Another n00b question on "shave ready"

[gpjoe]

My gut feel is telling me that you have not yet experienced a proper SR edge. I'll be interested to hear your experiences with the razors you're having honed by a member here.

Yes, I can hardly wait - I'm very excited to get them, and expect a heavenly choir, accompanied by trumpets, so hopefully it won't be yet another dissapointment.

On a positive note, I received my lapping film and glass plates today, so I can bide my time by experimenting on my $20 Chinese steel. I'm hoping that in addition to the practice that maybe I can achieve something that approaches an actual shaving edge.

 

[ZeelandsRoem]

Just to be clear:

I'm comparing the two straight razors to this Feather with an Artist Club blade, not a DE.

Yes, I understood that. Just to be clear, I never used the Feather with Artist Club blade, but I used Feather blades in a DE, and I assume/hope you did too so you can have a rough reference between a DE Feather, Artist Club and ultimately to the two SR you have. I am not sure if my message is eventually useful for you but I hope it does help a tiny bit.

 

[gpjoe]

Yes, I understood that. Just to be clear, I never used the Feather with Artist Club blade, but I used Feather blades in a DE, and I assume/hope you did too so you can have a rough reference between a DE Feather, Artist Club and ultimately to the two SR you have. I am not sure if my message is eventually useful for you but I hope it does help a tiny bit.

Got it, thanks.

Yes, I've used Feather blades, in my Timeless 68SCL just a few days ago. I normally go for a 3-pass shave with my DE razors, most of which are on the mild side, and get spectacular shaves, the best of my life after using carts and electric for 50 years.

 

[rbscebu]

@gpjoe, it is rare for an SR shaver's first shaves to be smooth or close. A lot of that has to do with technique and to a lesser extent blade edge quality (assuming the edge is shavable).

Fortunately, everyone's face is different otherwise we would all be as handsome as @FarmerTan - perish the thought. Over time you need to develop your own technique that suits your face. Technique here refers to many things including; face preparation, shaving soap, lather, blade type, blade edge preparation/finish, skin stretching, shaving angle, edge pressure against the skin, edge pressure against the whiskers, phase of the moon, etc. It's a black art.

There is a lot to remember with SR shaving. Over time this starts to become automatic. It's a bit like leaning to ride a motorcycle for the first time.

Shaving daily, wether you need to or not, will greatly assist in you developing your own suitable technique. As your technique improves you can return to some of your previous gear and may be surprised that they shave much better than you previously thought they did

 

[Loner16]

I'll preface by saying that I usually never give advice here. Who am I to advise another... BUT

My advice?

Jump in with both feet... don't be afraid to make a mistake... many of us, myself included, must follow our own path. Foremost, remember that this is the internet, where advice is offered from many circles, some of whom may not know any better that you do at this point in time. A user has to have the innate ability to separate the "wheat from the chaff," cyberspace being by necessity, 95% chaff and 5% wheat. Don't take someone who appears to know what they are talking about as dishing out gospel.

As NIKE says.. "Just do it.." you'll find your way, and perhaps be better for it.

If I shaved daily with an extremely sharp razor, I'd most probably end up with a good case of razor burn, and a rough feeling face. It could turn you off to your future development, which would be unfortunate.

Choose your counsel wisely...

 

[rbscebu]

I'll preface by saying that I usually never give advice here. Who am I to advise another... BUT

My advice?

Jump in with both feet... don't be afraid to make a mistake... many of us, myself included, must follow our own path. Foremost, remember that this is the internet, where advice is offered from many circles, some of whom may not know any better that you do at this point in time. A user has to have the innate ability to separate the "wheat from the chaff," cyberspace being by necessity, 95% chaff and 5% wheat. Don't take someone who appears to know what they are talking about as dishing out gospel.

As NIKE says.. "Just do it.." you'll find your way, and perhaps be better for it.

If I shaved daily with an extremely sharp razor, I'd most probably end up with a good case of razor burn, and a rough feeling face. It could turn you off to your future development, which would be unfortunate.

Choose your counsel wisely...

Your advice is spot on. It is important for a beginner in SR shaving to develop a technique that suits him, not what necessarily suits others. Fortunately @gpjoe has not (yet) mentioned experiencing any razor burn from his initial SR shaves.

 

[gpjoe]

---

@gpjoe, it is rare for an SR shaver's first shaves to be smooth or close. A lot of that has to do with technique and to a lesser extent blade edge quality (assuming the edge is shavable).

Fortunately, everyone's face is different otherwise we would all be as handsome as @FarmerTan - perish the thought. Over time you need to develop your own technique that suits your face. Technique here refers to many things including; face preparation, shaving soap, lather, blade type, blade edge preparation/finish, skin stretching, shaving angle, edge pressure against the skin, edge pressure against the whiskers, phase of the moon, etc. It's a black art.

There is a lot to remember with SR shaving. Over time this starts to become automatic. It's a bit like leaning to ride a motorcycle for the first time.

Shaving daily, wether you need to or not, will greatly assist in you developing your own suitable technique. As your technique improves you can return to some of your previous gear and may be surprised that they shave much better than you previously thought they did

I'll preface by saying that I usually never give advice here. Who am I to advise another... BUT

My advice?

Jump in with both feet... don't be afraid to make a mistake... many of us, myself included, must follow our own path. Foremost, remember that this is the internet, where advice is offered from many circles, some of whom may not know any better that you do at this point in time. A user has to have the innate ability to separate the "wheat from the chaff," cyberspace being by necessity, 95% chaff and 5% wheat. Don't take someone who appears to know what they are talking about as dishing out gospel.

