Thread: new here, just had my first shave last night and need some advice.

ok guys i got a (more than likely pos) straight as a gift. its a burmax made in pakistan. dont know the measurement but its round tipped, stainless.
it came about as sharp as a decent pocket knife. i stroped it with green paste, rough, then smooth leather until it was popping hair mid way on my arm and leg.
i watched some how tos (geofatboy and such on youtube) and felt comfortable giving it a go. so heres what i did
hot shower
pre shave oil
canned goo (mama bears on the way)
one pass "wtg" did the best i could to stay wtg but i have some odd angles as im sure everyone else does
cold rinse
witch hazle
as
i did not get a single cut nick or razor burn but it was also the worst shave ive ever had
it felt like a one day old shave (reasonably smooth rubbing wtg but sand paper atg) and pulled like crazy making it uncomfortable.
now here where i need help. does the edge need refinement on like a 12k or was it all my awesome beginner skill.
it didnt feel sharp enough to me even though it took hair off my arm and leg half way and i did have some success with hht.

Welcome to SRP nt4sell, sorry to hear about your bad experienced, sounds to me like your prep was right on but unfortunately your razor is not.
You could perhaps get a halfway decent edge on this razor but more then likely it wont hold an edge for a decent shave, the steel quality on these razor is just not there. If your serious about going forward with shaving with a straight razor get yourself a quality razor hone by a pro for a real shave ready edge.

A beginner's lack of skills can allow a shave ready blade to appear not shave ready. I didn't start to get good shaves for 30 days and would think that might be a minimal expectation.

A shave ready blade in practiced hands will give the best shave you can get. SR shaving, however, requires and demands a considerable skill set. You can't have that yet, but with practice and patience you will.

A jet plane may be the fastest way to get somewhere, but only when the pilot knows how to operate it. It is the same with straight razors. They are the best way to shave, but one cannot expect to just "get it" and go. Your experience is better than typical. It is above the norm by far.

thats kinda what i was afraid of. im a little hesitant to spend that much on a new razor just to give it a try.

so we have one vote for new razor and one for strop it and go for round 2

Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear that your first experience was not anywhere near satisfactory. You might want to take a read of this First straight razor shave - Straight Razor Place Wiki if you haven't already. It might have been a blessing in disguise that your razor likely was not shave ready sharp or as you suspect a POS Brands of Straight Razors to avoid - Straight Razor Place Wiki .

Even with a properly shave ready razor it will take time to get good at it as in months in my case. Then again you might not be as slow a learner as myself. I don't know your budget but new shave ready razors can be had for under $100.00 with some searching and good shave ready used ones can be had on this sites buy and sell for much less than that.

I hope your next experience will be a better one.

Bob

i did read both of those before shaving. and i know it has pakistani blades listed but i dont know that i want to spend $100 on something im not good at and not sure ill enjoy doing. if i could get this one up to par long enough to see if ill like and get a decent shave i would feel better about investing in a new razor

Originally Posted by nt4sell

i did read both of those before shaving. and i know it has pakistani blades listed but i dont know that i want to spend $100 on something im not good at and not sure ill enjoy doing. if i could get this one up to par long enough to see if ill like and get a decent shave i would feel better about investing in a new razor

Well, at least now you know what shave ready isn't and why those are on the avoid list. Fair enough about not wanting to spend that kind of dough only to find out you don't like it. If you search the site you might find a number of posts saying it is hard to next to impossible to get one of those blades up to snuff using proper hones in progression. If you don't have the honing stones you could send it out to have it done and see what happens. Somebody in your area might even take up the challenge of trying to hone it for you saving you sending it out.

Bob

Basically, even though you don't want to spend the dough to experiment you bought a worthless razor so you threw that money out and are again faced with spending more to get another razor. Trying to use that razor will just turn you off completely to straight shaving. I know that sounds harsh but it's the plain truth.

You might consider a disposable razor though not a straight it will give you a pretty good idea. Otherwise check our classifieds for a vintage piece that will come shave ready.

As above. A shavette style razor is an inexpensive alternative that will shave.

All beginners have the deck stacked against them due to inexperience. To start up with a known razor like object is like shooting yourself in the foot as well.

I have honed one successfully in the past but it did not last for one shave, more like half a shave before the edge looked like a hacksaw.