

Three rules I follow:
1. Keep your face wet & Lathered up (don't let it dry out)
2. No pressure
3. watch your angle
If you cut yourself refer to these steps, I've found it's usually one of them that your not doing right

Welcome to SRP Steve!

Hi Chris,
Thanks for the encouragement and tips! I appreciate the support and info.
Steve