Thread: Am I being unrealistic?

My razor is off to spend some quality time with an anonymous good Samaritan. In the meantime, I shaved with a SE to some results that made me think a little bit.

I've only shaved with a safety razor three times, not including touch-ups. Tonight I decided to use a razor I've never used before with a brand-new Gem blade. That combination, along with my inexperience, did result in some mishandling and a little blood, but overall, it was an amazing shave. Amazing. My face feels like glass. I took pains to make sure my prep and process were more or less the same as if I used my straight. Same hot-water soak, same lathering, same shaving-direction. I even used the exact same stretching techniques. The only pressure I used was the gravity of the razor on my face (except for the aforementioned mishandled areas...I'm still learning that spot). As I was doing it, I thought that there was never a time when my straight could have done that. Not even when it was freshly honed did it glide through my beard that easily. Now granted, I obviously ruined the edge of my razor early on and was fighting an uphill battle from the beginning.

But this experience with my SE razor is how it's supposed to be, right? I mean, after my first pass with the SE I could have stopped and looked completely clean-shaven had I wanted to. It was never like that with my straight.

I'm hoping this is a sign that my technique has improved, that I'm on the right track and that hopefully I can get my blade straightened out and have this experience with a straight razor.

As good as it was though, it wasn't as much fun as the straight is, though.

Yep, that's how it oughta be. Easy peezy...sans blood letting. I'm glad to know I helped a little. Even if I didn't completely solve the problem for ya.

Originally Posted by U2Bono269

My razor is off to spend some quality time with an anonymous good Samaritan. In the meantime, I shaved with a SE to some results that made me think a little bit.

I've only shaved with a safety razor three times, not including touch-ups. Tonight I decided to use a razor I've never used before with a brand-new Gem blade. That combination, along with my inexperience, did result in some mishandling and a little blood, but overall, it was an amazing shave. Amazing. My face feels like glass. I took pains to make sure my prep and process were more or less the same as if I used my straight. Same hot-water soak, same lathering, same shaving-direction. I even used the exact same stretching techniques. The only pressure I used was the gravity of the razor on my face (except for the aforementioned mishandled areas...I'm still learning that spot). As I was doing it, I thought that there was never a time when my straight could have done that. Not even when it was freshly honed did it glide through my beard that easily. Now granted, I obviously ruined the edge of my razor early on and was fighting an uphill battle from the beginning.

But this experience with my SE razor is how it's supposed to be, right? I mean, after my first pass with the SE I could have stopped and looked completely clean-shaven had I wanted to. It was never like that with my straight.

I'm hoping this is a sign that my technique has improved, that I'm on the right track and that hopefully I can get my blade straightened out and have this experience with a straight razor.

As good as it was though, it wasn't as much fun as the straight is, though.

Yeah, that's the kind of experience you should get with your straight. You're on the right track...and practicing with an SE's not bad while you wait for your straight to return. Mind if I ask what SE you're using?

Peace,
Jim

I've been using a Gem 1912 Junior that my grandfather gave me. Last night I opted to try a Gem Open Comb Micromatic that I picked up on ebay. I liked it better than the 1912. I also have a Gillette 40s Superspeed that I use for touchups with the straight.

It's certainly helped me feel more confident about my technique. I guess I'm doing better than I thought.

The gem micromatic is a great razor. I own a lot of gems actually, schick injectors are really good too. The results you got from the Se are very similar to a straight shave but straights are less "bitey".

Virtually everyone seems to have had to be very patient learning to use a straight, certainly me. However this blunting so soon is a bit disappointing, and when allied to the razor skipping on your beard, two things occur to me. First, I sincerely hope you are not using anything out of an aerosol can. There just isn't the moisture in it for use with a straight edge, and it will make it skip for sure. Second, every other form of razor, safety DE, cartridge or Rolls, is applied to the beard as close to zero degrees as the design will allow. True? This certainly is not the case with a straight, and people here far, far better informed than I, recommend an angle of 20 - 30 degrees; I would say closer to 20 than 30, and the way you describe sensing premature blunting, skipping and bad razor burn leads me to believe you are shaving at much too steep an angle. I do hope this helps.

Originally Posted by Blackpool

. . . Second, every other form of razor, safety DE, cartridge or Rolls, is applied to the beard as close to zero degrees as the design will allow. True? This certainly is not the case with a straight, and people here far, far better informed than I, recommend an angle of 20 - 30 degrees; I would say closer to 20 than 30, and the way you describe sensing premature blunting, skipping and bad razor burn leads me to believe you are shaving at much to steep an angle. I do hope this helps.

I read "30 degrees" in many places when I started shaving. I developed my own rule, which doesn't need a protractor:

. . . Start with the spine flat on your skin;

. . . start a slow shaving stroke;

. . . Raise the spine until the razor starts to cut.

That's worked pretty well.

"Proper angle" depends on your skin, your beard, etc. You may _think_ you're maintaining a good angle, but if you apply any pressure to the edge, it will press into the skin, and the angle _at the edge_ will be much higher than the "average angle" from edge to spine.

You'll tend to use pressure (against the skin) if the razor is dull, and won't cut properly. As Blackpool says, the result will be razor burn.

Charles

Still a noob (me). My 2 cents. I found that I was using to flat of an angle at the beginning. I also saw some one say sounds like scraping a piece of toast with a butter knife. I now use more angle, often hear that sound, and tend towards slicing through the wiskers, as opposed to pushing through. The angle varies depending on where I am on my face, more here and less there.

It appears to be fairly easy to roll the edge on a strop. I look at every edge I have honed for several years under 7x or 10x to see what is happening as I hone. My Henckel is easy for me to over hone. Fairly soft when compared to my homemade from a file razor. The file razor is many things the Henckel is not. The most notable is that it is closer to a microtome or near wedge. The blade length is shorter at 2" in length. The overall length is the same as the Henckel with out the scales, which makes it more difficult to strop. This makes me pay more attention to technique, and that has paid off. I think my last honing was about 3 months ago, I eat shirt collars too. My finest hone is at 8000 grit. I need another one still finer, I made my strop from a new piece of saddle leather and am to cheap to send my blades out for honing.

I now get a good shave every time (not always without blood). It really was technique. Patience and practice!

Good Luck
Jeff

The Micromatic is a good razor. I had one for a while and it shaved well enough, but I decided to let it go over a Fatboy for travel use. I can't hardly bring myself to use a DE now, unless I'm on the road.

Let us know how things improve (or don't improve) over time.

Peace,
Jim

UPDATE:

Got the razor back. The first time I used it I could tell it was significantly keener than it had been before. But, due to rust and a little too much energy, my first shave with it wasn't so great. Burn, cuts, lots of stubble left. My fault entirely.

So I gave it a few days off and tried again this morning and it was great. All the issues I had been experiencing were gone. The razor cut smoothly, and while I did have a little bit of irritation and redness it was gone in 5 minutes.

I'm very, very happy.