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 included paste and fabric strop. That didn't work for me as a n00b, not having a reference razor to KNOW if the Titan was actually ready to shave.
Next, I purchased a "shave ready" vintage Boker razor from Ebay (and later found that the seller is a registered member here) and tried a shave. It was a bit better than the Titan but I still didn't get farther than one half of one cheek. It just didn't seem to want to shave.
Both of the above razor seemed to drag terribly across my face, and I finished those shaves with my Feather DX, which required far less effort to cut through my stubble. My DE razors, especially my Timeless, literally glide across my face with far less resistance than either the Boker or Titan.
Last, I picked up two more shave ready razors, one from a member here and the other an antique store razor which the same member graciously agreed to hone for me. Those arrived yesterday. I didn't even try testing those for a keen edge since I don't have a clue about what I'm doing. The member honed them, test shaved with them, touched the edges up, cleaned both and stropped them. The razors arrived ready to shave.
This morning I was very excited to try the two razors which I received yesterday.
As stated, I've been using AC blade shavettes almost exclusively for my every-other-day shaves for over a month. My technique is FAR from perfect, but my confidence is solid.
Of course, today's shave was another failure. I quickly grabbed my Feather DX after starting one cheek with one SR, and switching to the other SR. The Feather easily removed my beard (as I've come to expect) while both of the straight razors struggled to shave. Tugging, dragging, not easily removing my whiskers. After the first few strokes WTG there was still a lot of stubble on my cheek, much more than with any of my DE razors, or my Feather DX.
At this point, I conclude that the problem must be me. Either my expectations are far too high, or I am doing something incorrectly...
...or, I still don't own a true shave ready razor, which I suppose may be the case but feels unlikely. I've gotten three "shave ready" razors, honed by two people that are much more experience than me, one of whom shaved with the razors before sending them to me.
Which leads to my former conclusion, that the problem is...me.
I'm not ready to give up, and desperately want to figure this out, so my options seem to be:
- Identify what I'm doing wrong and fix it.
- Lower my expectations and accept that this is as good as it gets.
- Send one of my razors to a honemeister whose reputation is beyond question, to completely eliminate any doubt (in my mind) that my razor is the culprit.
I know this is long, and if you've read all the way through, thank you. Any guidance offered is greatly appreciated, because if this IS as good as it gets, it ain't that great.
First razor was a Chinese Titan which I tried to get to shave using the included paste and fabric strop. That didn't work for me as a n00b, not having a reference razor to KNOW if the Titan was actually ready to shave.
Next, I purchased a "shave ready" vintage Boker razor from Ebay (and later found that the seller is a registered member here) and tried a shave. It was a bit better than the Titan but I still didn't get farther than one half of one cheek. It just didn't seem to want to shave.
Both of the above razor seemed to drag terribly across my face, and I finished those shaves with my Feather DX, which required far less effort to cut through my stubble. My DE razors, especially my Timeless, literally glide across my face with far less resistance than either the Boker or Titan.
Last, I picked up two more shave ready razors, one from a member here and the other an antique store razor which the same member graciously agreed to hone for me. Those arrived yesterday. I didn't even try testing those for a keen edge since I don't have a clue about what I'm doing. The member honed them, test shaved with them, touched the edges up, cleaned both and stropped them. The razors arrived ready to shave.
This morning I was very excited to try the two razors which I received yesterday.
As stated, I've been using AC blade shavettes almost exclusively for my every-other-day shaves for over a month. My technique is FAR from perfect, but my confidence is solid.
Of course, today's shave was another failure. I quickly grabbed my Feather DX after starting one cheek with one SR, and switching to the other SR. The Feather easily removed my beard (as I've come to expect) while both of the straight razors struggled to shave. Tugging, dragging, not easily removing my whiskers. After the first few strokes WTG there was still a lot of stubble on my cheek, much more than with any of my DE razors, or my Feather DX.
At this point, I conclude that the problem must be me. Either my expectations are far too high, or I am doing something incorrectly...
...or, I still don't own a true shave ready razor, which I suppose may be the case but feels unlikely. I've gotten three "shave ready" razors, honed by two people that are much more experience than me, one of whom shaved with the razors before sending them to me.
Which leads to my former conclusion, that the problem is...me.
I'm not ready to give up, and desperately want to figure this out, so my options seem to be:
- Identify what I'm doing wrong and fix it.
- Lower my expectations and accept that this is as good as it gets.
- Send one of my razors to a honemeister whose reputation is beyond question, to completely eliminate any doubt (in my mind) that my razor is the culprit.
I know this is long, and if you've read all the way through, thank you. Any guidance offered is greatly appreciated, because if this IS as good as it gets, it ain't that great.
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