Thread: Need Some Advice

OK so its been a few months since I started using a straight razor. I can shave my sideburns and cheeks ok but when it comes to my chin, jaw, and neck I have some difficulty. It feels as though the blade snags the hair in those areas. I cant figure out what I'm doing wrong. I hold the blade at 30 degrees or less, pull the skin tight and prep the hair/skin appropriately. The blade is well taken care of and sharp. Please help its getting frustrating oh and I do nick myself in those area too. Thanks in advance!

A couple years back I had a guy ask me the same question. He was about to give up, so I give him some advice. WE ALL have nicked ourselft learning to shave our ching and under our nose. If you dont believe me look at the cut of the day thread here on SRP some of those cuts are brutal. I would ensure my prep was over done especailly when shaving chin nub. I have had people put a couple drops of glycerine in their soup or use some preshave oil to help soften that nub. The hair there tends to be more coarse than other parts of your face. You are already pulling the skin tight so that is a plus. Start with the blade at about a spine length off our your face and fenagle the angle until it starts to cut hair. The chin is hard because it is a knob and you have to move the blade at all kinds of angles to cut the hair there. I shave my chin knob first becasue it is fun to do. The rest of the face is like walking the dog........you dont wanna do it, but you have to.

Welcome to SRP. Just IMHO, send it out to a honemeister in the SRP member services classifieds. A razor that is 'sharp' will easily do my cheeks/sideburns, but if it isn't really shave ready the area of the chin, and parts of the neck, tell the tale. That is what it sounds like to me.

Welcome to SRP!

Tell us more about the razor. Where and when did you get it? Who honed it? What brand?

Was it shaving better before? Are you stropping and with what?

As above I'd also suspect that it needs honing.

Michael

Hollow Ground, Carbon Steel, Dovo Solingen, The Art of Shaving. I purchased it in February 2013. I'm not sure who honed it the guy told me but I cant remember. It actually seems to have gotten better with time. I do strop it. The strop was also purchased at The Art of Shaving. It says Prima Rindleder Germany on it.

As far as I know (which isn't much) AOS doesn't hone the razors. It's factory ready only. I would imagine you have been shaving with a sub optimum razor all along just that you were lucky enough to get one that was reasonably sharp but not sharp enough.

Nice razor and strop. You just need honing.

That can be done yourself, or you can send it out. DIY is a lot harder at first.

I'd be happy to hone it for you if you like. I don't ask anything in return. Just pm me if you want.

Michael