Shave journal - Chris

[Brent]

In my opinion best way to learn is going all in. Forces you to learn quickly. I've only used a DE once or twice and can't say if the straight takes much longer but I imagine it may. For me though, I can get a very close BBS shave in 2 passes with a straight and it takes me about 10-15 minutes. That includes lather building, stropping and cleanup so it may be possible that you may find the straight will work into your regular schedule.

[gretsch981]

Chris, where did you pick up your hones and where did you first look to start learning how to hone your razor? My interest in honing razors is building and I'm curious to know your beginnings. Thanks!

[cleanshaved]

I got my hones from Amazon.com. shipping to NZ was cheaper than other sites only $25usd compaired to $50usd shipping.
other sites I looked at for hones was Shavenation and straight razor design.
honing straight razors is new to me but have honed boning knifes daily for a few years for work boning lamb and mutton.
There is a good honing video using the 4000 and 8000 Norton on this site under "Hones/Honing" then Curious...
Watched it myself last night and learned a few good things form it.
Try google straight razor honing. There is many video clips to view.
all the best with the honing.

[cleanshaved]

shave #11. Monday morning and back to work after a short hoilday. enjoyed the relaxed morning shave with no time presure.
there was no way the DE was to be used today, I was going to make the SR my blade of choice 7 days a week.
normal shave prep. first stroke was nice and smooth after my few laps on the hone.
half way through my 1st pass I was given a sharp reminder who was the boss here (not me.. well yet anyway). just a wee nick but a good reminder, speed with come naturally don't force it.
I relaxed back into the shave with good results. still needing to clean up in a few spots but can handle that.
don't know why I was worried about the time, as was within my exceptable time frame for the 3 S's.
shave #12: shave was ok. starting to get closer on the first pass.
think I can make more improvement with the shave by working on mantaining a sharp blade and quality shaves will follow.

[Gustav]

Seems like you are doing very well, well done and keep going because it only gets better! I envy you guys with enough growth to shave off every day, it takes me at least 36 hours to get a crop which is shaveworthy.

[kiwichris]

Hey there Chris. Looks like you're making great progress. Now that I'm back at work I'm using the DE during the week as I shave in the shower. Straight is weekend only. With a bit more practice that may change ... You've given me a bit of inspiration to try it.

[cleanshaved]

shave #13 to 16
It was SR all the way for my week back at work. just one small slice to my left cheek on Friday #$%@. left hand on 1st pass. tip of blade took a thin slice about 25mm long. not much blood more damage to my pride than my face.
a few milestones have been reached in this short time.
A few light passes on the 8k norton to see were i can take this edge to had good results just pass the hht and ok shave, room to improve.
I have stopped using the poormans strop and onto my walkin horse strop.
This will free up the poormans for the second side of my homemade paddle strop which I have named "Excalibur".
Excalibur has one side in use pasted with TI paste. used it on Thursday after the 8k Norton followed up with crox on balsa. hht pass with ease, best shaves so far Friday and Saturday.
With the good results on the 8k I have purchased a Naniwi 12Kwhich is in the post hope to have it by the end of the week. I was in the good books with SWMBO so thought the time to buy was right. the exchange rate was also in my favour.
Shaves 13-16 other than the one light cut were fine. todays shave I had the best shave so far. jaw line which noramlly gives me trouble was closer on final inspection. had hit this spot at a slight different angle in last pass.

[cleanshaved]

#17
not much to say about this shave. much like yesterday. no cuts and good results.
just a few spot at the back of the jaw line needed touch ups. will try differnt angles of attack on the second pass as this has worked well on the front of the jaw.
my face hair grows in differnt direction on the jaw line so will look at different angles of attack as I shave this zone.
Happy with the razor after stropping. 30 on the linen then 60 on the leather. felt the same shave quality as yesterday.
Used a sponge for the first time to wipe the blade clean inbetween strokes. do beleive this makes my shave just a little bit quicker than rinsing the blade.
Finished up with a spash of TOBS Sandlewood.

I am enjoying this SR shaving a lot. not just the shave but the whole honing, stropping, & shave process.
Shaving is no longer like mowing the lawns, it is an event I can't wait to do.

