Results 1 to 10 of 38
Hybrid View
-
03-01-2007, 03:01 AM #1
The Feather on day one was amazing. I got a very clean shave with no irritation whatsoever. I was even able to go against the grain under my chin, which is something that brings tears to my eyes with every other straight I've tried to this point.
Day two wasn't as good. I felt like I had to use some pressure; day one I was just trying to keep the weight of the thing off my face as much as possible. Maybe I wasn't as afraid of it the second time around. Whatever the reason, I had some low-level irritation. I'm planning to try it again soon, and I suspect it'll be slightly worse each time...
I have a hard time imagining that my beard is that hard to shave. After all, I do very well with low-end DE blades. I think it has to be some combination of pressure, angle, the direction of the strokes and the number of strokes.
Alan, I have shaved right off the hone or pasted strop a number of times, and it works OK but stropping does seem to improve it.
Tomorrow I'm going back to the DE to give my poor skin a break.
Thanks, and keep it coming,
Josh
-
03-01-2007, 03:33 AM #2
If your truly positive about the razor and prep and all that then you described the problem and solution to yourself already. Its technique. I don't think the stropping idea is a good one. Stropping is the key to good shaving and has been for hundreds of years. I think to eliminate that is just not a good idea. Its one of the few factors in straight shaving that is written in stone.
I would be concentrating on your angle that you hold the blade. It might be too aggressive hence a rough shave. Really look at how your holding the razor as you shave. I find if I'm not paying attention I have a tendency to increase the angle as I shave.
Also I find when I do my chin I come straight down and around in one stroke. If you razor can't do that smoothly its a sign its not sharp enough. Also if you have to strop inbetween shaves thats saying to me maybe the razor isn't quite there and it either marginal to begin with and its failing during the shave.
For me the ultimate test if whether the razor is truly shave ready is when I get to my chin. It might shave my face fine but when I bring it down around my chin, if it starts to slow down or pull or balk I know it ain't ready.No matter how many men you kill you can't kill your successor-Emperor Nero
-
03-01-2007, 07:37 AM #3
Cool, then that, with the fact that your edges get better with stropping iterations is proof that your problem isn't in the stropping.
I knew someone was going to scan through that post and assume I thought you should stop stropping altogether.
Be careful though with tip leading strokes on protrusions like the chin.
I agree with Bigspendur, time to reevaluate honing. How do the DEs look in the microscope thats different than your honend edges?
I would suspect that if your holding the handle of a DE away from your face when shaving that your using too steep an angle when using a straight (for your face).
Hey, I've had an epiphany! Woo Hoo. Ya know both the Feather straight and a DE have one thing in common. Pressure against the face. If you use pressure with a Feather, you remove your face and a DE has a blade guard. Maybe you need to simply work on skin stretching and moving the blade lightly into the whiskers without pressing into the skin so much.
Whatcha think of that?Last edited by AFDavis11; 03-01-2007 at 08:48 AM.
-
03-01-2007, 03:45 PM #4
My DE shave this morning went pretty well. I know that it's pretty different from shaving with a straight, but I find the knowledge transfers well back and forth between the two tools.
Today I found myself lightening up on the pressure and reducing the cutting angle even more than I have in the past. My recent experiments with the Feather and regular straights have taught me what too much pressure and bad blade angles feel like.
I got a near-BBS shave in most places, even though I wasn't pushing since the whole point here is to let my skin heal up. My face feels much better today, maybe 95 percent healed. A couple more days and I'll be good as new. I'm hoping that this is part of my problem.
I'm going to pay very close attention to how I shave my chin with the DE. Today I was a little rushed, but I did notice that I kind of "chip away" at the stubble. I start under my lip and work my way down in 1/2 inch strokes. After the first pass, I still have tons of stubble left--almost like I didn't shave. Then I relather and redo the WTG pass, maybe even a couple of times. Each time I work my way further into the stubble on the point of my chin and just underneath it, which is the really bothersome stuff. It's like the way you'd clear a forest with a machete--hack a little deeper each time.
If I can improve on this to where I'm able to just do smooth strokes with the DE, maybe I'll be able to transfer that into my straight technique. I suspect different/better skin stretching and more attention to the grain will help.
Bigspendur, I understand what you're saying about sharpness and doing one smooth stroke on the chin, but I have never been able to do that--not with my razors, not with the Feather, not with a DE, not with honemeister razors.
Thanks for all the suggestions--I'm digesting it all here.
Josh
-
03-02-2007, 10:28 AM #5
Josh
Just a thought...
I always shave after I've showered. Somewhere I read that someone put hair conditioner on their beard in the shower after washing it with normal soap. I tried it with my wife's moisturing conditioner and it worked a treat, making the hair much softer (duh, that's what its supposed to do ).
I then lather and shave as usual...
-
03-02-2007, 01:17 PM #6
-
03-02-2007, 01:26 PM #7
- Join Date
- Aug 2006
- Posts
- 3,063
Thanked: 9But not all conditioners work - check out Kyle's explanation at B&B. Some actually strengthen the hair, making it harder to cut
Cheers
Ivo
-
03-02-2007, 02:44 PM #8
My God, we do analyze this stuff don't we?