Help!

Hello:
Well I received the new strop and razor seems sharp. Why do I remove a layer of skin but the Stubble hair has not been cut ?

a bit more information, if you please..

explain your technique, what products youre using etc?

did the razor come specifically 'shave ready'?

I would venture to say that it is because you don't know how to use the razor, and possibly it is dull as well.

gugi said:

I would venture to say that it is because you don't know how to use the razor, and possibly it is dull as well.

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+1

Straight razors will tend to do that under either of the above circumstances

mdunn said:

a bit more information, if you please..

explain your technique, what products youre using etc?

did the razor come specifically 'shave ready'?

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One pass wwith the grain and one pass against. Soap poraso green, razor near shave ready, Badger brush, New slop, wet hones 2000 and 8000,

Perhaps pressing too hard

dlabutte said:

One pass wwith the grain and one pass against. Soap poraso green, razor near shave ready, Badger brush, New slop, wet hones 2000 and 8000,

Perhaps pressing too hard

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Here's your problem. Send that razor out to get honed by a professional, and then focus on technique

richmondesi said:

Here's your problem. Send that razor out to get honed by a professional, and then focus on technique

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i completely agree!

dlabutte said:

One pass wwith the grain and one pass against. Soap poraso green, razor near shave ready, Badger brush, New slop, wet hones 2000 and 8000,

Perhaps pressing too hard

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Razor near shave ready?

A razor that is near shave ready will not provide a good shave

richmondesi said:

Here's your problem. Send that razor out to get honed by a professional, and then focus on technique

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If I need to send this razor out then I will probably need to do that in the future. I have shaving stones at home. All I need to do is learn how to use it!!

dlabutte said:

If I need to send this razor out then I will probably need to do that in the future. I have shaving stones at home. All I need to do is learn how to use it!!

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You're probably best to send it out. Then you will know what a properly honed razor feels like and you'll have a benchmark for when you try honing for yourself.

dlabutte said:

If I need to send this razor out then I will probably need to do that in the future. I have shaving stones at home. All I need to do is learn how to use it!!

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Yeah, but here's the rub: Until you have a shave ready razor, you won't have any kind of frame of reference by which to judge the level of your sharpening.

Honemeister prices for honing are usually quite reasonable -- unless I'm mistaken, I believe Ray-man offers honing services for about $15 (incl. CONUS return postage) and several other guys over as StraightRazorPlace.com will do it for about $20 -- so you can KNOW your razor is 100% shave ready for about the same you'd pay for a two large pizzas on a Friday night.

Definitely worth it to literally save your skin AND get a reference point for measuring the effectiveness of you own honing - if you have the cash.

completely agree - get the razor shave ready via someone who knows what they are doing and if you cannot shave then you will know it is technique

I am cvurrently mentoreing 2 newbies, the razors I am sponsoring them with are made shave ready and they are getting decent shaves after 2 weeks.

I too had difficulties at the start simply because i had no experience. I took advice which was - stop, get a shave ready razor and take it from there

Now I hone my own and for others so I am well aware of the issues when someone starts.

Stropping is another issue - easy to do and easy to do wrong

Malacoda said:

Honemeister prices for honing are usually quite reasonable -- unless I'm mistaken, I believe Ray-man offers honing services for about $15 (incl. CONUS return postage) and several other guys over as StraightRazorPlace.com will do it for about $20 -- so you can KNOW your razor is 100% shave ready for about the same you'd pay for a two large pizzas on a Friday night.

Definitely worth it to literally save your skin AND get a reference point for measuring the effectiveness of you own honing - if you have the cash.

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I am Canadian and I don't want any hassle with Customs. So I am sending my razor to Dan Gauthier in Quebec, $12.00 for service + $8.50 insured return mail.

Thanks for the advice from everyone. I really appreciate it.

gugi said:

I would venture to say that it is because you don't know how to use the razor, and possibly it is dull as well.

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Yes I am a newbee to straight shaving and I think the razor is dull. I am sending it out to be honed

Thanks + Bye 4 now
Dave L.

Having a shave ready straight is great, I never thought it would be that sharp... Wait till you try it again!

Cedrck said:

Razor near shave ready?

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Yea eBay seller indignat when I asked if the razor was shave ready. His reply was near shave ready and the listing said the same thing. I shopped eBay because of costs. Now not so sure it was a bargain.

dlabutte said:

Yea eBay seller indignat when I asked if the razor was shave ready. His reply was near shave ready and the listing said the same thing. I shopped eBay because of costs. Now not so sure it was a bargain.

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You could always pickup a cheap straight on BST and/or have this one honed. Should be cheap either way...

dlabutte said:

If I need to send this razor out then I will probably need to do that in the future. I have shaving stones at home. All I need to do is learn how to use it!!

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"Near shave ready" has more in common with dull than shave ready. Both dull and "near shave ready" aren't shaving sharp. Without knowing what a shaving sharp razor feels like, how do you go about aiming for a shaving sharp razor? Learning how to shave with a straight razor is a challenging task. Don't set yourself up for failure by simultaneously trying to learn to hone.