Thread: Straight Shave oh how I have missed you....

Just got my SR today and didn't wait 1 minute to open it and shave with it. Big thanks to Prahston for not only a quality razor but a fantastic job of shipping it Shave Ready!

I am no means a solid shaver as its been 2 years since I have used an SR (and was still learning at that time) but I was happy with the WTG pass I had on 5 days of growth. Just chopped it right down with no trouble at all. Any who just wanted to post about getting back on the horse! Today was a good day just not for my DE

Glad it got there safe and sound and ready to work cause, evidently, your Shave Den ain't no Union Shop! I was thinking you were going to have a nice shave this weekend... But, I wouldn't have been able to wait either!

Thanks for the kind words! The restoration and honing results are definitely a product of what I've learned on this Forum and, more recently, from working hands-on with Gerrit (Deighaingel) who is a Mentor in Yakima here! I was getting Shave Ready results last year by Fall but had no idea how much that would improve and when I met with Gerrit he was able to give me additional information, clean up some hiccups I had going on and your razor is the result of that work! I cannot thank this site, all the Members and particularly Gerrit enough for helping me get here and show me the path to getting even better!

If you have anyone close to you or are able to get to a Meet/Get Together I would really recommend it... Particularly when it comes to figuring out "Feel" which is talked about so much here, I had read miles and miles of text and watched countless videos but, having someone to bounce questions off and make sure you stayed on track is simply priceless!

So glad it worked well for you... And, going through 5 days growth is impressive by all means on your part! You didn't just start SR Shaving again... You jumped in head first!

Shawn
-----

Glad you are enjoying your razor Joey!

Shawn,

Yeah I keep the den as clean and simplistic as possible. I have always been about less is more. After recently converting a buddy of mine to DE shaving my den has grown a bunch in terms of soaps. We have been splitting up our soaps and sharing all our scores. So it's been nice trying a ton of new products since he is having RAD and SAD. He was also kind of enough for my Birthday that just passed in July to buy me my first boar which is in the cabinet below.

As for the shave I was impressed I didn't nic, or have any issues with the shave. A lot of adrenaline coursing through the veins at first but slowly calmed down and just took it nice and slow. I did 2-3 passes of WTG in little area's and slowly took down the stubble, being very aware of the blade at all times. Was also able to switch hands nicely using left and right, and even cleaned up my sideburns fairly well.

Speaking of side burns Is there any mannerisms or videos you know off the top of your head on how to clean sideburns up properly? I didn't care much for my hand positioning holding the razor but wasn't sure how else to clean the side burns? I had my left hand holding the razor across my chest using the tip of the point to clean up my right side of the face. And then did the same holding the razor in my right hand across my chest cleaning up the side burn using the tip of the point on the left side of my face.

I would think it maybe easier to use the right hand on the right side of the face using the end of the razor before the double stabilizing piece but had a hard time seeing exactly where the blade was sitting. At this point I have decided I am not going to use my DE anymore even if I need a closer shave. Figure it's time to live by the straight the same way my Great Grandpa did, one shave at a time! At some point very soon I am going to be asking for some suggestions on honing stones (still reading up on all the stones, edges, and all that in the Wiki). Since SWMBO gave me the green light on it I am going to start learning as much as I can, the end goal being able to shave with Great Grandpa's Straight in hopefully 10-24 months time or sooner. While it may already have a shave ready edge on it, I don't want to use it till I feel completely comfortable in the ways of shaving, stropping and honing!

Joey

For the sideburns... I shave my head so haven't had sideburns for a really long time. It would be similar to how I cut/trim around my goatee though... I do a full pass but shave around my goatee leaving like a cm or so untouched around the perimeter and then right after I re-lather I use a long comb to mark where I do not want to shave and leave just enough room to get in there with the SR on a shallow angle and then make a pull across my cheek toward my ear or under my chin toward my chest.

I would think sideburns would be similar and I would definitely do it R hand to R side and L hand to L side... Try marking just a bit long and then use whatever width of the razor as is equal to the width of your sideburn and just do a pull straight down and it should take the sideburn right off. Once that works... Just come up a bit and do the same thing maybe a millimeter or two below where you want to be and do a couple strokes taking it to the level where you want to stop.

That is just the way I imagine it would work... Someone else may chime in... And, this Video demonstrates someone shaving after 2 month growth and leaving long sideburns... He does it similarly to how I described:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...sideburns.html

The thing I like about using a comb to carve in lines is you can make the lines as long as you want through the lather... So, if the razor is obscuring the view on your sideburn cut, just make the line work out into your cheek through the later and even with where you want to cut and that gives you the visual cue you need for your target.

Shawn
-----