Better feedback (and better shave) from full hollow?
I've been shaving with a straight for about six weeks. Until last week, I'd been shaving exclusively with a 11/16" Super Kama full hollow grind that seems quite light. I'd really been getting superb shaves everywhere except around my mouth and below my chin, where I had some problems cutting cleanly through the tough whiskers. The razor also made a lot of noise, during my shave, which I attributed to the grind. Hoping to to get a quieter razor that would cut better through the tough whiskers, I got a half-hollow (I think) 5/8" Henckels 55 and sent it to Lynn to be honed.
Last week, I got that back from Lynn and looked forward to my first shave Saturday morning. On the first cheek, I immediately noticed that it was quieter and very smooth shaving. When I got to my tough whiskers it pulled a little, but seemed to be cutting well. But when I rinsed my face in preparation for lathering up for a second pass, I was surprised to feel lots of stubble everywhere. I proceeded with a second (XTG) pass, which was also quite smooth and quiet. Until this shave, two passes have been consistently leaving me well-shaven, but I still had patches of stubble, particularly near my ears and near the back of my jawline. I've now shaved with the razor four times and my results are improving, but I still have stubbly patches.
So what's the problem? The razor is unambiguously sharp and feels very smooth during the shave, so it seems like it should be cutting hairs well and shaving close. But it's not . . . at least in some areas. Since the areas it's not shaving well are difficult to see in the mirror, my current thinking is that the lack of feedback from the half-hollow means that I'm not hitting the angles quite right. Does anyone else have similar experience? Does anyone have alternative theories?
still needed paddle strop
I also received my Lynn honed blade, but the blade still needed to be paddle stroped on the 1.0 them 0.5 micron to give that real close shave I was looking for.
Good Luck.