Thread: Bismark (cont.)

I've been shaving with the Bismark for about 1 month now and I find that I have to clean up a lot with the shavette afterwards. The blade came shave-ready from StraightRazorDesigns, I strop 60 times (30 on the webbing and 30 on the leather) and I'm very careful to keep the blade parallel to the skin to avoid scraping. It definitely cuts "some" of the hair, but the shavette does a way better job at this point.

So the question is where is my mistake? I need more stroping? Blade position? Just have patience and it'll come?

I'm based in Chicago, btw.

tnx!

There could be a number of possible problems when you are just beginning to shave with a SR. Razors from SRD are know to come shave ready. It is recommended not to strop the razor before your first shave to see what a shave ready razor feels like.

A beginners poor stropping technique can actually adversely effect the blade. So you really don't know if your stropping is helping to maintain the edge or degrading it. Personally I would do less on the webbing and double the strokes on the leather assuming your stropping is good.

You mention keeping the blade parallel to your face. There should be about 2 spine widths gap between your face and the spine. Too little gap can be as bad as too much gap. Too little gap and you are not cutting very well and too much you are scraping.

I don't expect to get a clean shave with just one pass and trying to do so can lead to using too much pressure and irritation.

I would say review your stropping and may be play with the blade angle a bit. It takes plenty of experimentation and patience to get a good shave. A lot of people have suggested giving yourself 3 months to get to the point of getting decent shaves.

Bob

If you add your location a member near you may be able to help. Outside of a one on one, could you have dulled the razor stropping improperly? If you have SRD will re-hone your razor. If you don't want to send it back to them, many members hone razors.

Didn't think of that.. just added my location. Tnx!

If you click HERE, you will find an announcement for a meet-up fairly near Chicago on August 13. If at all possible, it would be helpful for you to go and get some help in person.

I also bought my first razor from straightrazordesigns. It came shave ready but i stropped it and it tugged on my hairs. I worked on my stropping technique and I did improve the blade. But today I received a shave ready razor from the classifieds section and I just cleaned it and decided not to strop it to feel what shave ready felt like and boy was it a whole new level from how my first razor felt like. It was a super smooth shave truly my first real bbs shave! When I shaved with my first razor my stropping dulled the blade and my first shave was like yours. I thought I needed more pressure I was very wrong

Yes, from the looks of it that's the case. Do I need to send it back for re-honing, or can I go to a local barbershop and ask them to show me proper stropping?

It sounds as if honing is in order is your shavette works and the straight does not. I would contact SRD and tell them the problems you are having and get their thoughts. They are very nice to talk with.

When stropping, there is no pressure on the edge. When starting out many believe the edge needs to be "dragged" across the leather with some force. This is not the case. Keep the spine in contact and allow the edge to follow. Many practice with a butter knife to get the movements down.

Originally Posted by bvais

Yes, from the looks of it that's the case. Do I need to send it back for re-honing, or can I go to a local barbershop and ask them to show me proper stropping?

I would contact SRD and see what happens. Local barbershops will probably not be able to help you unless the barber is old enough to have used them in the past, I do believe current health codes killed the straights in barbershops.

I'm organizing the meet, so let me know if you can make it by PM or post in the thread.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/get-t...cago-meet.html

I didn't want to send mines in till I had a backup so I bought a naniwa 12k to refresh the blade. Now that I have a backup razor I'll send in my first razor for the free hone.
The 12k did make my razor shave comfortable though. But not as smooth and effortless as the shave ready razor I got from the classifieds.