My First SE Shave

Well, this morning was the day. I finally had all my parts assembled. I got a shave ready razor from Bob Keyes, aka Altima55 (Thanks Bob!); a Tony Miller Strop; a whole fistful of Geo. F. Trumper samples; my old C&E Badger Shaving Brush that I've used for years with my Trac II; I've reviewed Lynn's DVD until I'm nearly blind; I've got a nice hot shower and I'm alone in the house. Perfect.

I shower until I'm pretty much a prune and then whip up a nice thick lather with the GFT Extract of Lime Shaving Cream and lather up. The razor is an Orlando, made in Germany, in near new condition. It has a full 5/8 plus, mirror finish, spike point blade and really nice butterscotch colored celluloid scales. I didn't strop the blade following Bob's recommendation and because I didn't want to screw it up with poor stropping technique.

The short version is that I managed to shave up, down and across without drawing blood. I consider this a major achievement. The bad news is that I feel like I shaved with a rasp. I'm sure it was technique but man is my face tender. I can shave three ways with the Trac II and get a really smooth shave with very little razor burn but this was a whole new dimension in razor burn to me. I'm sure the prep on my face was ok. Lots of heat and water and lots of lather, frequently reapplied. I'm pretty sure the problem is operator headspace so I'll keep trying until I get the smooth gliding sensation that I'm looking for.

Any suggestions appreciated. More later, after my face heals enough to shave again.

Mike Layne

Good job, Mike. :y

1. A straight razor is a natuarally more aggressive on your skin than a disposable and you can expect to feel a little raw after shaving for about the first two weeks. try to give your face a rest and shave only every other day till you adjust.

2. You could also be using the pressure of the Trak II shave which is unnecessary and will amplify any bad sensations try letting up on the pressure.

3. The shaving angle may also be contributing to a razed sensation. try to keep it below 30º.

4. Finally having an unstropped blade at your whiskers isn't an ideal situation. Even if Bob stropped it before he put it in the mail, it only takes about 24 hours for the effects of the stropping to be lost as the steel reforms to its memory of having come off the hone. Time for you to strop that little darlin'. Go slow and easy with very light pressure and try to feel every nuance of sensation throughout each stroke. 30-60 laps up and back and be careful not to lift the spine or drag the blade off the edge of the strop.

It's all down hill from here.

X

Congrats :D I just did my second full shave, and first with my own honed and stroped DD Dwarf, more to come :D

Did you shave up down across in that order?
If so that is likely to be a problem too. Most peoples hair grain grows downwards, making an up pass against the grain. I'm sure this would be a cause of bad burn if it was the first pass.
I found when starting that it is important to build up to a full shave. Don't try to manage three passes straight away. Study your grain very carefully, it probably isn't just a case of up down and across, hair grows more specifically than that.
I started by first being 100% confident doing 2 with the grain passes. The I knew my razor was steady in my hand. Then you can work on across the grain. I am still working on a comfortable against the grain in my shave 6 months after starting, so don't worry if it takes time.

Nick

I shaved down first, then up, then across. My beard grows down on the cheeks and across on the neck and bottom of the chin. I was pretty careful about the angle but I may have used too much pressure. I tried to hold 2/3s of a 45 degree angle and sometimes dropped below that angle. I think a combination of not stropping and too much pressure was the most likely culprit.

I didn't shave Saturday and I think I'll hold off on shaving Sunday until late in the afternoon. We're in Palm Desert this week and I'll be playing golf in the morning so a nice hot shower and then the full on hot towel extravaganza should be ideal. I may go nutz and use some conditioner.

I picked up the Crabtree & Evelyn weekender kit with some very nice Nomad shave cream and balm etc and I have a Caswell & Massey Mach III head razor, a badger brush and Sandelwood soap down here that was a Christmas gift several years ago so I should be ok for supplies. I brought down a shave ready Dovo that I got from Rene in Nederlands (Thanks Rene) and a TM strop (Thanks Tony) so I'll carefully strop that puppy 50-60 times and have at it again. I managed to hang the strop in front of the crapper so I'll have something to occupy my hands.....

I'm gonna try one pass with the grain this time with a lighter touch and see how it goes.

I ended my day sitting on the Patio with a friend smoking a Montecristo and watching the moon over the Santa Rosa mountains. Looks like a great weekend and I hope yours is equally nice. More tomorrow night.

Regards, Mike Layne

Sounds like you have a beard similar to mine. I have a great deal of trouble getting a WTG pass on my neck and have to play contortionist to do it, I have however figured that I can get by with a kind of diagonal stroke to nearly get a WTG.
I would certainly save the up stroke or against the grain as a last pass. It is the most aggressive and most likely to cause irritation.
It certainly is a good idea to try WTG for a few days just to get comfortable. You will know whether it is appropriate to try a different direction by how comfortable the first pass is.

Your story sounds a little like mine--except I managed to cut myself.
As I look back on that early experience, I'm convinced I used too much pressure (you can really push with a Track II with no adverse effect), and the angle was too great. I also didn't stretch the skin enough.
So, I'd suggest:
-use zero pressure on tightened skin.
-go only wtg until you are comfortable with the entire shave. (Use the Track II for the 2nd pass for now)
-use less than 30 degrees in the difficult areas for now.
-if it goes great, try a second pass also wtg--more practice--and the final result will be smoother.
-move slowly, too!
R.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ron A

(Use the Track II for the 2nd pass for now)

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F:cen the Trak II. You'll look clean enough and it'll only reinforce bad shaving habbits. MHO.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nickyspaghetti

... I can get by with a kind of diagonal stroke to nearly get a WTG.

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I play that game a lot too. Keeps me from trying to reinvent the wheel to get a textbook shave and cuts down on my time spent in the shave. Without a chance for the lather to cool or dry up the time I do spend is subsequently very pleasurable and the results super smooth since I don't scrimp on the final ATG details.

X

I started out by stropping the Dovo Berg Graf with 50 passes, blade weight only, before starting the shave. I did the hot towel, lathered with C&E Nomad shave cream, hot towel, lathered up again then shaved routine. Felt great. This one went well on the cheeks. Nice and smooth with the first pass. I used little to no pressure and it worked well. I got as good a shave on the cheeks as I've ever gotten with a Trac II or Mach III.

The bottom of the chin and the neck were a different story. I re-lathered frequently to keep things nice and wet but I couldn't get anywhere near the closeness I got on the cheeks. I know I was cutting some beard because I could see the whiskers wiped off the blade onto the towel but there were lots left behind.

I got a couple of small nicks, one on the cheek below the sideburns where I took of some kind of small bump and one on the neck where I got caught in a deep crease. Both stopped with cold water. I finished off with C&E after shave balm. Also nice.

I'm gonna keep at it with the strop and keep working on getting more of the beard off. I'm sure this is an operator headspace problem that I'll get solved with experience. I'll limit it to every other day to allow more beard to grow and to let my face recover.

More to follow....Mike

:tu Nice job Mike. Being a noobie myself, I was hesitant to strop too much before the first few shaves - didn't want to screw up the fresh honed edge. I got over it though and after a good stropping, my shave was definitely my best straight razor experience to date - and my first with no touch ups with the trusty Gem 1912 SE! Keep going, sounds like you're figuring it out.

Two suggestions:

Let the tool do the work.
Practice every day.

'nuff said.
:tu

You might be using a blade angle that is too shallow underneath
your chin, it seems like a natural tendency. Take it slow, and pay
close attention to keeping the blade close to that 30º angle!

- Scott