Thread: Straight Razor not cutting as close as 3 blade catridge

Hi everyone,

So I've been shaving for awhile now, 6 months at least, but I can't seem to get my straight razor to cut closer than my three blade disposable. I had it professionally sharpened when I first starting using it and I've honed it every few weeks using a Franz Swaty to maintain the sharpness from then on, but I always have to finish off my shave with my disposable. Are straight razors simply not going to give as close a shave as disposables or is it something else? If it's relevant, my preshave preparation is usually to shower, lather with Gentleman's Refinery soap(now using much cheaper brand I found at Walmart), let it sit for a little, then shave using hot water to rinse blade.

Well, first you need to determine if your razor was truly shave ready. You said you had it professionally honed but depending on who did it, you know how that goes.

Assuming your razor is proper sharp the culprit is you. You are doing something wrong either your angle or stroke or pressure you are using. A straight should give a far better shave than a cartridge in every respect. There are many things to examine. How you strop also and the way you used the hone could also affect your situation.

Originally Posted by eagentebuddy

Are straight razors simply not going to give as close a shave as disposables or is it something else?

It has to be something else. Either the razor isn't sharp enough or you need to look at your technique.

I was just reading about, and I came across an article on over-honing. I completely forgot this could happen, which seems likely to have occurred in my case, since I make many swipes with my blade when using the swaty. I'll run some tests and see what happens.

Hi eagentebuddy,

I just want to assure you that the answers are not those of true believers circling the wagons. A properly sharp straight should give you as close a shave as your disposable, with no more pressure applied than it takes to wipe away the lather. With proper technique, that is. The disposable is more forgiving of technique, but will also bring you the curse of ingrown hairs. Ingrowns are pretty much impossible with a straight. By the time they became a problem, your skin would be aflame from all the pressure you were putting on your blade.

I'm not a pro honer, but get my own blades to that point where I sweep off the lather and the beard magically disappears. If you'd like to try another honing, I'll take yours back to a new bevel then bring it back to a new edge for you to try out. You just pay postage. PM me if you're interested.

Best wishes to you.

Some say there's not such thing as overhoning, others do, IMO if you keep close to equal pressure (no pressure) on both sides when honing it's almost impossible, even on a low grit stone.

On a Swaty you would need to do a LOT of strokes with uneven pressure to overhone a razor.

Over-honing only occurs when your wife leaves you because of it.

If you think about the physics of a cartrige vs. a straight, there's no way for a cartridge to offer you a closer shave than a straight. BUT, there are plenty of ways for you to achieve lesser results with a straight than with a cartridge. The cartridge itself stretches the skin, positions the blades at the most consistent angle, takes three or more swipes in one pass, and holds the blades away from the skin to prevent irritation. The way they cut as close as they do is because they're designed to pull the hair up and then cut it, letting it sink back in at or below the surface of the skin. A straight glides over the skin with no guards, no preceding stretching bar, no set angle, but also no pull and cut action.

You may be on to something with the overhoning idea, but I'd take roughkype up on his very generous offer and see if that doesn't illuminate things for you.

Peace,
Jim

Maybe you're just not very good at using an open razor!? You're pre-shave sounds good enough to lengthen the hairs sufficiently... if you're blade edge seems to be refreshed over all this time I doubt it is a bevel issue.. are you stretching the hairs so they stand straight up, perpendicular to the plane of the skin's surface? That is one way to get a real close shave. More difficult depending on stretchability of the area and the direction of the hair's growth, I know, but it's worth trying.

Exactly how close are you looking to shave, what areas, what's the main direction of growth, please describe what kind of strokes you're using?

it also depends on how many passes you're doing, knowing your direction of growth properly and factors like that. I have a patch on my neck where, sometimes it's BBS sometimes it's not, depending on the day, my mood, the blade i'm using (width/grind). Some days i get it, somedays i don't but i know it's possible, so i strive every day to replicate what i do on the good days.

Shaving with a straight is about hair reduction, not about getting a BBS in a single sweep. You can get very very close mind you if you pay attention to your growth direction, and while some may agree and some may not, i've found that little short strokes always get a better result if only doing one pass. Have been working on a hypothesis about why this may be, can't articulate it yet though. Saying that, every hot shave barber i've been to, and there's a few in edinburgh, always do little short strokes. anyways what i was aiming for with this was to say for some reason a straight will get you as close to the skin as possible and last longer, while i always found with a cartridge the regrowth is faster even though they're technically cutting the hair back into the skin.