Feather AC SS trouble

I just picked up a feather ac SS razor. I have two types of blades the Kai mild and the feather pro guards. I shave after shower, and use a good preshave oil. My lather is nice and slick.
With that said I'm having trouble shaving with it. I'm doing short strokes. I have heard both to lay razor almost flat and at a 30 degree angle I've tried both. With the grain went fair. Wasn't too impressed. Against the grain was just tugging the hairs out.
I've got corse hair. I had trouble finding a DE blade I could get more than one or two shaves with. Now I use feathers and get there to five shaves.
I'm a lil bit disappointed. I thought these were supposed to be very sharp blades. I'm gonna stick with it awhile though. This is pretty much my first straight experience. Should I try the professional super blades instead? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Get yourself some Feather Pro blades, and you will so understand the meaning of sharpness.

Try the Pro Super blades. I really don't like the pro guards for the same reasons you stated.

I have good luck with the Pro Guards, getting really close shaves, and the blades seem to last forever. I think that 30 degrees is more angle than I would use with a Feather blade. It could be rough on both the blade and your face and explain the limited shaves you are getting from them.

I use the system when I travel - and also have a dense/coarse beard.
The balance of skin tension (high) and blade pressure (low) is critical with the Feather - more so than with a conventional straight.

The tugging sounds like not enough skin tension if your Feather experience is anything like mine.

The Feather Super are longer (wider) and more aggressive.

How long have you been shaving with a straight?

Smooth Shaving!

I have all four varieties of the Feather blades.
Pro-guard, light, professional and super-pro.

From mye experience they are all equally sharp.
The difference is in blade-protrution.
I.e. how far out of the razor the edge is.

So, I'd say this comes down to a new user not quite mastering all the required skills.
Focus on prep, lather, stretching, mapping of face and finally pressure and angle.

You will simply put not find a sharper shaving instrument than the Feather system.
The good thing is that you know that for a fact with a fresh blade.
After that it is all about technique.

As said above, keep the angles low and stretch properly, that should help you further along.

Good luck.

Gentlemen,
I agree with Birnando. In this case, shaving technique is more at fault than is the blade. I, too, have tried the variety of Feather blades and found all to be sharp — and I do have "tree trunks for a beard," as Lynn says. I do prefer the the Pro Super blades.

I had the same experience when I started with the Feather AC SS but with careful skin stretching, zero pressure and experimenting with angles it works brilliantly.
Stick with it and don't worry about which Feather blade you use. I've tried all types and in my opinion they are equally sharp. The pro super blades protrude from the holder more which makes them a bit more aggressive. I found the pro guard blades useful for confidence but slightly prefer the shave from the pro blades. The pros are also a bit cheaper.

I have found using the Kai Captain and all the Feather razors that a pre shave gives much better results. No irritation, smoother shaves and the blades last longer. The Feather blades are so sharp they can cause irritation if the technique isn't right. Also check your soap or cream. You want something that has more slickness.

I found the Professional Super blades to have the best all around features for *me*. The Pro blades are sharper, but the edge is more fragile and does not last as long, and I found it too damn sharp.

Shaving directly after showering should give you the best prep possible, though I'm not convinced about shave oils... I prefer to stick with soap or shaving cream and plenty of warm water to soften the beard. Hop in the shower, wash face with whatever soap you normally use in the shower, rinse and then put a little bit of soap or hair conditioner on your beard and let it sit while completing the rest of the shower. Rinse off just before stepping out to dry everything but your face and then hop on over to the sink and lather back up.

I wouldn't fret too much about the exact angle, you want to keep the angle as shallow as required to get smooth and close shave... The larger the angle, the closer the blade will shave, but with more irritation as it's scraping more than cutting. If the angle is too shallow, you'll likely have a hard time getting close shave. The 30 degree thing is a ballpark figure to get your close, but you'll need to adjust as you shave to get the best results.

Feather makes some really nice blades, but personally, I never got a good shave out of the guarded ones. They were sharp enough (If I recall correctly, they are actually the Pro blades with the guard wires}, but that guard prevented a close shave for me. I have zero experience with the Kai blades.

To recap, a bit of soap to clean the natural oils off your stubble and plenty of warm water to penetrate and soften the hair shafts. When you get out of the shower, a quick towel down, toss on the bathrobe and get more warm water on that beard and lather up. After the shave is over you can break out the hair dryer or do whatever else you need to do. As soon as you step out of the shower, your beard is starting to dry out and toughen up again, so you need to minimize the time between shower and shave.

Regards

Christian

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by celticcrusader

Get yourself some Feather Pro blades, and you will so understand the meaning of sharpness.

---

I second this. The feather pro blades are amazingly sharp. They are so sharp that the best shaves come at shave 2-6, once your beard dulls the blade a bit. Highly recommend them.

tryablade has sample blade packs for pretty cheap. Try them all and see which one your face likes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Birnando

You will simply put not find a sharper shaving instrument than the Feather system.

---

This.

By all means try the Feather Pro's, but be prepared to work on your shavette technique as well. Much different method required than that by a conventional straight.

I use a DX folder as part of my travel kit and have to stop and take a moment before I put shavette to face to remind myself that I'm not shaving with a conventional straight razor. Recalibrate brain<--->hand.

Well I only have 6 shaves on my new feather SS folder with the pro guard blade. I am enjoying the process but the shaves have not been as good as my DE. Probably just the learning curve, but have been thinking about trying the pro blades.