Thread: Relaxing & smooth shave?

Originally Posted by bvais

From the looks of it I've been shaving with dull blades. It's quite possible that my stropping technique was so horrible that I killed them.
I'll send the Bismark to Lynn so I can compare with the Toledo.

Smart move.

You will now have a comparison blade to match against your blades.

I've actually decided to buy a chrome oxide stick for now. Saw a video with Lynn saying that if the blade starts tugging at your whiskers, a stropping with oxide would suffice, so I want to try that first. If this fails I'll send it in.

By stick, do you mean a CrOx crayon as sold by SRD?

I have a leather strop coated with the crayon CrOx and it works great for a tugging blade. It does not take a lot of product.
Apply it minimally.

Originally Posted by rolodave

By stick, do you mean a CrOx crayon as sold by SRD?

I have a leather strop coated with the crayon CrOx and it works great for a tugging blade. It does not take a lot of product.
Apply it minimally.

Yeap. SRD sells a spray now, but I found the stick/crayon on Amazon.

Originally Posted by bvais

Yeap. SRD sells a spray now, but I found the stick/crayon on Amazon.

Do a forum search for Crox. I think you will find there is Crox and then there is Crox as in different grits. They are not all the same.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

Do a forum search for Crox. I think you will find there is Crox and then there is Crox as in different grits. They are not all the same.

Bob

Yeah, forgot about that.

The SRD crayon is 50,000 grit. Their diamond spray, which I also use, is 100,000 grit.

The CrOx followed by the diamond spray will put a good edge back on a blade.

Never hurts to start the day with a bit of fear. Makes the balance of the day much more acceptable...

I shave at night. When i lather up, i like to see a sheen on my lathered face. It shows me i got enough or close to enough water in it. Touch more water and it gets runny. Its 5hat close to too wet. If it too wet i wait a couple minutes and work it some more. I f8nd shaving even with the sharpest blade there is so resistance. Not much. But when it hits the grey old whiskers it slows down just a bit. Still smooth shave. I dont rush it so i enjoy the time shaving. As far as BBS shave, that dont happen much at all. I get very close to it but there is always a spot or two that 8 can still feel stubble when rubbing ATG. My shaves are close and comfortable. Nobody knows about what might be left on my face unless they rub all-over my face 8n all directions. The wife dont even do that! BTW, i do three passes to cut down the grey.

Enjoy a Close and Comfortable shave, splash on the A/S and be happy that you have no burn because you didnt over shave your skin.

JMHO.

Originally Posted by bvais

I shaved with DE Feather for years before making the jump into straight blades last year. Absolutely loved the Feathers, but wanted a BB shave.
Now.. I did get what I was looking for, but not once (not.a.single.time) did I have a relaxing smooth shave. When I say "smooth" I mean the blade simply glides on the face.. no pressure, no forcing the blade down the cheek. It doesn't pull at my face, I don't have to fight it to cut the stubble.
I own 2 blades, a 6/8" Bismark from Lynn Abrams and a Toledo blade from Whipped Dog.
Most likely my technique completely sucked in the beginning, but in a year I think I got better at it (stropping included).
I'm going to send both blades for resharpening and then try again without stropping, just to make sure I'm not dulling them.

So.. question for the group? Is your shave a relaxing & smooth one? Do I need to reset my expectations, i.e. shaving with a straight blade won't be as smooth as a DE one?

tnx!

It's really great when all the shaving variables come together in harmony. Give yourself more time and experiment with different razors, strops, creams, soaps, blade angles etc. I learn something new everyday, the shaves keep getting better and more consistent. I still get a bummer shave from time to time but that's how you learn. Keep up the good work.

Originally Posted by Gasman

I shave at night. When i lather up, i like to see a sheen on my lathered face. It shows me i got enough or close to enough water in it. Touch more water and it gets runny. Its 5hat close to too wet. If it too wet i wait a couple minutes and work it some more.

I find that if it's too wet, it will come right around if I keep working it on my face. I rarely need to add more soap, just work what's there. The more I work the lather with the brush, the better it is.