First straight shave

Tom Ford · Nov 30, 2009

Well, yesterday in what seemed a torturous wait my Dovo 5/8 tortoiseshell imitation arrived from straight razor designs, honed and ready to rock and roll :thumbup:

After reading as much info, and watching as many videos as I could, I decided I would try shaving my cheeks on both sides to get a feel for the blade, and work on establishing my grip and technique.

Had a shower, and while doing that soaked the Rooney 1/2 in my lather bowl with hot water as per usual, CADE soap and lathered myself up.

Drum roll please..............

I did pretty well. No corrective plastic surgery required, no call to the emergency ward. :w00t:

I got some confidence from shaving my cheeks, and then decided to give my neck a run WTG. That was more difficult and nerve racking, I wouldn't say it was a thorough pass, but gave me an idea of what its like. One very small nick which stopped with the cold water rinse, and no irritation. :biggrin1:

I only managed one WTG pass, before reverting to my DE to finish off the shave. I'm going to continue with the cheek routine for the rest of the week and build up my confidence and comfort level. I will wait for the W/E before doing a whole shave with the straight, that way if any disaster occurs I can lock myself in my apartment until my face heals.

I have a few questions - with the neck pass the blade seemed to get stuck, is that angle, lather, blade or all?

Secondly, the noise the blade makes is off putting don't you think? It sounds as though your shaving your face with a cut Coke can?

Lastly the razor came exquisitely packaged (well done to the guys at straight razor designs) with a note inside saying the blade had been honed and coated in Camellia oil? I can't find that stuff locally here in Australia, for all you Aussies, what do you use, if you use anything at all?

JPM · Nov 30, 2009

Congrats! I just placed my order with Straight Razor Design and am awaiting arrival. Hopefully someone local can help you find the oil. If you plan on ordering anything else from SRD, they sell the oil as well.

Tom Ford · Nov 30, 2009

JPM said:
Congrats! I just placed my order with Straight Razor Design and am awaiting arrival. Hopefully someone local can help you find the oil. If you plan on ordering anything else from SRD, they sell the oil as well.

Thanks mate! Enjoy your razor when it arrives. :thumbup1:

I noticed SRD sold the oil, in the meantime I might use baby oil until I make another order. Shouldn't be too long :lol:

Luc · Nov 30, 2009

Good work Tom!

For your questions:

1-Blade is stuck. Well, I would say angle mainly and technique. Don't force it if it doesn't work but it will with time.

2-Noise? Mmm, you must have Terminator's face as mine is singing! No clue for this!

3-Oil? Well, I don't use oil on any of them. The one that I don't use often should have some oil to prevent any rust. When I use a razor, I clean/dry it with a towel and leave it out for a few hours in a safe place that has good ventilation. I then put them away. If I would need to use an oil on any of them, mmm, I would try to find an oil that I like the scent.

mdunn · Nov 30, 2009

congrats mate!

the neck will get easier with practice.

the noise can be pretty loud on hollow blades, if its really putting you off then wedgier blades are much quieter.

im pretty sure you can get that oil at places that sell sewing machines. I dont worry with oil personally though, I just make sure everything is dry before I put it away

Tom Ford · Dec 2, 2009

Ok, I'm three days into shaving with my straight, and making progress.

One thing I notice is how natural holding the blade seems to come with each pass and practice. The other thing I've notice is the first pass is the hardest. I always seem to struggle, as the blade will skip, tug or pull, however on the second pass its a lot better. Does anyone else have that problem?

I've now moved onto my neck, and this morning I was able to do my whole neck WTG. I wouldn't say it was smooth or fast, but no nicks and a bit or razor burn. Not to bad, I was proud of my effort.

JPM · Dec 2, 2009

Congratulations! Sounds like you are making good progress. The anticipation of receiving my razor is killing me.

Tom Ford · Dec 2, 2009

JPM said:
Congratulations! Sounds like you are making good progress. The anticipation of receiving my razor is killing me.

I had to wait 10 days for mine to arrive from SRD, it killed me. When it arrived I was like a kid on Xmas morning.

You're going to love it once it arrives.

Luc · Dec 2, 2009

Tom Ford said:
Ok, I'm three days into shaving with my straight, and making progress.

One thing I notice is how natural holding the blade seems to come with each pass and practice. The other thing I've notice is the first pass is the hardest. I always seem to struggle, as the blade will skip, tug or pull, however on the second pass its a lot better. Does anyone else have that problem?

I've now moved onto my neck, and this morning I was able to do my whole neck WTG. I wouldn't say it was smooth or fast, but no nicks and a bit or razor burn. Not to bad, I was proud of my effort.

I had the same thing happening to me when I started.

Not enough stropping and technique is too blame. I find it interesting that a pass that 'skipped' was skipping less on the next shave. With time it will be easier.

Tom Ford · Dec 2, 2009

Luc said:
I had the same thing happening to me when I started.

Not enough stropping and technique is too blame. I find it interesting that a pass that 'skipped' was skipping less on the next shave. With time it will be easier.

Thanks Luc, I've been reading your updates as motivation.

As for the skipping, its almost as though I'm too tentative on the first pass, or I've 'warmed up' and know the angle. Either way the second pass is a lot better than the first.

The next frontier is a better shave on my neck. How are you going with your E-W, W-E passes with the straight?

