getting best shaves of my life.....aas long as I use the M3 instead of straight

Need your good advice. Shaved with a straight while I was in college, 50+ years ago. Then I used a low-end DublDuck, strop, frictionite hone an Foamy lather from a can. Got excellent shaves and never had the razor honed in the four years I used it, just the BH once a month or so. Watched the James Bond movie and decided to return to a straight. Haven't had a comfortable experience with the straight this time around. Have tried VDH soap puck and Aveeno shave cream. Best lather is VDH plus a small squirt of shampoo. Always shower and hot towel before lathering face. With this regimen and Mach 3 I get the most comfortable and closest shaves of my life. I know the lather is working fine.

Experienced sharpening both wood and metal cutting tools. Have Norton 220/1000, and naniwa superstones in 5000, 8000 and 12000 grits, CH12k and diamond sprays in 1/2 and 1/4 micron sizes. Strop is Star Shaving Big Daddy in Bridle leather + felt, diamond sprays on DIY two sided felt paddle. Absorbed all the videos on honing and practice honed five or so different antique store razors several times each until felt i had good edges before I ever touched one to my face. The stropping technique returned immediately, have put only one small nick on the strop and that was on the very first try after 50 years. Use 20 felt /50 leather laps on strop before each shave. Use a very light touch on both the hone and the strop. All experiences with the straight have been VERY uncomfortable. Bought a new Dovo 1/2 hollow and sent it and a Shumate full hollow to gssixgun (Glen) for honing. I know the razors are sharp, have examined edges under 10x, 40x and 60x magnifiers. The edges are not rolled and are not jagged. Glen's edges are more refined than mine in that fewer of the scratches from edge setting remain, but the two sharpened by Glen are just as uncomfortable as the ones I have honed. I shave slowly and stretch my face carefully before trying to cu any whiskers. When I try to cut whiskers, it feels as if I am pulling half of them out. Second pass is more tolerable.

I have read about every thread on this site on pulling. I'm out of ideas. What am I doing wrong?

I don't know what to tell you. I am an old codger of 65 and first shaved with straights in the 1980s. I gave it up for 25 years and stuck with the Gillette Good News until a friend got me interested in straight razor shaving again. I had a lot of time go by before I could get shaves that equaled the Good News, or the DE with a Feather blade, but eventually, as my honing and straight razor technique developed and improved, I began to get shaves as good, or sometimes better, than I was getting with my Merkur Slant and Feather blade.

As Lynn points out in the beginner's guide, you've probably read it, stay with the easier parts, down passes on the cheeks, neck, finish the tougher spots on the jawline, chin, with the DE until you start to improve your stretching, blade manipulation, the whole being the sum of its parts. I don't know if any of that makes sense. I do know that I used to have a lot of frustration with my shaves before they began to get better. :gl:

Well Dry fly,wellcome to getting old.Like me you have an old stiff collogen depleated Beard.
By your post I think you are overthinking the entire process,stay off the hones after you get your blades pro honed again,Which I think you need to do.
If glens Blades are not comfortable,than your stropping is most likly sub par.
do not overthink this,break all down into the diff componants,and start fresh.all will come together

+1 on what pixel said take it slow and break it down into parts of your face, if Glen honed it ,it's ready ,, maybe your angles are wrong , I've been guilty of that when I started , and even now I still pick up my DE every now and then. Usually when my blade does get dull . I got Lynn's video when I started ,so if you don't have it PM me I'll lend it to you ,lots of good starting info on the DVD. Good luck and hang in there, by the way did you try shaving with the gssixgun hone job before you stripped or after? Tc

Shaved with both razors before I touched either to the strop. The Shumate was a bit better, and I am saving it for comparison to other razors I have honed. Not trying to do either lips or chin. Only passes from sideburns down and up along neck (with the grain for me). Holding blade almost flat to face. As for getting old, hell, I'm just a puppy at 72. My beard may be a bit older and I suppose that could be the problem. Don't remember even having to stretch my face years ago. Now, if I don't have it stretched tight, my skin bunches up like a bathmat without a rubber backing and, yup, I get a cut. Thanks for your comments.

If everything else is clicking then concentrate most on Angle and Pressure as these two things are what will be most different from the M3..


Let me know how it goes :) are you going to try and make the Denver meet up in July ???

I'd guess after years of using the M3 you need to adjust your angles. I know exactly what you describe I had the same problem, you'd swear the blade was not sharp enough. I really concentrated on angle and pressure and the shave improved I still really notice it on the ATG pass when my concentration lapses.

