First attempt with a straight today!

Well I finally tried it! I got a couple decent looking straights off eBay a couple weeks ago and sent them off to gssixgun for honing. I was going to try one yesterday but didn't have time and certainly didn't want to be rushed. So this morning I was up before the family and gave it a shot.

I have a tough, wiry beard and when I shave with a DE, I need a pretty sharp blade. With good prep and a sharp blade, I do get the feeling that the razor is just wiping the whiskers off my face though. I did not get that feeling with the straight so I'm probably not doing something quite right. I was able to shave both cheeks using very short strokes and my cheeks were nice and smooth with no cuts or irritation when I got done with them but I wasn't quite ready to tackle the rest of my face yet so I finished up with a DE.

I'm going to call my first attempt a win but I obviously still have lots to learn. I'll be reading old threads after Father's Day breakfast. :)

You did it! Congrats! As soon as mine makes it from the hones I'll be following suit.

There is certainly loads of good stuff here, and if you can't find the info you need don't be afraid to ask.

For me, there are a few things I always keep in mind:
- Never use a cutting motion
- Use just enough pressure to wipe the lather off your face
- Play with the angle until you find the right one. This differs per area (I use a smaller angle around my lips) and direction (smaller angle against the grain)


Good luck!

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Originally Posted by feeltheburn

Well I finally tried it! I got a couple decent looking straights off eBay a couple weeks ago and sent them off to gssixgun for honing. I was going to try one yesterday but didn't have time and certainly didn't want to be rushed. So this morning I was up before the family and gave it a shot.

I have a tough, wiry beard and when I shave with a DE, I need a pretty sharp blade. With good prep and a sharp blade, I do get the feeling that the razor is just wiping the whiskers off my face though. I did not get that feeling with the straight so I'm probably not doing something quite right. I was able to shave both cheeks using very short strokes and my cheeks were nice and smooth with no cuts or irritation when I got done with them but I wasn't quite ready to tackle the rest of my face yet so I finished up with a DE.

I'm going to call my first attempt a win but I obviously still have lots to learn. I'll be reading old threads after Father's Day breakfast. :)

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Congratulations! It's normal that the first time with a straight doesn't go as smoothly as with a DE. There's a serious learning curve ahead here but in time it'll come. That being said, I'm not sure that a straight will ever give you the effortless shaving sensation you can get with a good quality DE, especially when going across the grain. There I personally and very subjectively feel that my DE Feather blade has the edge. But a straight can and will give you a closer shave once you're used to it, of that I'm confident.

Thanks for the encouragement. I'll keep at it and I'm sure I'll figure it out before long.

Try using a more shallow angle (the spine should be closer to your face). This helped me a lot.

Congrats dude, going for mine this afternoon. 2 week beard to get rid of. In for a penny and all that

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Originally Posted by Lee9876

Congrats dude, going for mine this afternoon. 2 week beard to get rid of. In for a penny and all that

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Woah...hell of a way to start... I wouldn't recommend that. All I can say is be very carefull!

Congrats. The first shave is always the hardest. I picked up the straight at least 3 times and put it to my face attempting the first stroke. When it didn't go smoothly, I simply laid it down and picked up my tried and true DE. Finally managed to get the stroke and angle down enough to do passes wtg and xtg. Took forever to get everything right to go atg but it eventually happened. Then I was getting the best shaves I've ever had. Smooth with no to very little irritation. Welcome aboard.

Yep...baby steps. You have to do a lot of faceturbating to see which way your beard grows to plan your attack with the blade.Good quality soap/cream with plenty of glide..slickness..is a must !!! After 100 shaves you will start to get an ok shave.It only gets better with time and practice. Hey ..if it was easy...everyone would try it ..LOL... Were here for ya...cus we have been there done that ....

Congrats! I am hoping to be in your situation soon, I just need the razor.... I have my first DE coming in the mail though! Keep it up, the one thing I have noticed most about this forum is that everyone is more then willing to help!

I just did my First Straight shave today and did both my cheeks but left my neck line till I get more acquainted with the razor. after that being said I think I might need to get it honed. it left a lot of whiskers on my face but after everything my face smelled really good. can anybody shed light on the art of honing of direct me to a place where I can send it to get honed

Thanks!

If it's a razor that comes from the factory (even when sold as 'shave ready') or from a shop that doesn't offer a separate honing service then just look around on the forum subsection dealing with honing, several posters offer these services and have a very good reputation. I wouldn't recommend honing it yourself the first time, you need to establish a baseline with a razor that you know is truly shave ready. Just get a good strop. That being said, the first couple of shaves it's more likely that your technique is the cause of any problems. This is normal, it takes time to develop as shaving with a straight is very different (angle wise etc). But sending it out for honing to a specialist is always a good idea.

Congrats! "What a long strange trip its been". Enjoy.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. After a couple weeks of difficulty I finally worked my way over a big hurdle today. I've been having a lot of trouble moving past shaving my cheeks. Whenever I'd get to my goatee area, the razor would just get stopped cold by my whiskers and I couldn't seem to get past that.

Well, today I had plenty of time so I spent an hour and a half trying different ways of attacking that. I tried guillotining strokes and was able to get through. I went very slow to avoid slicing myself so the shave took a long time but once I finished the WTG pass and everything was going well, I decided to keep going. I went XTG and even did an ATG pass (very slowly). I tried scything too and I found once my beard was thinned out a bit, that worked very well.

My shave isn't nearly as close as I normally get but it's not bad and I resisted the urge to finish it up with a DE just so I could walk around today happy that my shave was 100% done with a straight. First time but definitely not the last. :)

Good Job!! I am looking forward to doing that same thing someday. Congrats

I enjoy reading posts like this. I often forget the first go I had with a straight and the utter lack of confidence I had.

With every stroke I found myself shaking and altering my angles wildly. The results were about as good as my attempt with an electric shaver (no cuts, but no closeness either).

The second shave brought on a determination and false confidence (I read and believed that confidence is the key...and it really is, but it must be genuine). Anyway, I brought the blade up quickly and started a (little too fast) down stroke on my cheek and cut skin...a lot of it.

I lived, and I got better...and am still improving every once on a while. The good news is, after a few weeks the "improvements" were only needed to appease my OCD faceturbation that always uncovers an area that can be improved upon.

I still maintain that if you think you are BBS all over, then you simply are not *that* good at faceturbating:D

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Originally Posted by JCBUSCG

I just did my First Straight shave today and did both my cheeks but left my neck line till I get more acquainted with the razor. after that being said I think I might need to get it honed. it left a lot of whiskers on my face but after everything my face smelled really good. can anybody shed light on the art of honing of direct me to a place where I can send it to get honed

Thanks!

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gssixgun honed 2 for me and I also got one of his bench strops which seems to be working pretty well for me as a beginner.