[cleanshaved]

shave #18 to 20.
very happy with my shaves. no blood, sharp razor, no nicks in my strop (last famous words) and BBS cheeks. jaw line is work in progress still.
prep as per normal. shaving cream mmmmmm Arlington.
stropping is yielding good results with the razor holding it's sharpness/smoothness.
I have noticed my first pass is removing a more wiskers. the razor is cutting with ease.
Feeling comfortable with the shaving technique, both left and right hands are getting comfortable with the balde in hand.
when my Naniwi 12K in the next few day i will have a play to see were it takes me.
Saturday may be my hone day until I have consistent results.

I need to stop reading some articals on B&B as I am already getting big eyes for a Hart 6/8.

[cleanshaved]

Shave #19-21
normal prep. cream Arlinton. AS Tabac.
1st pass is smoother with every shave. there has been no hone or pasted strops involved so must put the gains down to either better stropping or the shave technique.
no nicks or cut in all shaves.
this morning shave was with a 2 days growth. 1st pass was good with the wiskers removed with ease. on par with the closness of a 1 day 1st pass so was very happy.

have honed my razor this morning. on the Norton 8k then the Naniwi 12K. curiosity on the next level of honing was the reason not a dull razor.
result was HHT passed in places just after stropping. back to the 12K for a few more laps, and stropped 30 on the linen then 100 on unpasted leather.
HHT passed with ease. Did not use the TI paste or crox as want to see how it shaves off the 12k itself.
shave test will be tomorrow morning as I am already clean shaved.

[Kentos]

I think I started honing at around where you are in your "journey" too. I have since found the honing to be the one of the more enjoyable aspects, followed by stropping. Shaving is just the vehicle with which I test out all my toys and their effects on my other toys.

I recently read and found that a really keen edge will not only pass the HHT root out, but when you turn the hair around it should pop too. A really, really sharp edge will pop hair equally both ways, to the point where you don't know which way the hair is facing. Doesn't mean its a comfortable shave tho. : ) But in my honing progression now, a sharp edge is a comfortable one

[cleanshaved]

shave #22
prep as per normal. shaving cream Arlinton. AF Proraso splash.
coming off the 12k hone was just the ticket. as per my previous hone attempts, I know there are still more gains to be made but the bar has been raised again for a sharp comfortable shave.
stropping is yielding consistant results, feels like the stop is breaking in just a bit. have been rubbing with a beer bottle a few time to help the process.
1st pass wtg smooth and strokes are getting longer, meaning just a slight bit quicker shave. (3-S's is 30min).
I am happy with that but are getting a bit of a hard time from SWMBO. guess its funny given all we dish out re woman prep time.
2nd pass xtg ear to nose.
3rd atg. result BBS shave on all but my jaw again. a guick touch up took care of that.
gave the razor a few laps on the TI paste then crox tonight just to see the benifits compaired to straigh off the 12K.

[cleanshaved]

shave #23-28
all but one shave was good. funny enough it was this morning shave when I had all the time in the world that was below par (small cut on 1st pass).
I have been having consitant results but changed my shaving soap to Trumpers Eucris, brought this a few weeks before starting the SR path and have not been able to get a good lather from it. This is my first time using it with the SR.
not sure if it was the lack of slip in the lather, not pulling the skin enough, going too quick or just daydreaming, as the razor bit on he first pass.
could be all the above for me with this soap. back in the cupboard for a few month it goes until i have nailed the SR.

the rest of the shave was good with a improvement in how much I need to clean up on final inspection.

[cleanshaved]

shave # 1 month in
I have been shaving with a SR for a month straight now, started the SR journey at Christmas and have enjoyed every moment of learning the curve.
instead of a shave report I will give a quick review on my path to one month in.
pleanty of reading, videos and window shopping finally got me up for my first purchase.
A Dovo 5/8 -1/2 hollow as was new cheap(ish) and shave ready. brought a WH strop. then after some advise from someone here I quickly purchased a poormans strop.
stropping was practiced in the air for a few days until the strop arrived, then out with the butter knife. not sure if anyone else air stropped but worked for me.
well after some air shaving and air stropping for a few days it was time to step up and shave like a man.
yes i will admit there was a few nerves but they were soon over come. done wtg, xtg & atg on 1st shave.
1 month in no nicks at all to the poormans or WH strop. poor mans has now been converted to a homemade paddle strop. just glued the last side on tonight.
shaving felt natural very quickly with both left and right hand.
hit the hone after 1 week nort 4/8K as felt as if the edge had rolled (I blame a poor stropping stroke).
1st hone result was needing improvement, so to the hone each night until happy. 3 day was happy.
12k Naniwa Super Stone was added to my hone set and have enjoyed good results but have only used twice. looking forward to more honing.
sending a razor out to be honed was never a option for me 1 due to shipping cost to/from NZ and 2nd I wanted to learn the whole SR deal shave/strop/hone.
stropping has improved yielding good results.
just 2 cuts to my cheeks that made me jump..... reminder to myself "the razor is the boss" but I have applied for the position as CEO of shaving (in my den anyway) and will be in charge of the blade in no time.

this journal has helped me think about the pros and cons of the just completed shave and work out how to approch the next shave (with some helpful advise from the good men here at B&B).

