Thread: first DE shave

Hello all:
Well a while back my father in law was telling me he was having some issues with his straight razors. I have sharpen them for him when he needs it, but I think he is having the most trouble with his stropping, anyway I asked him if he would like to try a DE for a while. He said he has a nice old one somewhere but can't find any blades. Well it just so happened that I purchased a nice fat boy with some feather blades a year and a half ago the same time I picked up a straight razor. Well I liked the stragtht so much I did not try the DE. One pack of feather to my father in law the other 9 for me.

Well yesterday I gave her a go. I loaded up the gillette fat boy with a feather and let her rip. Well I must say it was very nice. I still think I can get a better shave with my straight, but I still have some learning ahead of me, so one can not be sure of that. I had one weeper, and a feather might not of been the best choice for my first blade. I set the fat boy on 4 and it was smooth, not as much blade noise as a full hollow straight though. I only use my right hand, will have to give it a go with trying both hand. I think I will put this into my rotation.

I did like the experence though, my technique with face stretching and lathering came in very handy. I have 90 feather blades most people say they get 4 shave from a blade. If I use my DE once a week, I should be good for 90 months.

Crom

I just ordered my first DE and blades. I'm looking forward to it. I hear it's the next best thing to a str8 razor.

Fatboy + Feather is a good combination in my estimation, the sharp blade and the weight of the razor make things effortless. If you feel confident I really recommend that you try cranking the setting right up (yes, to 9) and see how that suits you.

Originally Posted by Arrowhead

Fatboy + Feather is a good combination in my estimation, the sharp blade and the weight of the razor make things effortless. If you feel confident I really recommend that you try cranking the setting right up (yes, to 9) and see how that suits you.

ok second shave. You bet straight up to 9. I tried using 2 hand like I do with a straight.

WTG no problem was nice good result.
ATG with the left hand. That was asking a little too much for the second shave a hand full of weeper, but stopped with cold water, may of been some hand issues
XTG someone turned on the stove!!, had to back on down to 6 and use just my right hand.
Was a good shave all in all, not just ready to grab the cat by the tail. Will get there I am sure.


Crom

Good on you cromagnum, some people seem to think that they'll be in danger of cutting their heads off. My Fatboy stays on 9, which makes it maybe slightly more aggressive than an Aristocrat Junior - not such a big deal really.

What I should have mentioned here is what I generally say about Feather blades, that they have a track record of causing irritation if you use them all the time - sorry about that. It's certainly the case for me, but then again I generally stick with a straight which never gives me any trouble, and save the DE for the occasional novelty shave. If you're going to be using the DE on a daily basis it may be a good plan to lay in some milder blades so that you can chop and change: 7 o'clock yellows (Obie's blade of choice) or Super Iridiums (mine) are both sharp but smooth blades.

I usually keep my fatboy at 4. For me it can quickly get too aggressive as you crank up the adjustments. Actually my EJ Chatsworth out shaves the fatboy no matter the setting so that's what I use these days. I like the feather blades but they can be hard to get at times. Now I'm using Wilkinson which are pretty good but I still prefer the Feathers. My son uses the Iridiums and thinks they are pretty good. He uses them in his fatboy.

Hi Crom,

Ok.....here's the deal about the fatboy/Feather combo. It's an ok set up for a new DE user, but you're right about the blade choice maybe not being the best. The idea is to start with a milder blade and see what ends up suiting you best. It may well be that a Feather might be a good blade for you, but right now you need some sorta reference point. You need to try a middle of the road blade first and take it from there. Some people prefer milder blades than others.....it's that simple. No sense in using a sharper blade than needed, since the chance to mess up is easier with a sharper blade.

The reason for having an adjustable razor is to be able to tailor the tool to your comfort level. The fatboy will shave from very mild to extremely aggressive, with most users settling at somewhere between 3-6 as the magic setting number. The concept is to use the most aggressive setting without overdoing it. To me, a comfortable shave is as important as a close shave. I want no feeling of the blade maybe taking a little too much off my face, even if the shave is gonna be closer than usual.

Almost no one shaves with a fatboy wide open......not with any blade. It can work for some people, but not the vast majority. If using a fatboy set on #9/Feather combo was the best set up, you can believe almost everyone would be using that. That's not how this DE thing works. Set the razor on #3-4 and leave it there for 10 shaves or so. By then you'll have a reference as to how effective that was, and maybe take it up or down from there. I won't talk about matching up blades with razors, but that's also a large part of successful DE shaving.

Good news is it won't take long to catch on, compared to a new wet shaver. Personally, the fatboy is one of my very favorite razors. It shaves differently than almost all other Gillette adjustables I've tried. The rounded head may work well for you. Oh, if you like, use the pm feature and let me know about sending out some blades to try.

Hope that helps,

Martin

Originally Posted by De Layne

Hi Crom,


Hope that helps,

Martin

Very helpful post. Thank you very much for that long and very informative post. I think you are correct in trying different blades, I will give it a shot and crank down the setting to 5, I had it on 4 and it was a good shave but I had trouble feeling the blade and not sure if that what I want in a shave. I will keep all you up to date.


Thanks

Crom

+1 on Martin's advice. If you are a new DE useer you may want to try some of the milder blades first and work your way up to Feather. Not that Feathers aren't great DE razor blades. They are the sharpest blades around, imho.

OK I tried a different razor today with the same feather blades, don't have anything else yet. I believe this is a gillette aristocrate, see attached image. The shave was very nice, did not feel the blade after the first WTG cut, took off most of the wiskers with that first pass. Zero irritation, one small spot on the left jaw angle after three pass, deceided to leave it along so there would be no irritation. I believe I will leave Monday as my DE day, for a while to get my skill up. I am on a quest to be a well rounded wet shaver........


Crom