A new beginning: the chronicals of three new straight razor shavers

[duokun]

Guys, I am really pleased to see your posts!

If not tonight, then definitely this weekend i will have my second go at the straight. I have been really tired dealing with a new sleep schedule from work and class and havent wanted to risk the straight while tired.

[inspiringK]

Wow. So, I have had the razor for two days now and patiently waited for this morning to come so that use it. Since I don't have work today and nothing scheduled early, I got to take my time work through it. This morning I went for it. I experimented with a number of my soaps leading up to the first straight attempt, but I actually ended up going for a cream in the end. For a while I was shaving with RazoRock classic and Tabac exclusively in an attempt to find out which one I prefer. In the end I decided that RazoRock was not quite slick enough and Tabac leaves my face just a little too dry if I take long to shave. So, I nixed them both and ended up going with JM Frazer Mosswood


Then the shave. At first, it felt really odd holding the razor in my hand. It isn't like a DE in the sense that the grip is intuitive and solid. There are moving parts and nothing is rounded (like a DE handle is). But after settling my fingers down a bit things started to feel a bit more natural. I decided that going WTG on my right cheek (holding the razor with my right hand) would be the best way to start, and went for it.


My first impression after that first stroke - "cool, that went better than the Muhle R41, I guess the R41 has more blade exposure". From there on, I felt comfortable, but clumsy with the razor. I proceeded to do the same with my left cheek and even tried switching to the left hand twice with decent results. The area under my nose went easy enough, surprisingly. I even worked through most of my chin with few issues, but taking a lot of care. On the upper side of my face, the stumbling block was the area just below the corners of my mouth. It is a tight spot to get into and with that lower lip just begging to be sliced, it was a little nerve racking.


With the upper part of my face completely cleared of shaving cream, devoid of weepers, and decently shaven for a 1 or 1.5 pass shave, I tried below the jaw line. This is where it all became a little more perplexing to me. On a few different parts of my face, I tried dropping in from the jaw down towards the neck, but could never really navigate the curve of the jaw. Then I tried going at it from the bottom of my neck and upwards or even sideways and kept getting 'stuck'. So, I tried starting in the middle of my neck and had less luck. In the end I decided to grab my Gillette Old and finish the job with a DE. I will get the neck next time


Since I did not lob off an appendix, slice a major artery, get a serious weeper or even get razor burn, I will have at it again tomorrow morning

[Grips]

Great start. Try pulling the skin on the jaw up so that it lies over the cheek. Much easier to shave it then.

Neck is tricky. Just go slow.

[duokun]

Alright, so two days ago I broke out the strop and touched up my straight and took to it again. This time I once again shaved just the cheeks. I hate that it has been so long since the first time as it makes comparisons harder. It seemed to me that it wasn't cutting as easily as the first time. So after the cheeks I finished up with DE.

Last night I was laying in bed and thinking about straight shaving and thought, what the hell, I am not super tired, I might as well go shave. So again I stroped my razor, I think I did a better job this time, though still I feel I wasn't great. Then took to the shave. Seemed to cut better this time but still not as good as the first. Made it throug the cheeks fine, and finally tackled the mustache area. It seemed a bit harder, and the blade kept catching and tugging rather than slicing easlily, which sounds like a dulling razor to me. I tried the chin area/ soul patch area / whatever and it just wasn't cutting it easily so I stopped and finished with the DE.

I think my strop technique really needs some work, but hopefully this will improve and hopefully I won't totally dull the razors edge before I learn it.

Next time I will attempt more area. I am really enjoying it though, it's just the angles are taking a bit of getting used to. Also my lather starts drying out so I may start lathering in sections rather than lathering up my whole face at the beginning. Might see how that works out.

I can already see that in the future I will have razor wars. I am really enjoying learning to use a straight, but I still love shaving with a DE as well.

::sigh::

it's also going to be a real b**** choosing what razor to use since I already feel a minor case or RAD coming along.

oh well, that's just the way of things I guess.

[inspiringK]

Great start. Try pulling the skin on the jaw up so that it lies over the cheek. Much easier to shave it then.

