Thread: My Second shave (or I lost my marbles part II)

In a different posting I wrote about my experience with my first straight razor shave which also my first kamisori shave, and my first experience with a straight razor of any kind. Lots of very helpful feedback, comments and suggestions encouraged me to stick with it. I some of comments and suggestions made were spot on. I decided to bite the bullet and did a few things based on the advice:

- I bought a traditional strop in addition to the strop paddle (i got it from Portland Razor Co) I assume that based on their reputation is should be fairly acceptable for a rookie.
- I bought a Japanese NOS western style handmade razor from JNS

Back to the main point of my thanks. A few days ago I prepared myself for a second try at shaving, however I did it in a much more controlled and informed approach. I did something that most of you probably would not do: I worked on both the straight razor and the kamisori in the same shave so I could compare.
- I spent some time working in concentrated effort however light touch and pressure on the strop. I did about 50 laps of the canvas side and about a 100 on the leather side of the paddle with the kamisori, and the same with the regular strop with the straight razor. The regular strop seems more suited for the longer razor, while the kamisori works better on the paddle.
- I spent more time warming the face and hydrating the brush, however, As suggested, I worked on a thin denser layer of soap on the face as opposed to a thicker foamy layer as I did the time before.
- Next, and on this advice received was absolutely spot on, with both I worked on a very small angle, almost flat against the skin, and as described, magic happened, removing the soap brought the hair along with it.
- I did a few short strokes with each instead of long strokes and that allowed me better sensitivity to the response. I discovered that, just as predicted, if distracted for a moment I would revert to more pressure and force, as I am used to the DE Safety razor, and also, if distracted or encouraged to go a bit faster, the angle would elevate and start scraping, but this time I was aware of it and immediately corrected it, going back to a shallower angle having better sensitivity to the feedback from the skin and hair.
- I used the kamisori only with my right (dominant) hand, and I used both hands for the SR (i figured I might as well start training correctly with both hands, and that was a good choice as the left was very light and without the DE habits of my right hand)
- from your advice, LOTS of patience and stretching the skin as much as possible helped enormously.
- This time I finished the entire shave with a couple of passes, going back and forth between the two blades, and NO skin born, cuts or blood except for a couple of tiny nicks. Incredible smooth shave on the sides and fairly good one in the neck.

Some additional thoughts;
1) The straight razor is, also as predicted, easier to use, however, the kamisori gives much more control and precision.
2) technique is vastly different for each type, except the common theme: shallow angle, just a bit higher than the angle of the blade in the SR, and the same angle as the bevel of the omote side of the kamisori.
3) I do not believe I will need a hone for a few weeks at least, since both razors were actually honed and shave ready and I am planning to add a healthy set of strop laps everytime. On my first experience I thought that the kamisori might not have been honed and that I chipped the toe inadvertently, however my technique and method were completely off and once I followed comments, shaving with it was a transformational experience. Also, from research I found that the blade was not chipped, but rather, the corner was muted as it seems to be the case with all Iwasakis.
4) the next step is subjective. The shave left the face very smooth, and somehow, it felt different the feeling after a shave with a DE. It also took a long time but the level of concentration necessary wiped out anything from my mind for most of the tie, and that in itself was relaxing, so now there is no turning back and it seems that I am getting into a rabbit hole with generous and very helpful guidance. Your comments alone made me go from almost quitting to an extraordinarily enjoyable experiment and precursor of others. I am now looking forward to the next. Thank you.

Straight Razor: Japanese Straight Razor NOS Handmade Black Teuti edge is 65 mm and width is 21 mm



Kamisori: Iwasaki 50 mm

Excellent follow-up post! You are very quick to learn what's going on between each style of razor, and your patience this time around is paying off handsomely. Keep up your attention to detail, and you will do fine.

As you said, you are probably wise to hold off on honing for a while. In the meantime, check out honing videos (watch them repeatedly as you pick up things you may have missed on first viewing). Keep up with the honing forum as well to see what mistakes others are making so you can avoid making them yourself.

Lastly, good job on using both hands with the straight razor. This will make shaving so much easier for you down the road.

Casaluz it's great to hear that things are coming along.

There's some really good stuff going on here.

Straight Razor shaving is indeed almost a Zen like experience.

The light pressure and short strokes are the way to go when your learning. Long strokes offer more room for error. They are fine and they'll come later.

Using both hands isn't for everyone, but if you don't try it you'll never know if you can master it.

If you think that the smooth result is different your right. Nothing compares to a good straight razor shave. Just wait until you see how good it gets after a little practice.

Keep up the great work!

Pete <:-}

Glad things are coming along! Sounds MUCH better than your first post. I still shave with 2 Razors when I get a new one. I like to compare it one that I'm familiar with.
When I first started, I was convinced that my professionally honed razors weren't that sharp, turns out it was my technique as well! I think I've only sent one out to be honed since then, the rest have been fine with stropping or a touch up on a treated canvas strop.. Keep with it

Great post Casaluz! It just gets better the more you keep at it!