Thread: Remind me why we're doing this again

When I first started I was mainly having sharpening problems because the hones I had were not really designed for sharpening razors. I recently acquired a Norton 4k/8k and a Chinese 12k and boy did it make a difference. I'm getting a lot better shaves now with two passes than I was before doing three and a touch up. Still don't get a BBS but pretty darn close. Since I shave everyday I'm not real concerned about a BBS but I would like to see how it feels, what I'm getting now feels pretty good. Two very important things about learning to shave with a str8 are patients and practice, practice, practice. Enjoy the journey!

if you have been trying a while and your still having problems, try changing it up a bit, try different razors and prep.
yea after a few months of doing it as often as i need to shave, which isnt often, i find that im pretty fluuent in it now, ive narrowed down the kinds of razors i like, which turned out to be 7/8+.
the smaller ones i cant feel in my hand or face and so i get a ton of nicks.

if your shaves are raarely smooth, you may need to adjust your stropping or shaving technique, and pay close attention to what you do different the smooth days.

cartridges are insanely expensive now
so many hand made soaps ssmell way better than store bought soaps

kempster,

You've been at it what, a month now? OK, you're just getting started. It will get better, probably. You say you watched your grandfather shave and he was how old and had been at it for how long? More than a month. A little patience along with good prep and a sharp razor will go a long way in easing the "sore feet" of the long journey.

I decided when I began shaving again, after many years of sporting a beard, that I would return to using a straight - which I decided to use in my teens after... yup, watching my grandfather use one. I used my original razor and got a not-so-good shave. I bought another presharpened by one of the honemeisters and got a better shave - not really swell, but better. Having decided to go down the path of honing my own blades, I bought a bunch of hones and proceeded to X pattern away, thinking I had in my hands and on the shelf the answers to all my problems both personal and scientific. Not so much.

I continued to shave and season my face and perfect my technique - which resulted in less and less blood spurting from fewer and fewer facial places. Between stropping a lot and honing my own blades I now can get a pretty much BBS shave in 2 passes every morning, with no leakers if I pay attention to where the blade is and what my hands are doing, but this has taken a couple of years of daily shaving. So that's what, 1500-2000 passes on my face? And I did the same with hones after watching one of our local pros (Randy) demonstrating what I should attempt.

Practice, fellow shaver, practice is what it's all about.

and good luck,

Originally Posted by Kempster

Great replies guys. I'm just throwing out thoughts here. I'm getting my 1st razor in the mail tomorrow so I have no idea how it will go with the first attempt although I've got plenty of info from ya'll to help me out. I'm not complaining, just curious is all. I can't wait to join in the fun of trying this out and getting proficient at it. When I first started to consider this I had no idea it took so many passes to get bbs. Then again, a lot of times I really don't need bbs (especially when I'm just going to work). I'm actually thinking it will be great fun to perfect something that not everyone can just walk up and do. Keep up the Great Work!!!!

Everyone ends up learning straight shaving differently, it's a pretty personal affair. but...try this if you like:

Shave the way you always have, then re-lather. Assuming you've at least learned the proper grip, just lay the straight flat against your dominant-side cheek. Exhale and relax. Lift the spine of the razor just a bit and move it against your skin just a bit. Stretch your skin a little with your free hand, the razor should move easily; you've already shaved. Now just work around your face some--- get a feel for how your beard grows and how the razor feels. Keep your strokes short and your touch very light.
Then rinse off and quit for the day.

The next time you shave, try shaving that dominant-side cheek with your straight razor. Nice and easy. Then finish up however you usually do. Gradually as the days pass and you feel more comfortable, use the straight razor more and more.

My point is, this isn't a race or a contest. A blade this large and sharp can be a little intimidating, but it's shaving, not open-heart surgery, (unless you screw up really, really, royally bad).

Lots of hot water, soak with hot towels or washcloths, lots of lather. And relax.. End of my personal sermon.

Lots of great responses.

I think what you get lost in as a newbie is looking for the BBS too fast, too soon. I took my time and was slow and deliberate. Do I still get nicks here and there - sometimes. do I look for BBS evey shave - not anymore. Some mornings, I walk in, shower, hot rinse on the face, shave cream - one pass wtg, one pass either XTG or ATG, cold water splash and AS - I am out the door - 10 minutes give or take.

The most important thing to me is - enjoy your shave - plus if I was single, the ladies think it is cool

I think I was pretty lucky when I started... I had some good advice from SRP members and I studied up BIG TIME before a razor ever touched my face. That being said, I have had few irritation or nicking problems. Maybe It just clicked for me or the planets aligned in some strange way, but I was getting BBS off and on after a few weeks. Now I can get BBS when I want to, but that is probably because I got so interested in restoring and honing that I feel like I have a decent understanding of where I need my edges to be in order to get that smooth.

If there is one thing that kind of clicked for me, it was the pressure thing. The angles came pretty naturally, but the pressure took a bit longer to find the sweet spot. I would say that the pressure needs to be light, but it also must be confident and deliberate. You don't need to plow through your skin, but you can't let the whiskers deflect your path if you know what I mean.

I don't need any strict preshave rituals, but a good shave soap is nice, and I really enjoy an icy cold towel to the face after all my shaving is done.. I got that trick early on from Glen, and I like it. Just rinse off, then press the cold wet towel to your face, and repeat a few times. Then I pat dry and have a splash of aftershave and I'm good to go.

like everyone else said i was to worried about the final product and not the process. when i slowed down and studied my face and worked on the basics ( lather, stroping) it got amazingly better. if i had a dollar for the ammount of times i had to touch my neck up with a cartridge razor i would be rich. but after practicing and learning how to stretch the skin my shave is the favorite part of my day. by the way i still get some burn on the folds of my kneck from time to time but thats the worst spot on me to shave.

I'm relativley new at this game also, about a month and a half now. I've sliced open my thumb due to not paying attention, I've nicked myself about a dozen times but I won't stop using a straight. I love it. I've had 1 almost BBS shave about a week ago and it was worth the nicks and cuts I went through the month before to get that almost perfect shave.

I have to admit that there are less nicks after a month and a half and the shaves are consistantly getting better. Most times I'll just do 2 passes and leave that little stubble under the jaw line. At least I know I can get it if I want. Keep at it!

Shaving with a straight razor is fussy. Lets face it, there are hones to purchase and honing to learn, strops to buy and stropping to learn, razors to buy and shaving to learn. Not to mention polishing, pins to tighten, and all the other little things that are different from shaving with a DE or SE. We become distracted with soaps, creams, brushes, scuttles, bowls, balm, AS, and lord knows what else.

Perhaps wet shaving itself is fussy. It seems men belong to one of two schools of thought. The "just get it done" school, and the rest of us that prefer to look at this daily task as another way to enjoy ourselves.

My point here is that perhaps we place too much emphasis on achieving perfection than enjoying the journey.

I'm happy with a DFS. However, if I don't have one my day is not trash. I just have an opportunity to engage in some of the above fussiness and bring out a hone to improve my razor's edge so I do end up with a DFS the next time.

We are fortunate that, at least with shaving, there is always tomorrow. So to heck with BBS. That will come in time and will be all the more enjoyed because of the mountain you have climbed to get there.

I'm using my straights on a daily basis, and I don't see any reason to change to a DE or disposable. I am still experimenting with the shave, but that is part of the fun. Changing from a 3-pass WTG/XTG/ATG to a 2-pass WTG/ATG gave great results and a slightly faster time.

It just keeps getting better and better.