Results 11 to 15 of 15
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06-06-2008, 09:40 PM #11
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
- Location
- Co Durham UK
- Posts
- 201
Thanked: 15You're only 3 weeks into this.
Can you remember how long it took you to take your first shave with a cartridge razor and walk away nick free? I was about 16 years old and that took me a couple of weeks. (too much pressure....Doh!). Errr. That was 26 years ago though.
If you have read a lot of posts on this forum about starting off, then you will know that most recommend giving yourself 2 months to get comfortable and 8 months to a year to become reasonably proficient at BBS shaves.
I'm about a month in and loving it. I occasionally manage a complete BBS shave, but most of the time I just get pretty dammed close to it.
You have been given some excellent advice above.
Stick with it. I'm sure we'll come good in the end.
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06-09-2008, 01:12 AM #12
I think you have failed completely. You should go back to mach 3. (and send me all your stuff instead of throwing it away)
Really though, if you have invested that much consider sending the razor out to be re honed. its 20 bucks or something and you will KNOW that you have a shaveready razor. As sturdy as they are it is very possible that through incorrect stropping/technique the edge can be rolled/damaged. Patience is the key. Go slow, speed will come.
Just like shooting: Slow is fast, Fast is slow, Front sight focus, trigger squeeze.
shaving: Slow is fast, fast is blood, focus on angle, pressure is everything.
well not quite just like it but you get the point, speed comes with practice and time. Technique is more important than anything.
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06-09-2008, 08:13 AM #13
- Join Date
- Jan 2008
- Location
- Belgium
- Posts
- 1,872
Thanked: 1212If your razor passed the HHT when it came new from Dovo, than it was shaveready. From what I understand, it didn't tug or gave you bad irritation during those first few shaves. They do hone those razors at Dovo, and the ones I've seen all were sharp enough to shave with. I am aware that contradicts the general believe here on SRP.
The only problem is: they don't allow the spine to touch the hone, at Dovo, because they don't want to send out a razor with hone wear on that spine. Because of that, these razors have slightly more obtuse bevel angles, and require more work and special attention when you first hone them. If you put them flat on the hone, the tip of the bevel won't be touching your hone, until you've done enough work to correct that bevel angle. (You can check for that with the Magic Marker Test) There's a great video series, that covers it all, contributed by Heavydutysg135: http://straightrazorpalace.com/video...eo-series.html
That said, I think your biggest problem right now is stropping. You need some draw while you drag the razor over the leather surface. That generally takes some pressure, depending on your strop and the condition of your razor. Some strops generate enough suction to have lots of drag, others don't and require more pressure to be put on the blade. But either way: you must feel a minimal degree of friction. It also takes some speed. You can turn the razor (always over the spine) as slow as you want, but the stroke needs some speed. Russel Baldridge compares it with giving the razor a "carpet burn" (remember playing on the carpet during childhood?) After 20 laps or so in that fashion, that could possibly -depending on the condition of your razor- re-awake that keen edge by literally dragging it out, it's good practice to do a few zero pressure strokes to finish things off. Keep the strop taut at all times. More pressure on the razor, ask for more tautening force at the same time. Don't overdo it: you need some draw, you don't need to fold the edge over. It's a good idea to test for sharpness during stropping, the TPT was originally thought to barbers as a stropping test, although it is mostly used nowadays as a honing test.
Allow you face a few days of regeneration while you figure out what that razor needs to be shaveready again.
Good luck,
Bart.
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06-16-2008, 07:38 PM #14
- Join Date
- Jun 2007
- Location
- North Idaho Redoubt
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- 27,009
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Thanked: 13240
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06-16-2008, 07:43 PM #15Find me on SRP's official chat in ##srp on Freenode. Link is at top of SRP's homepage