Comments on Against the Grain

First post, but I have been lurking here since my wife surprised me with a DOVO Pearlex 5/8" for Christmas, and I couldn’t shave with it…

Anyway, after reading everything here I wanted (and expected) the closest shave of my life. It didn’t happen… at first.

After reading many of the replies here, most cite the sharpness of the blade for poor results, particularly for the last against the grain pass.

This pass for me, at first, was a murderous, bloody experience - I wrote it off to my Italian stubble and nearly threw in the towel…

But I sharpened and honed and stropped until I couldn’t imagine a sharper blade. No matter how sharp I made the edge, the last against the grain pass was always tough, for me.

But, what I learned is – no matter how sharp the blade is, if you don’t pull your skin tight – and I mean really tight, it will always pull, skip and tug.

This changed everything for me – I bought a heavier 6/8” TI, and learned how to pull my skin tight in very short increments to get my whiskers to “pop” up.

After this, it was a whole new ballgame for me – I could sharpen until the cows come home, but until I learned how to pull my skin tight it simply didn’t matter, particularly for the third and final against the grain pass. I am now shaving about 2” from my pulling fingers on the against the grain pass at all times. No more problems with tugging, skipping or ripping of any kind.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this experience because it seems there are a lot of guys in the same boat as I, early on the learning curve…

Cheers,
Keith

Keith,

You have really gotten that right. A tight face makes for a great shave with alot less nicks.:cool:

Keith,

Well said. And welcome to the boards.

RT

Yes, and a true thing to keep in mind is not your comment but that newbies have the opportunity to have incredible epiphanies too. I was shocked the first time I went into Truefitt and Hill and got a straight shave from an expert. I thought he was going to rip my face open with his stretching technique.

Welcome. . .

I guess what surprised me was that I didn't have any feel (appreciation) for exactly how important it was, again, at least for me.

It made a huge difference - night and day. The combination of the heavier 6/8" TI and just learning how to pull and where to pull made a world of difference.

I was a bit frustrated at first, because I knew the blade was sharp - but I could never get a close shave w/o chewing up my face.

This is a difficult skill to learn, no doubt, so I wanted to share what made the biggest difference to me - because I am sure there are more guys like me out there just trying to get it all worked out.

Cheers,
Keith

Somedays I see straight shaving as a triangle of performance pinacles. Honing, stropping, and shaving. Pulling and angle being subparts of the latter. Welcome again...

KEF,

Congratulations and welcome to the forum. Looking
forward to your perticipation.


Terry

And thank-you. Your post is an important one, since there are a fair number who are in a similar position. Talking about it works it out.

The only thing to add on your observations is that if your skin and whiskers dry out, you'll still experience some irritation. Keep well lubricated too and your shaves should quickly border the sublime.

X

Welcome to the forums Keith. Good for you to have shared your experience. No matter how many times skin stretching is emphasized in the posts there nothing like feeling it for yourself.

Now that your shaving technique is good, you can start experimenting with different shave products.

The search for the perfect shave never really ends no matter how good it gets. There is always the dream of it getting even better :D.

Welcome Keith.

It truly becomes a blast when you get to the point where you don't bleed too much.:eek:

Keith, I have to impart something I just read from Joe Lerch. He made so much sense when he said that when pulling the skin, we have to keep in mind whether the pulling is making the hairs stand up which will give a baby's bottom-smoothness or if the pulling is causing the hairs to flatten out. Everyone has to know their face well to do this properly.

Welcome aboard. Yes, the Mediterranean beard can be a killer - I agree with you!!

Just my two cents (and Joe's).

-Rob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KEF

I could sharpen until the cows come home, but until I learned how to pull my skin tight it simply didn’t matter, particularly for the third and final against the grain pass.

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Welcome Keith.

It's hard to believe that anyone could shave successfully with a str8 without some form of stretching. As a minimum, you need to make sure the skin is flat in front of the razor so you don't cut into a skin fold. If you don't need to do that your razor is not sharp enough. Some guys say they don't stretch, and then you see them making faces in front of the mirror. That's stretching.

You discovered one of the great secrets (not really, since we're always telling you about it) for yourself. For some guys, like you, it can make all the difference. for me, correct stretching is the way I finally learned to shave my neck effectively.