In vids I sometimes see SR users who can do long strokes like one does with the cartridges, but I get best results from short strokes. Tcrideshd above called it breaking it down into areas. Others call it "shaving a diamond." I'll do the top of the cheek, lower cheek, upper neck, lower neck, etc. helps keep my angles stable. Good luck!

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Originally Posted by gssixgun

Let me know how it goes :) are you going to try and make the Denver meet up in July ???

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Absolutely, will be there. Let me know time and place when decided

I used either a disposable or cartridge (or even worse, an electric) for 30 years. I had to completely recalibrate my hands to use less pressure. Try using less angle and less pressure and see how it goes.

Holding the razor flat along your face is probably one of the mistakes. You know 30 Degrees is said to be the ideal angle, which is my experience too. The next mistake is probably too much pressure. I've been through that one too. During my first straight razor shaves I used too much pressure. I think I didn't trust the razor of being sharp enough. Coming from Shavettes I knew the razor would not be as sharp and wanted to force the razor to cut my beard by using more pressure. After similar unsatisfactory results to yours I later just barely scraped the lather off, like I would with a shavette. That was an eyeopener!

You have the best of equipment. All the hones, razors honed by honemeisters here in the forum. Sorry to say that most likely you are the problem. Then again you can make the change. Your equipment is best.

Good Luck to you.
OldSalt

When you say you shave slowly, what exactly do you mean?

I'd suggest, if you are not doing it already, that you make sure you stretch well and use shorter, slightly faster strokes. Also try experimenting with the angle as you shave to find what works best for you (this will probably vary with different parts of the face).

Sometimes going too slowly can cause the razor to hang a little and might induce a feeling of tugging even in a well honed razor. A 1 or two inch quicker stroke might help. Worth a try at least.

James.

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Originally Posted by Jimbo

When you say you shave slowly, what exactly do you mean?

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Perhaps deliberately would be a better description. I don't put the blade to face until skin stretched, then I don't start the stroke until I have the angle approximately correct. I do use strokes that are short, one to two inches on cheeks, 1/2" to one inch near corners of mouth. About the same speed of travel for the razor as I use for the M3. I do use a light pressure for the razor against face. I don't find 30 degrees to be best on my face, needs to be a shallower angle to cut whiskers. I'm pretty sure that I am the problem, but identifying precisely what I am doing wrong that is the symptom of the problem has me puzzled. Going upstairs to shave now, so I try your suggestions while they are fresh in my mind. Thanks for the help, Jimbo and OldSalt.

Denver in July?? What goes

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Originally Posted by cubancigar2000

Denver in July?? What goes

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gssixgun will be there to help us with honing and whatever. will be either the weekend before or the weekend after july 17.

Is it some kind of shaving get together. Where does he do this? I used to live in Colo Sprgs and worked out of Denver so I have a lot of friends there. If there is something going on I could attend, I may?

here is as much as I know. send him a pm and see if he has fixed the date, time and place.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/get-t...-colorado.html

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Originally Posted by DryFly

Perhaps deliberately would be a better description. I don't put the blade to face until skin stretched, then I don't start the stroke until I have the angle approximately correct.

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I'm reluctant to post this for fear of being misunderstood but ........ if you visualize slicing a tomato, as opposed to just pushing the edge into it as if to chop it ........ a slicing stroke, some call it the guillotine stroke, some refer to it as scything ...... it is a very efficient stroke but must be done with care when learning. After you get the hang of it the stroke becomes second nature. A very efficient stroke for shaving whiskers. :gl:

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Originally Posted by cubancigar2000

Is it some kind of shaving get together. Where does he do this? I used to live in Colo Sprgs and worked out of Denver so I have a lot of friends there. If there is something going on I could attend, I may?

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You know we have one in Yakima WA next weekend and either Spokane or Seattle in the Fall

Hey Dry Fly. I just guessing here, but at age 72, your beard is probably just a tad tougher than it was back in college. Keep at it, and I'm sure it'll get better. With a handle like Dry Fry, and being in CO, post some big browns & rainbows for me, please!

Yakima is even better. I have a favorite Mushroom woods and that next weekend should be prime. Where is the meet held in Yakima and what are the times

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Originally Posted by RJD

With a handle like Dry Fry, and being in CO, post some big browns & rainbows for me, please!

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well, by popular demand, and trying not to use too much OT bandwidth, here you go:

Attachment 165804Attachment 165805Attachment 165806

the little fisherman, who is the third generation to share the middle name "Roger" and the last name "Hill" is not yet allowed to have a fly at the end of his leader, lest he hook himself, his father, or his grandfather, but he doesn't seem to mind, the whole point of it all being to be outdoors and waving a stick at the nearby creek.