Thanks for the tip, I had seen that you need to pull the skin tight and I had read about it, but I just wasn't doing it. This time around I followed the advice and it helped. This allowed me to drop in below my jaw line. I also switched to RazoRock Classic for this shave, it is not as slick as JM Fraser, but it offers a bit more cushion.

So, now I have a shave under my belt where I shaved my whole face. I completed two full passes with a little extra around the chin. To my chagrin, the shave still wasn't very close even though I could feel a noticeable burn on the face from trying too much. I finished off the shave with a gentle Krona DE, but my face was irritated for the rest of the day, c'est la vie. The razor is feeling more comfortable in my hand and I have since watched two more videos. The videos have become more helpful now that I know what to look for.

I have noticed the razor tugging a bit and the edge felt a bit less clean than before. So, I treated the strop that Larry so kindly added to the PIF and set it up. Stropping took a little bit of time to get used to. Had it not been for the videos and literature that I went to before starting, I would have flipped/rolled the blade in the opposite direction at the end of each stroke and totally hacked the leather into pieces. The stropping motion sets off the same muscle memory as using a steal or ceramic to polish a knife blade and when I do that I rotate the knife with the blade side facing inwards (naturally this does not make a difference with a knife because the blade leaves the steal at the end of a stroke.

[Grips]

Two major things I have found as I close in on 30 straight shaves:

1) Try for as light as you can.....then go lighter. I thought I was going light on the pressure until I tried for lighter. Way less irritation.

2)Don't use more pressure to get through tough whiskers. Try some easy guillotine and or short slicing motions (be careful). They make a big difference on the razors ability to go through the tough stuff.

Keep it up. Big break-throughs seem to happen in the 20-30 shave mark.

[duokun]

So, now I have a shave under my belt where I shaved my whole face. I completed two full passes with a little extra around the chin. To my chagrin, the shave still wasn't very close even though I could feel a noticeable burn on the face from trying too much. I finished off the shave with a gentle Krona DE, but my face was irritated for the rest of the day, c'est la vie. The razor is feeling more comfortable in my hand and I have since watched two more videos. The videos have become more helpful now that I know what to look for.

I am still working my way up to that point, so kudos to you! Do you mind sharing links to the videos that you watched? i have only watched the ones linked to in the straight razor wiki.

[inspiringK]

mind sharing links to the videos

I found this one and this one to be informative But, there are many more.

[duokun]

Shaved again the other day with the straight.

I think I am getting better with the strop. At least I hope so. I think I may take it to the balsa though cause I am pretty sure It should be shaving a bit smoother than it is. Any advice for using the balsa?

I shaved about 95% of my face this time. Chin and throat didnt get done. Cheeks mustache and sides of the neck did however.

Got a bit of razor burn on the chin line. But the cheeks were fine.

Finished up with the DE.

Cant wait to go 100% of the face. Next step is straight for all the passes. Still getting used to how to hold the razor for the different areas.

[inspiringK]

I think I may take it to the balsa though cause I am pretty sure It should be shaving a bit smoother than it is. Any advice for using the balsa?

I shaved about 95% of my face this time. Chin and throat didnt get done.

Yes, I also decided to take to the Balsa. I assume that my initial stropping technique may have rounded the razor's edge a bit or something and I wanted it to be sharper. The Balsa did improve things and the razor felt sharper on the next shave. The razor also did better with the hanging hair test after the Balsa (then strop). But, then again, I have no experience with the Balsa, with judging razor sharpness, or with the hanging hair test, so it may all be in my head

After the balsa, I completed my first pre-work shave with the straight. I had a little extra time before needing to head in to work, so I decided to try the straight before going in. It was a full face three pass shave. Still, the shave was a bit spotty with some poorly shaved patches and left me with irritation. I finished up with an Old Type and used my most soothing aftershave mix (in order - generic whitch hazel, Thayers Superhazel, Aqua Velva, Nivea sensitive balm, medicated camphor cream, and glycerin). My face felt a little rough during the day, but I still haven't experienced any real cuts or big nicks, which is encouraging

I have decided to try doing two things for my own good - 1) Use even less pressure (I feel like I am using none) but use a more aggressive blade angle. 2) Stop lurking around the honing forum before I get myself in trouble

