Thread: Last hope of a Desperate Man!!

Originally Posted by Zee

I think the angle is the problem. Im going to do the 30 degree angle and progress to the 45. The concept of expirementing with the angle honestly hadnt crossed my mind yet

egads no! 30 degrees is probably the most angle you want. The chart posted above by ben.mid is really a good chart to go by. More angle does not necessarily equal closer shave. Well maybe it does but only because you're removing more skin than hair. Thats not the goal however.

All I can offer is what I use as a final sharpness test, after stropping and before shaving. A truly shave ready razor should shave off the tops of arm hair, when the blade is passed through it at about a 30 degree angle. When my razors are able to do that, I get a nice shave and only have to use very short, very light strokes. If not, they go back to the strop or even to the hones. FWIW.

Egads, this sounds familiar. While I am no seasoned vet at SR's I can say my ultimate issues were blade sharpness and angle. I learned this after keeping at it. I still go to my DE periodically but... Hang in there... one of the members here told me millions of men used these things in the old days... I just had to learn to get over myself and keep at it. Good luck and don't give up. There are many degrees on the learning curve!

I may have missed it, but I haven't seen any mention of stretching yet. I'm starting week 4 with the SR, and my shaves didn't start getting really close and irritation-free until I got more diligent about stretching every patch of skin that I was shaving. In my VERY limited experience, I would say that even if the blade angle is perfect, if your skin isn't stretched, it's not going to come out well.

Hope that helps.

Fred

Originally Posted by dward

Something different to try. Go back to basics. Just do the areas between your sideburns and jawlines using WTG only. Do that until you are totally comfortable with the razor. You will not get the BBS using this only. But right now you aren't getting one anyway. When you have mastered this technique (and comfortable with the pressures and angles) you can start to add XG, AGT, and new areas of your face. Take your time. It took me a month to finally put it altogether...

I have only been straight shaving since Sept. and this was the exact way I learned. I did two sometimes three WTG passes each time I shaved till Dec. just learning the angles, and hand-arm -face-stretching positions. Lots of youtube watching and Lynn's video is what I give alot of my success to. I now get BBS with two passes, WTG and ATG.
As far as sharpness goes, I shave right off my Norton 8K. I recently bought a C12K but have yet to shave from it. So I would believe you are in good shape with the coticle as long as your honing technique is good. I personally find that my best shavers will pop the top of arm hairs off when about 1/4 inch off skin.
Good Luck

How's it going Zee? Seeing any better results yet?

A really hot towel on the face helps too.

In the spirit of testing the variables, it might be worth sending one of your razors to a different honemeister just in case....

-Chief

Firstly grow a beard for a while to let face heal, or at least use alternate shave method not so close.
What works for me.
1) stretch skin.
2) light, no pressure.
3) short stokes.
4) Shave angle - to great and you will scrape skin.
5) Scary sharp edge, crox touch up every 3rd, 4th shave.
All your preping and aftershave sound spot on to me.
The biggest difference came for me when I learned how to scythe which is considered an advanced technique. It did take me 3 years to get it down and still get the occasional nick (it's up to you).
I did switch for a while to using a shavette cos they are always sharp and unforgiving if you don't lighten the pressure, makes you learn

I have the exact same problem as you do. All of my other shaving methods since I started shaving left my face felling like ground hamburger for a few days. I tried everything.
I have only been shaving for a couple weeks with a stra8, but the advise to stay with the basics if really key. Stick with the basic WTG on your whole face until you have perfected it. Then shave XTG until you have mastered it. And then, and only if your face can handle it, try ATG.
I'm still suffering from your problem and I hope that I can shave my whole face ATG every time w/out any problems, but right now i'm just taking it slow.
Good luck.. and please let me know if it gets better cause I can get all the reassurance and feedback I can get.