Originally Posted by
Obie
Hello, Ryan:
Welcome to Straight Razor Place.
As everyone suggests, please send your new razor to a professional for proper sharpening. Once that is taken care of, then comes the concentration on preparation. Find a good boar bristle or a "pure" badger shave brush, (about $25, give or take), and a good soap (Mama Bear, about $10).
On your shave, the general blade angle is somewhere around 30 degrees. That's a general figure. I keep mine about 20 degrees, as much as I can determine. That angle, however, changes while shaving different parts of your face.
Keep the pressure light; the razor itself offers the necessary pressure. Shave slowly, methodically and, obviously, carefully (pardon my adverb parade). Also, experiment and improvise.
But it all starts with a well honed razor. For a newcomer, a razor honed by a professional. After that, comes everything else. Stick with it. You will get there.
Regards,
Obie