Thread: Uncomfortable first shave

Originally Posted by Tobias

My routine is
1) shower
2) shaving soap applied with brush
3) shave
4) alcoholfree after shave balm

My absolutely first shave was directly after I got the razor. I found it uncomfortable and had been reading that most new razors aren't really shave ready, therefore I sent it for honing to know what sharp is. Now when I got i back, I can't say there's much difference.

I've ordered a strop, but the honemeister also stropped it so it should have been shave ready this time. It wasn't done by anyone from the forum. I sent to a barber shop here in Sweden.

Anyway, thanks for all the answers. I'll most definitely continue trying until I get it right. It's pretty fun even if it's uncomfortable.

You cannot usually shave without stropping the razor even if it has been honed well by a honemeister. Stropping does take a bit of technique but nothing that you cannot accomplish. You need to keep the strop taunt and only use the weight of the razor while stropping. Any more pressure and you may roll the edge of the razor and ruin the edge. OK, it is not really ruined, it just needs to be rehoned to re-establish the bevel.
So, bottom line, get a strop and strop at least 60 passes before each shave.

Hi Tobias!

Did you send the razor to the guys at gents.se?
If you did your razor is not shave ready,did the same thing a while back,it came back sharp but not shave ready,atleast not for my beard.I bought the Norton combo stone a couple of weeks ago and with my crappy honing my blades are sharper then the blade I let them sharp..

Pop in to the social group SRP:Nordic for some swedish talk..



//Victor

Yeah, I sent it to Gents. Interesting. Is the honemeister over there not good enough?

I don't want to point finger,but my blade was'nt sharp enough for my beard..Maybe it's sharp enough for the guys at Gents..??

Knife sharp and razor sharp are two different things. Are they a knife shop? If so they likely sharpened it to knife sharpness (which I consider to be similar to factory honed- thats what razors are like when they come new from the factory ie. not shave ready).

They are a online shop for shave stuff,mostly disposables,moisturizers for men and so on.They have a straight razor sharpening service,they told me they used oil stones but I did'nt ask for specifics.I shaved with the blade,WTG was doable with irritation(had to use alot of pressure to get it smooth),ATG irritation and blood..

I'm a pretty fresh straight user but i tried all kinds of angles and stopped according to all the guidelines and was very carefull not to roll the edge,but just could'nt get a decent shave from it. Maybe others would find the sharpness good,but not with my beard..

I bought a norton combo stone a couple of weeks ago and my blade is now way sharper..

//Victor

Originally Posted by woork

They are a online shop for shave stuff,mostly disposables,moisturizers for men and so on.They have a straight razor sharpening service,they told me they used oil stones but I did'nt ask for specifics.I shaved with the blade,WTG was doable with irritation(had to use alot of pressure to get it smooth),ATG irritation and blood..

I'm a pretty fresh straight user but i tried all kinds of angles and stopped according to all the guidelines and was very carefull not to roll the edge,but just could'nt get a decent shave from it. Maybe others would find the sharpness good,but not with my beard..

I bought a norton combo stone a couple of weeks ago and my blade is now way sharper..

//Victor

Victor-

If you are using any amount of pressure at all it proves two things.

1)That is why you are going to get irritation.

2)Your blade is not sharp. It should be able to cut the hair on your face without pressure at all.

Has anyone else had experience of the sharpening done by this company?