first, second, and third shave

bought a restored razor out of the classified section. sold as being shave ready. passed the hht, and feels sticky on the tpt. took a hot shower, used conditioner on my beard, used a hot towel and hot lather. went to used the razor on the side burn area, pulled the skin back and no go. it doesnt want to cut the hair. just tugs and pulls and is a really messy shave. next day same prep, stropped this time. 30 linen and 60 leather. felt sticky on tpt and passed hht, still same results. same on third attempt. will pass the hht but wont slice though my stuble. tried light pressure. even applied more pressure. wtg and atg no difference. tried to shallow out the razor and tried to flatten it out alittle. it wont cut and my face is on fire. and it seems like it pulls the hair out and my face was bleeding from where the hair was pulled out.

need advice. is it me or the razor. skims over some sections of hair and pulls out the others. is a wyss german made razor sold shave ready. my face cant take much more of this, so im stopping till i figure something out. any help would be appreciated. thanks.

Welcome to SRP. I don't have an answer for you. Some one will be along with some suggestions though. Sounds like you've read enough to know what you're talking about. :shrug: :gl:

hmm not sure exactly how you do it yet but
flatten the razor completely spine on the skin
it wont give you a close shave but it will tell you if the razot cuts
you can lift the spine to a better angle if this work

if your razor really tugs a lot it might be that the edge is coarse AKA gripping the hair on the HHT and trying to do the same with your beard

i dont know who sold you the razor and dont want to know
but you could pm him and ask about it too if you suspect the razor isnt up to the job

Also remember that is shave ready for someone else may not be shave ready for you. Shave ready means that user for their beard type can get a good shave with the edge they have created. That does NOT mean that it is going to shave everyone else that buys that razor, it may but it also may not. I have purchased about three razors that I had to rehone myself because the edges weren't sharp enough for my thick stubble, it's just something that you may have to consider and then send to Lynn or someone else here but a really good honing.

Also did you strop? 9 times out of 10 stropping dulls a razor when a new straight user thinks they know what they're doing and ruins the edge before they even try to shave their face.

i shaved with it the first time with out stropping, there was no difference in the shave before and after stropping. i think it needs to get sharpened. so another question being would that include stropping more or putting on a 8 or 12k stone.

and on a second note i have sharpened chisels at work that could probably give a better shave

If it tugs at all angles I'd go back to the basics... 1k! If you didn't touch the edge before using it (not doing the TPT laterally... will screw up the edge) I'd consider sending it back for another sharpening or just get refunded.

Best thing to do is to elimiate your variables-- first send it to a honemeister to be resharpened... then don't strop with it when you get it back. If you have the same trouble, then it is related to your prep or technique.

If you are new to this I would not try to sharpen it on your own yet... do that after you have the shaving part down, as the final test for a properly honed razor *is* how well it shaves.

-Chief

You said you flattened the razor when it tugged. Did you try deepening the cutting angle? Maybe you started out too shallow.