Thread: First straight shave

I bought that razor last January, and used it for a few months. I really like it.

I got careless ad gave myself a HORRIBLE shave, and stopped the straight, and went back to DE's.

Had my first straight shave on Sunday - onyl one small nick, and was feeling good and then..... and then.....

went for one last XTG pass on my left jaw line.... my lather has dried a bit, got a little thin, and my angle jumped up as the friction increase and BAM! one inch long cut where the darn thing 'stuck' and dug into my jaw.

Back to DE's for a few days.... and I'll try again tomorrow.

Good luck

Barry

Hi Barry,

Sorry to hear about the cut, I used to do that when I first started shaving with a DE. I'd go for one last stroke and BAM, a ripper of cut to finish the shave off.

Fortunately, since I've started with a straight I haven't cut myself badly. But I've had my fair share of scratches from where I've rested the blade either at the beginning or end of stroke.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

Since I've started I've struggled with certain passes, it took me a while to learn ATG, which I'm beginning to master. However one pass I'm really struggling with is going from ear to nose on my neck. Does anyone have any advice on how I can approach this, especially with grips. I can hold the blade ambidextrously. I find that trying to get a flat surface for the blades to travel is quite difficult because of the contour of my neck.

Any advice or tips would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance

Originally Posted by Aza

I have a few questions - with the neck pass the blade seemed to get stuck, is that angle, lather, blade or all?

That often happens when the neck skin is not taut enough. Try stretching the skin a little tighter and I bet you'll find that shaving the neck goes a little smoother.

Hey, im new to straight shaving also so dont just take my word for it youll have to watch the video. Jokeys has a video were he shaves on the neck he starts with XTG and as he shaves he curves in to go against the grain. I find it easier to do that than try and start ATG just with my jaw line and all. Go check out his videos good stuff.

If you don't have any Camellia Oil, you can use Tuf-Glide. Its made for guns, but is very good at preventing rust on straight razors.

If you can't get Camellia oil or Tuf-Glide you can get by with a cooking oil from your kitchen.

Keep in mind that you don't have to oil the blade after every shave. If you keep the blade dry--even in your bathroom--it won't rust. I find that wiping a little cooking oil (corn or canola oil) on the blade approx. every two weeks helps maintain the blade.

BTW...Just got a Dovo Prima Klang w/ Violet wood scales from Straight Razor Designs. Its a real beauty.

Just a small suggestion on oil. This may be the sword and knife geek in me talking but Choji oil (a mix of mineral oil and clove oil) is great stuff, I have used it on my custom blades.

I would check the direction of hair growth (grain) on your neck...I had a similar problem until I figured out that a "with the grain" pass on the left sode of my neck is actually an upstroke due to the way my neck hair grows. So... I was trying to do a down stroke on both sides as a first pass which always gave me trouble. Now I do the first pass on the left side as up, and the first pass on the right side as down. Works great. Maybe thats all it is?

Originally Posted by sffone

That often happens when the neck skin is not taut enough. Try stretching the skin a little tighter and I bet you'll find that shaving the neck goes a little smoother.

For some parts of the face stretch the skin in front of or behind the blade.

Originally Posted by Aza

Can some elder guru's please offer some advice? I'm pretty sure its angle, so does the blade need to be steeper or flatter?

I am a newbie as well and have had similar problems. At the start I was at way too steep of an angle maybe 45 deg or so. It caused the sound to be more like velcro getting pulled apart than bacon frying in a frying pan. Once the angles start to get closer to the right angle(flatter), the sound changes and it took me till my third shave to get the pressure right, I was using way too much, it doesnt take much. Also I noticed that I was a little nervous about my neck and it seemed to cause the whiskers to grab the razor bringing it to a stop, once I started to get the feel down and my confidence increased I have been having less and less of that. Congrats on the first and I hope you keep enjoying this as much as I have been. There is nothing better than learning new skills IMHO.

-Jason