Thanks to everyone at B&B for their advise it has helped a lot.
Happy shaves

[noahpictures]

Thanks for sharing :)

[cleanshaved]

shave # stopped counting. approx 1.5 months in now
prep. I don't deviate here, always shave after a shower.
shaving cream: DR Harris - Arlington.
blade: still only own one, so not a hard choice. 5/8 Dovo 1/2 hollow.
took the razor to excalibur this morning. a few laps on the TI paste then a few laps on the crox.
30 x linen 60 x leather. had to slow my stropping down a bit as I was losing good form for speed.
1st pass: wtg - good beard reduction. the paste had done the trick.
2nd - xtg ear to nose.
3rd - atg- no probelms just BBS face left behind.
finished with Tabac splash.
shaving with a SR now fells as natural to me as using a DE. It might be time to reward myself with a new 6/8 razor.

[cleanshaved]

2 Month's of SR.
Hi all thought I would just give the 2 month milestone a log.
prep always shower before shave.
strop 30 linen then 60 leather. with once a week touch ups on the TI and crox paddle strop. working well with smooth shaves.
cream and soap. I change about once a week rotation is : soap -Tabac, TOBS sandlewood cream, Arlington cream, Proraso cream and GFT cream.
have been mixing the lather with a bit more water with good results.

Shaves are all seam good with a few that make me go hmmmmmmmmmm.
no blood, no razor burn, in fact it is better than the DE days.
have tried a few moves I saw on Chimensch's 30th video. with good results. nice to watch a seasoned SR shaver in action.
post shave care: always spalsh with cold water then to the AS splash. mix it up between TOBS sandlewood and Tabac.
If I am using a cologne my spash of choice is proraso or Spieck.
In the post I have: the World of straight razor DVD. hope to pick up some extra tips on honing and anything else I can learn.
still in search of my next razor now I am leaning towards a 7/8. if this keeps up I will talk myself into a Chopper LOL
Happy Shaves

[Grips]

Good to read about your progress.

[cleanshaved]

shave week #11
prep: shower
Shaving soap: Trumpers Eucris
SR: Dovo 5/8 half hollow
strop: 30 linen - 60 leather
AF Shave: Musgo Real

This is my second SR shave with Trumpers Eucris. The first left me disapointed. I put that down to my not making a good lather not the product.
It was placed on hold until my SR shave were constant. Well I pulled it out last night and made a few batches with differnt water etc.
This morning I shaved with it. consitancey did not look like what I was use to. a lot thiner and very small bubbles.
The 1st pass WTG seamed to be the closest so far.
second followed XTD ear to nose with same good results.
final pass XTG exposed the eureka moment. This was now my best shave.
will use the Eucris soap for the week. It may be a case of breaking it in or tuning my lather making with this soap.

In the post: I have my second SR on the way. it's a Joseph Elliot's Best Silver Steel 7/8 Hollow Ground.
looking forward to using a bigger blade and hollow razor.

[cleanshaved]

Shave week #12
pre: same old.. same old.
cream: GFT.
Razor: 5/8 Dovo half hollow.
standard 3 pass shave. 1st WTG, 2nd XTG final ATG.
not close enough after the second pass to call it a day but close.
ATG results in BBS. aim is to be able to get a good result in 2 passes.

received my Joseph Elliot's 7/8 Hollow Ground. It felt like Christmas until it failed HHT.
This was sold as a "shave ready & tested" so I decided to give it a try, after all it may just he me with this HHT.
much disapointment but not suprised. @#$% shave ready my @#$%. back to my trusty Dovo after just 2 strokes
Gave it a light honing to see were it was at............would not sit flat on the hone....spine wear was thick then thin then thick again..........
reset bevel on 1K Norton then 4k / 8k Norton. finished on 12k Niniwa. TI paste then crox.
result after HHT passed and again I can not wait for morning shave. one happy camper.

In a way I am happy this was not shave ready, as now I fell I have earned tomorrows good shave results.