Luc · Dec 2, 2009

Tom Ford said:
Thanks Luc, I've been reading your updates as motivation.

As for the skipping, its almost as though I'm too tentative on the first pass, or I've 'warmed up' and know the angle. Either way the second pass is a lot better than the first.

The next frontier is a better shave on my neck. How are you going with your E-W, W-E passes with the straight?

Good to read!

E-W/W-E was a bit tricky but I'm getting there. What I need to do is look on the left or right and then do the pass. If I'm facing the mirror, can't do it, the scales get in the way. I point the chin up a bit, it helps. As long as you can still see what you're doing, you should be fine. I still can't shave in the dark...

Tom Ford · Dec 2, 2009

Luc said:
Good to read!

E-W/W-E was a bit tricky but I'm getting there. What I need to do is look on the left or right and then do the pass. If I'm facing the mirror, can't do it, the scales get in the way. I point the chin up a bit, it helps. As long as you can still see what you're doing, you should be fine. I still can't shave in the dark...[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the tips. Its taken a while for me to get the correct grip with different angles. I must admit its unnerving when you don't have clear sight while making a pass with a straight either through an obscure angle or from the scales. I've contemplated E-W and W-E but haven't put blade to skin and attempted those passes as yet.

Keep up the updates coming on your progress. I don't think I'll provide a daily one similar to yourself, I'll just report back when I've completed a full shave and also when I've achieved nirvana with a BBS.

Folks could be waiting a while

Luc · Dec 2, 2009

Tom Ford said:
Thanks for the tips. Its taken a while for me to get the correct grip with different angles. I must admit its unnerving when you don't have clear sight while making a pass with a straight either through an obscure angle or from the scales. I've contemplated E-W and W-E but haven't put blade to skin and attempted those passes as yet.

Keep up the updates coming on your progress. I don't think I'll provide a daily one similar to yourself, I'll just report back when I've completed a full shave and also when I've achieved nirvana with a BBS.

Folks could be waiting a while

No worries, post when you can! I'm getting there but as Dunny always says, pratice pratice pratice!

Tom Ford · Dec 5, 2009

Tom Ford said:
Thanks Luc, I've been reading your updates as motivation.

As for the skipping, its almost as though I'm too tentative on the first pass, or I've 'warmed up' and know the angle. Either way the second pass is a lot better than the first.

The next frontier is a better shave on my neck. How are you going with your E-W, W-E passes with the straight?

Spot on Luc. I had a couple of engagements where I couldn't really afford to have a hacked face and DE shaved. However I got my stroop which arrived from Mens Biz and went for an hour while watching TV.

HUGE DIFFERENCE this morning. The blade was purring, no more coke can sound and more importantly no skipping, tugging or pulling :thumbup:

Who would have thought? (Can you sense my sarcasm!!). Although the blade has a great edge on it from Lynn at SRD it needed strooping. Lesson learnt, thanks mate

Luc · Dec 5, 2009

Tom Ford said:
Spot on Luc. I had a couple of engagements where I couldn't really afford to have a hacked face and DE shaved. However I got my stroop which arrived from Mens Biz and went for an hour while watching TV.

HUGE DIFFERENCE this morning. The blade was purring, no more coke can sound and more importantly no skipping, tugging or pulling

Who would have thought? (Can you sense my sarcasm!!). Although the blade has a great edge on it from Lynn at SRD it needed strooping. Lesson learnt, thanks mate

Awesome! You got the large or smaller Dovo from Nathan?

Tom Ford · Dec 5, 2009

Luc said:
Awesome! You got the large or smaller Dovo from Nathan?

The small Dovo, thought that would be the best to learn on.

Luc · Dec 5, 2009

Tom Ford said:
The small Dovo, thought that would be the best to learn on.

That's what I have. I did a few nicks in it. I can't wait to use a 3" strop but I want to make sure that my stropping technique is good first!

Shaman · Dec 5, 2009

Luc said:
That's what I have. I did a few nicks in it. I can't wait to use a 3" strop but I want to make sure that my stropping technique is good first!

I know what you mean. Just got SRD's paddle strop and can't wait to use it. Have to stop knicking my philly strop first.

Shaman · Dec 5, 2009

Tom Ford said:
Lastly the razor came exquisitely packaged (well done to the guys at straight razor designs) with a note inside saying the blade had been honed and coated in Camellia oil? I can't find that stuff locally here in Australia, for all you Aussies, what do you use, if you use anything at all?

SRD carries camelia oil, bought a bottle with my razor. Any light "sewing machine" oil should work. Seems I recall camelia oil also being a dietary suppliment, maybe a health food store would have it.

Tom Ford · Dec 6, 2009

Ok, another day and another straight shave. My progress is coming along quite well, I can now do my cheeks, and one side of my neck really well WTG. However, the other side of my neck, has me completely bamboozled. :mad3:

I'm right handed, and the left side of my neck is the problem area. I can't contort my arm any further without either dislocating a shoulder or simply breaking it to get to the far left side of my neck. When I try my other hand, well thats just asking for decapitation. I try different grips, the other grip that provides some benefit is simply straightening the blade and scales out, similar to a weishi I guess, but I wouldn't say its effective.

I've flaunted with ATG, and XTG however with no luck. Can anyone offer any advice on how to break through this? Also for those who have come from DE shaving to a straight, can you tell me if you had to change your shaving passes+direction because of restrictions the straight blade presented?

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