As NIKE says.. "Just do it.." you'll find your way, and perhaps be better for it.

If I shaved daily with an extremely sharp razor, I'd most probably end up with a good case of razor burn, and a rough feeling face. It could turn you off to your future development, which would be unfortunate.

Choose your counsel wisely...

Thank you both for the encouraging words.

My journey officially begins when I receive my shave ready razors, later this week. I'm looking forward to it, and hoping that it clears things up a bit.

I suspect it is less complicated than I'm making it, though part of that is being new, and I'm confident that I'll figure it out.

 

[CpnStumpy]

One note on technique I think worth mentioning because it can cause some of your described results:

The blade angle should be one spin width from your face, two max - if you open the angle too much you're dragging and scraping at your beard more than shaving the whiskers. It will tug immensely more. You can set the blade edge and spine flat against your face, and it'll glide over the whiskers without cutting, open the angle gently and it will start to cut the whiskers, open it to far and it'll start to just catch and tug the whiskers.

Play around with the angle, but too close an angle won't hurt you, it just may slide on top of the whiskers without cutting them

 

[rbscebu]

Thank you both for the encouraging words.

My journey officially begins when I receive my shave ready razors, later this week. I'm looking forward to it, and hoping that it clears things up a bit.

I suspect it is less complicated than I'm making it, though part of that is being new, and I'm confident that I'll figure it out.

You have the right attitude so I am confident that you will succeed .

PS. My sincere apology for helping you into this insidious addiction.

 

[gpjoe]

You have the right attitude so I am confident that you will succeed .

PS. My sincere apology for helping you into this insidious addiction.

I take full responsibility for my weakness. My only fear at this point is that SR shaving may make my large collection of other shaving equipment far less desirable, and I have a ton.

 

[gpjoe]

Well, my two shave ready razors arrived yesterday, and I tried a shave, which prompted this (loooong) post in a new thread:

What am i doing wrong?

Well, I've posted many questions and done some reading, and then made an attempt at SR shaving - it does not seem to be working for me. I've posted much of this in other threads, but will try and briefly recap here: First razor was a Chinese Titan which I tried to get to shave using the...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[rudewarrior]

I just read this thread, and noted something very interesting. I'm quoting member Slash Mcoy here:

"You could try member johnloc1 who sells on ebay as johnloc1 or maybe ebay seller april7th1089 who seems to be getting more expensive but still has a few lower priced razors. Not all of his razors are shave ready but if he says one is, then it is. You can message him and he will hone the razor you select for I think $25. Johnloc1 has better prices and is in the US. Again, make sure the razor is listed as shave ready. If he says it is, then it is."

Very interesting to me as this seller (johnloc1), by pure happenstance, is the seller I purchased my Boker from. So again, if this is true, then my razor MAY be shave ready and my expectations are incorrect. Remember, I have no reference.

So, I just wanted to put my 2¢ in.

I have purchased six razors from johnloc1 in three batches. Of the razors all were listed as shave ready.

1 was shave ready.

2 arrived with the ~1/4" near the tip being dull.

2 arrived not shave ready. I'm not even sure one of them shaved anything. The other did some, but it didn't even result in CCS.

1 is untested.

One of the ones with the dull tip and the last three on the list I also honed myself before starting. I figure I can correct the one with the tip, because I was able to correct the other with the tip issue by just doing some more honing and focusing on that last portion of the edge.

The others I honed myself, but I was doing a lot of them and I didn't test them. I figured if they at least showed up no worse than the previous batches, the worst case scenario would be that they were still reasonably sharp. I would test them by shaving.

The worst of the non-shave ready ones is a NOS F.W. Engels. Since it is essentially brand new, I figured it would be easiest to hone and make shave ready. Based on my observation (I know I couldn't have made it dull by honing it, at least I haven't before), I don't think it was actually honed and he assumed it was shave ready since it was brand new. Not even close. I will have to take some real steel off that one.

Pretty disappointing show. Good razors, but I am putting work into them that I hadn't expect to.

 

[Wid]

So, I just wanted to put my 2¢ in.

I have purchased six razors from johnloc1 in three batches. Of the razors all were listed as shave ready.

1 was shave ready.

2 arrived with the ~1/4" near the tip being dull.

2 arrived not shave ready. I'm not even sure one of them shaved anything. The other did some, but it didn't even result in CCS.

1 is untested.

One of the ones with the dull tip and the last three on the list I also honed myself before starting. I figure I can correct the one with the tip, because I was able to correct the other with the tip issue by just doing some more honing and focusing on that last portion of the edge.

The others I honed myself, but I was doing a lot of them and I didn't test them. I figured if they at least showed up no worse than the previous batches, the worst case scenario would be that they were still reasonably sharp. I would test them by shaving.

The worst of the non-shave ready ones is a NOS F.W. Engels. Since it is essentially brand new, I figured it would be easiest to hone and make shave ready. Based on my observation (I know I couldn't have made it dull by honing it, at least I haven't before), I don't think it was actually honed and he assumed it was shave ready since it was brand new. Not even close. I will have to take some real steel off that one.

Pretty disappointing show. Good razors, but I am putting work into them that I hadn't expect to.

I’ve had a few razors by this vendor. One thing I found was, some seemed to be over buffed trying to hide some pitting. The temper wasn’t all that great on those.