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Did a straight razor only shave this morning, three passes plus touch up with my pre-1890 W&B. No nicks, cuts, or regrets. I watched a bunch of videos on here and realized that shorter strokes with the razor might help. Did a shave with half to three quarter of an inch shaving strokes, and I ended up with a DFS. Still have a couple trouble spots, but I will work on getting those sorted out in my next few shaves. I have a hunch I will not be reaching for my DE much anymore.
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Nice! Since I transitioned from DE I haven't looked back either. I even got a stainless razor for travel!
Good looking soap, too!
Congrats on your first straight-only shave!
Good for you! It will get better fastQuote:
Originally Posted by Drygulch
Nice! Congrats. I'm still gearing up for my first straight shave. Bought a couple of shave ready razors, paddle strop, etc... I already had the rest of the stuff since I have been using a DE for a while. Watching a bunch of videos as well.
Keep working on it, wish you success in the journey.
Congrats on your first sr shave and great job. I did my first shave a couple weeks ago and had a few weepers, but a DFS. I also used an old W-B. I then found that it had a crack in the blade near the stabilizer so I won't be using it any more. Fortunately, I had received a back up straight, a AOS T-I carbon steel with SS scales. I did my second shave with it and it turned out better. Still not as close as DE or SE and takes me a bit longer. However, I am keeping at it and I am sure both speed and performance will improve. I have been wet shaving since January and my speed and performance with safety razors has improved dramatically. Again, great job.
Thanks. I have been wet shaving about two years now, and using a Shavette or DE for for about a two and a half months. This is the first time I haven't used a DE for clean up at all, and still got a good shave. I hope the learning curve is along the same lines as DE was for me, so the speed picks up some, although I like the time spent doing this.Quote:
Originally Posted by haleach
Awesome! And to think you just recently made the switch. I wish you the same success from here on out.
Drygulch. I have a little different learning curve. Back around Christmas I found an old Rolls Razor from 1951 that was my Dad's although I am not sure that he ever used it. So, I wanted to learn how to use it. I then dug up the old Gillette SA from 1970 that he gave me as my first razor. So from there it has been learning how to use the rolls razor and how to get it and keep it sharp, learning with the Gillette and the other DE razors that I have bought since (Merkur 34G, RazorRock Bamboozled Rake, Gillette New) and picking up some SE razors (Gem MM OC and Push button and a Schick G injector). And now starting with the Straights. So far I am enjoying all of it. It is funny, a lot of people talk about what a monster the Gem MM OC is in that you need to be very careful with it to keep from nicking yourself, but I think that it has been the razor that taught me not to use pressure when shaving. Without it, I think that I still might be struggling to keep from getting weepers. Anyway, I will be trying the straight razor again tonight and I hope you are right that things will progress quickly. Best of luck to you.
Then you're already there. Shavette shaving is different, but no easoer than shaving with a straight.Quote:
Originally Posted by Drygulch
Dry gulch, nice! It's a lot of fun and challenging too. How long did it take you? My first shave took like 45 mins! Over 70 shaves now and it takes me about 20 mins (including prep and cleanup/stropping). Slower than DE, but a much more luxurious shave.
A SR shave is taking me 25-30 minutes after I get out of the shower. DE shaves run about 10 minutes for me at this point. If I can get the SR shave to 20 minutes consistently, including stropping, I will consider it good.
It's really not about the speed but the enjoyment of the shave. For me I'm relaxed after my shower and shave. Before the straight I would shave in the shower with a through away razor it would take about 1 to 2 minutes and not very relaxing. So slow down and smell the lather.Quote:
Originally Posted by Drygulch
rhensley, I agree to a point. We have one bathroom in my house, so there is a point where my enjoying my shave cuts into the time others need the bathroom. I am only willing to get up so early to have time to shave.
Four shaves with no DE touch up. I am not getting quite as close as I could get with a little DE touch up, but am getting a great shave. My eventual goal is to be able to get a DFS with two passes, and have little if anything that needs to be touched up.
So I was curious on how many shaves I actually have under my belt at this point. I looked at my SOTD posts on another forum and came up with 21 shaves with a Feather Artist Club SS Kamasori style shavette, and 15 with a traditional straight, begining in March.
I,m in a similar situation. Moving from DE (Merkur Barber Pole) to straight/Rolls Razor shaving. I,d been having a lot of razor burn and needed. Lot of touch up with my DE. I left the straight (an old Thistle Cutlery blade recently given to me and honed by Lynn) and shifted to my newly acquired RR which I also had professionally honed as a starting point.
The RR came very close to the BBS shaves I'm used to with my DE. I used it for a couple of days then went back to the straight. I hit just about the perfect combination of pressure and angle today because the straight shave required absolutely no touch up and was darn near BBS. I'm very encouraged about the straight and am also loving the Rolls.
