Thread: Really in need of some coaching...

Originally Posted by JoshEarl

Especially on my chin I end up doing a million little strokes just to get it cleaned off to a minimal degree. That's why it takes me so long to shave: I spend about 15-20 minutes on the first pass, refreshing the lather several times on the places I haven't hit yet.

Would this be part of the problem? I find a few long strokes work better than many short ones.

If you get better results with a feather: feathers are by some considered to be sharper than even well honed str8s. Your 1st feather shave was better than the second, did you use the same blade again? The second time it must have been less sharp.

The other thing is: feathers are made of stainless steel. Stainless razors have a different feel to carbon steel. Have you ever used SS straights?

Just my thoughts.

Well, in pondering all this advice I got to thinking about how well the Feather worked for me and how light it felt on my face. I had an epiphany: Sharpness isn't the only way the Feather AC differed from the other straights I've been using.

The Feather is also heavier and stiffer than the 5/8 and 6/8 full-hollows I've been using.

Now I've never been on the monster razor bandwagon--I leave that to the original Josh. I love my 4/8s and 5/8s, and the bigger wedges and quarter hollows had given me razor burn in the past.

But now that my honing has improved and I'm learning to use less pressure, I started to wonder whether a bigger, heavier blade wouldn't help me remember to lighten up on the pressure and mind my angles.

I honed up a chunky 6/8 Sheffield quarter hollow, and lo and behold, this thing handles my chin much, much better. For the last two days I've had almost no irritation, and that's while refining the freshly honed edge. I'm finally getting that "hot-knife-through-butter" sensation on my chin.

My theory right now is that the extra weight of the blade helps stabilize the razor when it hits heavy resistance around my chin. The weight also helps me remember not to bear down--I'm actually trying to hold the razor off my face. And the big goofy spine helps me see if my angles are off. It's like the large print edition.

The jury's still out on this, as I'm only on day two with this razor. I'd hate to give up my smaller blades, but I am starting to get a hankering for a nice 12/8 ...

Maybe someday my technique will improve and I'll be able to go back to the smaller razors.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions--I'll let you know how this turns out.

Josh

Good for you, Josh!

Yes, heavier blades have more momentum and thus stability like you describe.

The only thing that surprised me reading your post is the comment on the angle. If anything, I have heard people complain the big wedges make it harder to see the right angle.

One interestind tid-bit: the Original Josh uses a very different angle when shaving with the big 'uns - check his avatar photo or the thread w/ the razor from Bill Ellis - it is much, and I mean MUCH bigger than 30 degrees. I asked him and he said this is his angle for bigger blades, and also that it gives him comfortable, irritation free shaves. Bastard...

JUST KIDDING - all the best to Josh! And all members in general

Cheers
Ivo

Ivo,

I hadn't heard that about big blades. I guess I could see that at the extreme end with like 8/8s and stuff--the spine would be really far away from your face, and that might make it harder to judge.

For me it's the width of the spine that helps. It's easier for me to figure out two spine widths when the spine is like a piece of rebar--1/4 thick rather than 1/8 or less on my smaller blades.

I'll have to play around with the angles and see what happens. I'm not sure I want to try Josh's Gillotine Stroke yet, though...

I forgot to mention that one other thing that seems to be helping on my chin is--get this--less skin stretching. I think the extreme stretching I was doing there by making faces was making all the hairs stand up, and that's just too much resistence for the razor to handle. Doing some mild stretching and a couple of WTG strokes seems to be working better.

Oh, yeah, and doing a second WTG pass with just water and the residue from my lather. Lets me see spots where I didn't do a good job with the initial WTG pass.

(To all newbies who just read this, please look directly at the flashing light.... It will erase all memory of the last 30 seconds....)

The "rules" weren't working for me, so I'm trying some weird stuff. Next up, rolling the razor on the edge while stropping...

Josh

Originally Posted by JoshEarl

Next up, rolling the razor on the edge while stropping...

I do roll through the edge when honing now - seems to work better for me. Haven't ruined an edge so far... Bill Ellis does it too - his rationale was that when he goes fast, he can cut himself rollind over the spine and using the other hand too quickly to guide / help the blade move along the hone. And he'd rather fix the edge (if he ever needs to) than have cuts.

I DO NOT SAY THIS IS BETTER - just sharing what I do and giving a more credible example

Cheers
Ivo

Originally Posted by JoshEarl

I forgot to mention that one other thing that seems to be helping on my chin is--get this--less skin stretching. I think the extreme stretching I was doing there by making faces was making all the hairs stand up, and that's just too much resistence for the razor to handle. Doing some mild stretching and a couple of WTG strokes seems to be working better.

Hey Josh,

I also have been trying less skin stretching on my chin and especially underneath my chin(along with a lighter touch) and noticed that the irritation isn't as great.

Who knows, maybe you're on to something

Originally Posted by izlat

I do roll through the edge when honing now - seems to work better for me.

Same here when I'm using the bench hones, though I still roll on the spine when using the barber hones. Usual disclaimer for newbies: "Do as we say, not as we do."

You guys are losing it...LOL....