Thread: Having trouble with first straight razor

Also just keep in mind: Maybe you didn't do anything to the razor and it is just technique. I too shaved with a Feather for a time before a straight. I have yet to feel an edge on an actual straight that FEELS as sharp as a Feather, and I have razors honed by some top pros, and from a couple of guys here. Angle is more important too. I went down the bad angle/too much pressure road for a few days. It took me a bit to get it figured out, and not be disappointed in what turned out to be a scary sharp blade.

Good luck and have fun.

Stropping, like shaving with a straight razor or honing, looks deceptively easy to do. They are once you go through a fairly steep learning curve.

Like PickledNorthern said, you may not have rolled an edge and the problem could be just the angle you are using. I have found through using a straight razor that keeping the gap between your face and the spine to 1 or 2 spine widths works for me. Any wider and you start to scrape the whiskers off instead of cutting them.

A good slick lather rich in water but not to the point of being runny helps tremendously too.

Most new straight razor users have had similar problems to what you are experiencing so don't feel bad or get discouraged. The learning curve is much longer than most people expected when they start down this road.

Bob

gave it another shot this morning. stropped 30 laps over cotton and 60 over leather. also looked at the blade through a loupe before and after. it made a difference visibly as well as less pulling and tugging than before. but still nowhere close to where it should be . i also do realize how my prev attempt at stropping could have taken the edge off. the next step is to to strop a bit more... perhaps 50 cotton and 100 leather laps and try another shave.

I am conscious that having used the feather artist which is perhaps sharper than any SR, i have to constantly remind myself not to use additional pressure.

From my experience with a shavette I found out that when using a straight and shavette you are not comparing apples to apples. The DE blade being much thinner and the design of the shavette are two different animals, on top of that the sharpness of the DE compared to the DE in a shavette are two different levels or types of sharp. Everyone has pretty much given the best advice and you will get it figured out just takes time, stick with it and no problem soon enough.

Back to your question on the loupe and what you are looking for and what you want to see. When looking from the side, looking at the bevel you should see a perfectly straight edge with no wobbles or chippy spots. If you look down on the point of the apex while use a good light source you should not see any sparkles or white lines and it should be quite difficult to see the actual apex, as it is suppose to be very thin.
There is amazing power in the strop and it can either immensely improve your edge or destroy it. Once it deteriorates to a certain point only honing will help. I expect you will have a handle on this very soon.

If I can add, when you shave whit a straight your suppose to scrape the lather. If the angle is to high your scraping your face, the blade is suppose to cut whiskers when the lather is scraped. Make sure that your lather is on the wetter side and less pasty, a wetter lather is slicker and way better for straight of course as mention your stroping is a really important the blade flat on the strop and the most important thing take your time there's no rush. The most important thing don't give up it'll come and when it will happen you would be very proud of your self.

PM me with your phone number and drop by (I am located nr. Borj Al Arab), so I can take a look at it.

I have one Koraat, and wouldn't recommend it to start straight shaving with, as it is quite heavy - the opposite of a Shavette or Feather AC - and unwieldy around corners.

If need should be, I can hone it for you and show you how I strop my razors, and you could even borrow one of my ⅝ razors to start with.

We should get this fixed before long.




B.

Originally Posted by beluga

PM me with your phone number and drop by (I am located nr. Borj Al Arab), so I can take a look at it.

I have one Koraat, and wouldn't recommend it to start straight shaving with, as it is quite heavy - the opposite of a Shavette or Feather AC - and unwieldy around corners.

If need should be, I can hone it for you and show you how I strop my razors, and you could even borrow one of my ⅝ razors to start with.

We should get this fixed befoe long.




B.

Excellent! [emoji1]

Hi Satyen,

I offer a honing service in the UK if you wish you can send me the razor and I will hone the razor plus I'll give your razor a shave as well just to make double sure so to speak.

Thanks beluga... ur a lifesaver!