Thread: My first straight shave

Steve,

The chin is tough. I'm still getting the hang of it, and every day it gets a little better.

A couple of tips: If you give yourself razor burn, go easy the next day. Razor burn tends to compound on itself, and if you mess with it too much it'll make you sorry you did.

Don't push things on your chin too much. Do what you can, then finish with a DE or cartridge razor.

Don't assume that just because you've gone over it once you're ready for the against the grain pass. Do a couple of with the grain passes for a while.

One thing that's really helping me with my chin is to lower the spine of the razor almost to my skin, which gives a more acute angle to the blade. Then, and you have to be careful with this, draw the razor down and across instead of straight down. If straight down was 0 degrees, you'd be moving the razor at about a 30 degree angle.

This imparts a slight sideways motion to the edge, allowing the hairs to slide slightly over the edge and cut more easily.

If you're not careful, you'll slice yourself good with this. There are a lot of posts that talk about this cutting angle, as well as some good graphics posted somewhere. Read some more about it before you try it.

Keep at it,
Josh

Thanks Josh,

It's interesting how this is really relearning how to shave all over again. From the pressure to the angle to the stropping there are just so many components that, if I let it, would overwhelm me. Certainly an art form.

There is quite a bit to learn. It's a shame we didn't all start when we were first learning to shave, because we could have acquired the skills more gradually.

It all becomes second nature quickly, though. I think within a few months it won't take me any longer than it did to shave with my canned goo and Mock 3--about 10 minutes. I'm only 26, so I figure the time I spend now will pay off for about 40 or 50 more years...

Josh

So, not trying to over analyze things but...

I know my angle and pressure need adjusting and improvement but I was wondering if perhaps I dulled the razor to the point where I ought to run it over the .5 side of my pasted paddle, then restrop.

I feel bad that I'm messing this up so much because Tony provided me with great equipment in perfect condition.

Actually, it works the other way. Restrop, then run it over the pasted paddle. If you've got a 1 micron side on that paddle you may want to use that first, maybe 10 laps, then wipe the spine on a towel, and strop the blade on the towel, then give it 20 laps on the .5 micron side.

Steve,

Unfortunately, trial and error are the only means most of us have to learn this. You can't damage anything too badly; at worst you could nick your strop or dull your razor, but the strop will still work with a nick in it, and the razor can be resharpened.

The pasted strop won't hurt anything, and it could help. Try doing a set number of laps, like the 10-20 combo mparker suggested or maybe 30 if all you have is the .5 micron paste. Then shave. If it's not smooth, give it another set of laps, then shave. Eventually you'll get it to the point where you won't notice any improvement.

Sometimes what's perfect for one person isn't quite sharp enough for someone else. If it's tugging really badly on every stroke then the edge is probably at least part of the problem.

Josh

Originally Posted by mparker762

Actually, it works the other way. Restrop, then run it over the pasted paddle. If you've got a 1 micron side on that paddle you may want to use that first, maybe 10 laps, then wipe the spine on a towel, and strop the blade on the towel, then give it 20 laps on the .5 micron side.

I have a 3, 1 and .5 side. Why strop the blade on the towel? to remove the abrasive? After the 20 laps on the .5 side, would I strop again right before my next shave or skip the strop for that shave and resume for all shaves after that?

Yes, you don't want to cross-contaminate the abrasives and carry some of the coarser abrasive onto the finer side of the paddle. IME most of the abrasive cross-contamination comes from the spine, so you should take extra care to wipe that down before moving on, but some abrasive gets caught on the bevel and fin as well, hence the stropping on a towel.

You strop it on the leather before going to the abrasives in order to get the fin straightened as much as possible so you don't grind it off unnecessarily. But once you've left the paddles you don't need to strop on leather for that shave because it's still stropped from the leather and the abrasive paddles (which are still strops, after all, even with the abrasive paste on them).

I'd give it one last strop on the towel before shaving with it, just to make sure you don't accidentally embed abrasives in your skin, though I'm not sure it really matters since the razors are exfoliating your face anyway, any abrasives that lodge in the skin on the first pass will get scraped off on your against-the-grain pass.

I'm right there with you, Steve...had my third shave today, and while parts of the face go well, the chin and upper lip continue to stymie me as well. I went over my chin 3 times trying to get the technique down and now it feels like I shaved with a blowtorch. I also managed to slice open a scar on my chin which didn't hurt but bled enough to make up for it.

I'm still working on driving stick, too, another skill I am learning at the moment :P

The chin is definately the most difficult
part to shave. Keep it up though and
you will be successful.

Upper lip? Don't know. I have a mustache.



Terry