Some noob questions and comments

I have a new Dovo Silver Steel SR. It was honed/made shave ready by a pro from the site I ordered it from (came with letter).

I have used it 3 times now and have stropped it twice. How do I determine if the blade is sharp enough (stropped enough) for a proper shave?

I used (and still use as a back up)a DE razor and seem to get a much closer shave. However, I usually make 2-3 passes against the grain with the DE. Is it recommended to do this with a SR.

I really enjoyed Joel's video on the main page. However it is going to take some adjustment to switch to my left hand for my left side. I tried it on my first shave and it felt to awkward to even put the blade to my face. Since then I have used only my right hand. It requires some weird contortions and sometimes holding the razor differently than recommended, but it felt better than using my left. I guess I will have to try to get used to it a bit at a time.

Finally, are there any tips for shaving my neck area? There is a bit of a valley made by my trachea that is hard to get at.

Any help appreciated.

Ian

If it shaves your arm hair, its looking good. As a fellow now straight razor shaver, you need to remember that you dont have to use the whole blade, or 1 part of the blade. I find using the middle of the blade when shaving the middle of the neck makes it easier to manage.

Good luck on the shaves! I am sure more experienced people will chime in with better/more tips.

I disagree that shaving arm hair is a test of a razor's shave readyness. I can easily shave arm hair off a 1k hone.

It's sharp enough for a shave if it shaves well. But that is only true if you know how to shave and prep properly. You'll be able to do better with your DE because you know how to use a DE but are still learning how to use a straight.

This is also why it is always good to have a blade that was recently honed by someone you trust on hand. It will serve as a reference for what a shave ready blade feels like, and it will tell you if the problem is you or your razor.

For your neck, you need to figure out works for you. Generally pointing your chin up and to the opposite side helps, as does stretching the skin so that in is over a flat (or flatter) part of your neck.

You should strop before every shaves. I usually do 60 laps on leather.

At first, if doesn't feel like a lot is shaved but this is mostly related to technique. I don't think that I shave anything in the first 5 shaves...

Do not expect a wonderful shave right away!

For the neck, +1 to the above, that's what I do. point the chin up and left for the right side. It helps heaps!

holli4pirating said:

For your neck, you need to figure out works for you. Generally pointing your chin up and to the opposite side helps, as does stretching the skin so that in is over a flat (or flatter) part of your neck.

Click to expand...

That makes a lot of sense. I'll give that a try today.

The leading piece of metal on a DE razor serves as part of its purpose to stretch the skin. I'm confident this is one of the reasons these became known as "Safety" razors. The point to be taken from this mechanism is that untaught skin is not meant to be shaved. I would think that your "better results" with a DE are due in part to this. Keep your skin real tight, and your shave will improve dramatically, and learning the contortions and hand placements to do this for every part of your shave will be a skill in and of itself. Watch Joel's video again, and this time focus on his non-shaving hand. You'll see how each stroke begins with a skin stretch. Also, some use an alum block to keep their fingers firmly planted on the skin without slipping on lather.

Hi Kayaker,

You asked about techniques for shaving the neck.

Have you seen this video by Chimensch? At about 2:55 and again at 3:45, watch how he's pulling the skin of his cheek upward and toward the ear, to stretch the skin on the neck. That's what I do.

This also flattens out the valleys on the neck. You can also put your hand just below the lather on your neck and pull the skin downward for the same effect.

For shaving around the adam's apple, I stretch from below and yank the skin way over to the side.

Magruder said:

Hi Kayaker,

You asked about techniques for shaving the neck.

Have you seen this video by Chimensch? At about 2:55 and again at 3:45, watch how he's pulling the skin of his cheek upward and toward the ear, to stretch the skin on the neck. That's what I do.

This also flattens out the valleys on the neck. You can also put your hand just below the lather on your neck and pull the skin downward for the same effect.

For shaving around the adam's apple, I stretch from below and yank the skin way over to the side.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the vid link. That answers my question about shaving against the grain with a SR. Also cool to learn from.

I managed OK using my left hand but it did feel weird. One interesting thing about his vid. He shaves the opposite side with his blade hand. I use my right hand to shave my right side. he does the opposite. Just an observation.

I tried stropping my razor a lot before shaving tonight, but it still feels like the blade is pulling the hair a lot. Seemed even worse tonight than yesterday when I stropped less.

Going to try again tomorrow so I can get the hang of it.

kayaker said:

Thanks for the vid link. That answers my question about shaving against the grain with a SR. Also cool to learn from.

I managed OK using my left hand but it did feel weird. One interesting thing about his vid. He shaves the opposite side with his blade hand. I use my right hand to shave my right side. he does the opposite. Just an observation.

I tried stropping my razor a lot before shaving tonight, but it still feels like the blade is pulling the hair a lot. Seemed even worse tonight than yesterday when I stropped less.

Going to try again tomorrow so I can get the hang of it.

Click to expand...

How many laps are you doing on the strop?

Luc said:

How many laps are you doing on the strop?

Click to expand...

Lost count but over 30, maybe closer to 50.

kayaker said:

Thanks for the vid link. That answers my question about shaving against the grain with a SR. Also cool to learn from.

I managed OK using my left hand but it did feel weird. One interesting thing about his vid. He shaves the opposite side with his blade hand. I use my right hand to shave my right side. he does the opposite. Just an observation.

I tried stropping my razor a lot before shaving tonight, but it still feels like the blade is pulling the hair a lot. Seemed even worse tonight than yesterday when I stropped less.

Going to try again tomorrow so I can get the hang of it.

Click to expand...

Yeah, to me he shaves "cross handed", which just goes to illustrate that what ever works for you is what you should do. The only rule seems to be that there are no rules.

Using your off hand does feel strange at first, but time and practice will take care of that.

Pulling is a comment I see from many new straight razor users and it may come from angle, prep, pressure, or a dull blade.

gumbo said:

Also, some use an alum block to keep their fingers firmly planted on the skin without slipping on lather.

Click to expand...

How does that work?

kayaker said:

Thanks for the vid link. That answers my question about shaving against the grain with a SR. Also cool to learn from.

I managed OK using my left hand but it did feel weird. One interesting thing about his vid. He shaves the opposite side with his blade hand. I use my right hand to shave my right side. he does the opposite. Just an observation.

I tried stropping my razor a lot before shaving tonight, but it still feels like the blade is pulling the hair a lot. Seemed even worse tonight than yesterday when I stropped less.

Going to try again tomorrow so I can get the hang of it.

Click to expand...

I had that problem for my first two straight shaves until I realized that I had the wrong stropping technique and was putting to much pressure on the edge of the razor. Once I sorted that out, did a few passes on the course side of the strop, and restropped with leather it felt a lot better

mikromicke said:

I had that problem for my first two straight shaves until I realized that I had the wrong stropping technique and was putting to much pressure on the edge of the razor. Once I sorted that out, did a few passes on the course side of the strop, and restropped with leather it felt a lot better

Click to expand...

Thanks. I'll give that a try.

This set me straight

http://www.straightrazorplace.com/srpwiki/index.php/Razor_stropping

Thanks for that stropping link.

My shave today was the best SR I've had yet. The stropping went better, I adjusted my angle and I shaved with more confidence in my strokes. Chimensch's video was invaluable as well. Finally made a concerted effort to shave against the grain.

Still a little tricky, but I have a closer shave than before.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Great to hear! I still can't dream of trying ATG ... I managed to remove to pieces of skin on my chin yesterday so I obviously need to work more on my technique

Still working on my SR shaves. Going to have another one today. One thing I've noticed is that my new found skin stretching technique is making my DE shaves better.

Now back to my stropping.