Fly Fishing the South Platte River: An Angler's Guide (The Pruett Series): Hill Roger: 9780871088178: Amazon.com: Books

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Originally Posted by cubancigar2000

Yakima is even better. I have a favorite Mushroom woods and that next weekend should be prime. Where is the meet held in Yakima and what are the times

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here is the thread

http://straightrazorpalace.com/get-t...et-yakima.html


Fire a PM to Garritt / deighaingeal for all the address's look forward to meeting ya there :)

Well, things are finally getting better. Following Glen's advice and paying more attention to pressure and angles. Have found that shaving the troublesome areas of chin and upper lip first helps. I lather only those areas so that I can get a better grip on adjacent skin for stretching, without having lather on cheeks. Secondly, have taped the edge of an extra razor and "shave" the lather off on spots that cause real problems with directions/angles, then re-lather and shave with the sharp edge. Thirdly, when lathering, putting a small amount of water on very tip of brush then apply, helps keep the lather wetter; also rubbing cocoa butter lotion into beard prior to any lather seems to help. Fourthly, I am developing a technique of putting razor to face at a low angle to start cut and rotating to a "comfortable" angle as the stroke proceeds. "Comfortable" is still a relative term, my beard with two days growth is about as tough as the cut end of a wire rope. I have the most success with a low pressure "thinning" of my beard wtg, then repeating wtg followed by xtg, for my "three pass" shave. atg out of the question for now. Have also found that if I hone my razors using about 10 laps of 1/2 micron diamond on felt between stones, I get an edge about as comfortable as the razors Glen sharpened. Not saying that the are as sharp, just that they are about as comfortable. Think the bottom line is that my beard is just really damned tough for a single edged razor.

Glad everything is coming together better, those edges will be about due for a refresh just in time for the Denver meet :) We can do that together at the table over beers and pizza :D

DryFly, I am going to say something heretical concerning shaving. I have read the entire thread (yes, Glen is the man, he's honed a number of my razors) and I recognized a number of the problems you encountered and read all the wonderful and sage advice freely given by various members. But, not once, did anyone suggest a variance in preparation. I do this and almost all of my problems went away, far away - Cold Water Shave. I'm 81, been str8 for almost a year, started with hot this and hot that and found I had a lot of problems like yours. Add sensitive skin, Rosacea (mild), reaction to menthol, eucalyptus, alum and Shea butter and ya got a daymare of fun. So, after correcting blade angle, and especially pressure the last thing changed was temperature. Cold water shaving has resulted in a 99% reduction is all areas of concern and a face that feels like a spring morning as opposed to a winter weather storm.

Just my two cents on the matter. Shave safely and well.

Glen: good idea, will definitely be there. do we have a time and place set yet?

Razorfeld: will try that on my next shave, in about an hour.

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Originally Posted by Razorfeld

Cold Water Shave.

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Tried it. seems very comfortable, but I did not use the cocoa butter first and nicked myself several time trying to get the razor to move. will try again with cocao butter pre-shave and cold water.

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Originally Posted by DryFly

Tried it. seems very comfortable, but I did not use the cocoa butter first and nicked myself several time trying to get the razor to move. will try again with cocao butter pre-shave and cold water.

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I've tried all sorts of pre-shave stuff and have finally settled on wetting my face w/cold water and then rubbing on some Cremo or Kiss My Face. Seems to give an extra layer of slickness to my uber lather (based on MWF + Maca root, a few drops of glycerin and whatever else I want to add a little of (essential oils, Vit E, tea tree oil and/or a bit of another soap/cream for the hell of it.) After cold water rinse I generally use Nivea Sensitive AS Balm - makes for a happy octogenarian.

I have been straight-shaving a long while. Tough and wiry beard. Keep in mind I shave in the morning, but I have done conclusive tests that Vitamin E oil, about 6 drops, rubbed into the beard/face well after shower/before bed, makes for a much improved shave the next morning. I also am a BIG proponent of hot towel over lather. Best shave improver ever, for me. Everyone has their preferences. You just have to find yours!
I can tell a big difference, edges and technique aside! :)

Oh! What's an M3????????:shrug:

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Originally Posted by sharptonn

Oh! What's an M3????????:shrug:

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Some sort of car made by BMW, I believe. :D

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Originally Posted by beluga

Some sort of car made by BMW, I believe. :D

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Oh yes! My neighbor has one! VERY fast! ;)

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Originally Posted by sharptonn

Oh! What's an M3????????:shrug:

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Gillette Mach 3, three blade cartridge system

Gee. I sorta like the Beamer better! :D

Attachment 168560

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Originally Posted by DryFly

Gillette Mach 3, three blade cartridge system

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Aaaah, that explains it.

Thank you for clearing this up, many shavers must have been wondering what a BMW has to do with shaving.