Decrease angle?

Hi All,

I'm hoping to get some help with what seems like a lot of pulling. Here's the situation:

After a day to a day-and-a-half of growth, (with a thick beard) the first WTG pass seems to drag, stutter, require a bit too much pressure. The razor is just not gliding.

~3 months shaving experience, still using DE for touch-ups.
Stropping is done 20 on webbing, 40 on Latigo
Shave prep is always the same and is a hot shower.
The razor was bought new, shave ready, from SRD.
The razor did this with my first shaves, but I attributed it to my newbie technique.

I've tried using a wetter lather, but it didn't help.
I've tried to refresh the edge (after about 15 shaves) with wool felt and .5 micron diamond spray but the difference was minimal.

The simplest technique I have found that gets the razor gliding is to use a DE (with Derby or Astra blade) one pass with the grain. After that , comfortable WTG, ATG and XTG shaves.
So should I try a WTG pass at a decreased angle or is there something else I could try?

Thanks,
C

It's possible (especially if you've been shaving for 3 months without touchups) that your blade is ready for some touch ups on a pasted strop, pasted balsa, or finishing hone. If you've got any of the above, give that a shot and see how it's doing.

You did not say what angle you are already using. As a general rule tho (if one such can be made) the angle should be less than many think. Certainly try a lesser angle, too steep and angle will make the razor more likely to pull or even cut you. WTG should be up to, but no more than 30 degrees, that is pretty flat really. XTG should be around 15 degrees, and ATG as little as 5. It is quite common to have too much of an angle, and this will make a less than stellar shave. Many lay the blade flat on the skin, then raise it no more than 2 spine widths. Try that on a surface you can clearly see, just to give you a feel of that it should be like.
It could be, as pointed out, that by now your razor could use a touchup, but first do try a really flat shave. It could be just what you need for a nice comfy experience :) Check if it pops arm hair perhaps, it will give you the opportunity to see the correct angle really well -or give it another shave.

Best of luck.

Take a ride over to Medina and visit with Don. Show him how you are shaving and see if he can help you as well as check out or refresh your razor.

Have fun

Usually when a good performing razor starts to pull it needs to be honed.

I'm going to try a flat shave first and see how that is before heading to Medina. It might need a touch up, but then again, my technique could be what is in need of adjustment! Thanks everyone.

What seems odd is that you already tried a touch up with diamond-on-wool. The difference shouldn't have been minimal, you should have noticed a huge difference. I'm thinking your razor either needs a stone or your technique needs improvement. Perhaps both.

I'm not sure how far you live from Medina, but if I were you I'd take Lynn/Don up on their offer and find out what's really going on.

something that hasn't been offered up yet - try more laps of stropping. That might help

You didn't say how many laps you did when you refreshed the edge. The first time I refreshed the edge I did 25 laps on CrOx and 25 on FeOx then stropped as usual. It improved the shave for about 2 days. I repeated the 25/25 and strop and that time the refresh lasted almost 3 months. If you only did a relatively few laps you might want to refresh again with 30-50 laps and see if that lasts longer.

Since you are new at this, maybe you inadvertantly rolled the edge while stropping. I did when I first started out and I had some pulling.

Take Lynn's advice, go see Don and let him look at the razor.

sparky

Watch your angle carefully as you are shaving. Are you "going wide" when you hit a rough patch of hairs? If so, then maybe you need to tighten up your grip, stretch your skin a little tighter, and keep a consistent angle so the razor doesn't catch and change angles on you. This used to happen to me, and trying those three things really helped. My shaves are a lot better now.

I would also work on the prep a little. A hot shower is great as long as you spend at least a couple of minutes letting water spray directly on your face. Maybe also slather on some cheap shaving cream and massage it in for a couple of minutes. Then keep your face totally wet while you are making your lather. Don't let your face dry out at all, keep slapping on water.

Either way, you shouldn't have to shave with a DE first in order to shave with a straight. If you are gentle to yourself then the shave should be comfortable. If I were you I would take advantage of Lynn's suggestion and head over to the shop in Medina. That is a tremendous resource to have close to you.

Michael

I'd like to try monitoring and flattening the angle, then possible increasing the number of laps on the strop before I go out to Imperial Shaving. I was hoping to wait until I am ready to buy a few hones for a pilgrimage to see Don. I'm still having fun and the shaves are comfortable, so I feel I can wait for a few more shaves.

You may want to examine the edge under bright light and high magnification to make sure the edge is not rolled. If the edge is rolled, it'll reflect the light back at you. So you'll need to tilt the razor back and forth a bit and you'll be able to locate the edge.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sparky75

I'd like to try monitoring and flattening the angle, then possible increasing the number of laps on the strop before I go out to Imperial Shaving. I was hoping to wait until I am ready to buy a few hones for a pilgrimage to see Don. I'm still having fun and the shaves are comfortable, so I feel I can wait for a few more shaves.

---