[duokun]

My girlfriend asked me to grow my beard out for a bit, so it will be a week or so till i shave again. that's probably going to be how long it takes her to get tired of the beard and want to see me clean shaven again. heh heh.

of course if i can get my nerve up, i can use the straight to shave the lower part of my neck, which i like to keep clean so as to avoid the dreaded neck beard. im just scared of using the straight near my adam's apple. i have trouble even with the DE with that area

[duokun]

Well, i am definitely sure that my stropping technique needs a lot of work. that or that my Morley needs re-honing. Today i decided to shave with a Griffon straight razor i picked up a little while ago from Noah (noahpictures) so i could have a spare, and also because SRAD is hitting me already. Huge difference. it shaved so much easier. no tugging or anything.

I dont know if it is my poor stropping that just needs to improve or if i managed to do something bad to the edge when i first tried to strop the Morley. All i know is it did not shave this easily.

I shaved my whole face with two passes today. i did a little bit of touch up around my chin with my 40's Super Speed, but other than that it was my first complete straight shave. i may not have been able to get my chin super smooth, but i do consider it a complete straight shave because i did use it on every part of my face. :)

It wasnt the greatest shave ever, but it also wasn't the worst. i have some areas where it is still a little stubbly. that's ok though. i still feel like it was a tremendous improvement and i was fairly impressed i made it through trying a new razor.

[superbleu]

Adam, don't forget you have 3 free re-hone jobs that you can utilize.

Maybe I did a bad job of honing the razor when I sent it out. Opps.

[ObiDon]

De-lurking just to say that this a great thread. Thanks for sharing your experience. It makes me want to try!

Don

[inspiringK]

Gentleman, we have Success I had my first full straight shave today that did not need DE touch-ups afterwards. Sure it was not a perfect shave, it left me with some irritation, two weepers, rough patches, and it took me half an hour to achieve, but it feels good!

There were a few reasons why things fell into place today, I will mention the four that come to mind.

1. Sharpening the razor on my own stones.
After having a few full face shaves with the straight, but not being able to get close enough to be happy with the shave, I decided to look into trying my hand at honing. So, I caved and bought myself a Norton 4k/8k and some 0.5 micron lapping film. First off I want to make it clear that I take no responsibility whatsoever for doing this. I place the blame squarely on any of you heartless enablers who have made any post in the honing forum during the last month. When SWMBO finally figures out that the fancy 2 coloured stone in my closet is not the same stone that I have for sharpening our knives, I am sending her your way

After spending a good chunk of time figuring out the Norton - starting at the 4k and then progressing to the 8k, using the lapping film, going to one side of the Balsa, then the other, then to the leather strop, and then repeating the whole process twice (mostly in the hopes of improving results), I can gladly say that the razor is no less sharp than when I started I can pass the hanging hair test, but the hair gets close to winning the contest. The point is that I did enough to the razor to convince myself that the sharpness is not the limiting factor. So I have the convidence to know that I can get a good shave if I use the right technique.

2. Using the DE as a guide.
I don't have a beard map for myself and I don't go directly south with the first pass and directly north with the last. In other words, with a DE, I have learned which directions to shave in on the different parts of my face during the progressive passes. Most of this is really muscle memory though, so it is hard to visualize when I am using the straight. This time around, I kept a DE next to the sink. Any time that I had trouble with a spot, I picked up the DE and sort of mimicked what I would do if I were shaving with a DE. This allowed me to know with certainty the best direction that I could shave in for that part of my face and that pass. From there on it was just a matter of figuring out which grip and hand would allow me to make the 'stroke' that I knew I needed to make.

3. A mid shave strop.
I don't know if others do this or if it is typically needed, but I found it useful. When I use a DE, I subscribe to the two shaves and out rule when it comes to changing blades. So, I like for my blades to be fresh and sharp. After the second pass with the straight today, I decided to go back to the strop and refresh the blade. After a quick 20 to 30 laps I started my third pass with a newly stopped blade. I felt as though this made a difference. After the second pass the blade did not pass the HHT, but with some stropping it did pass the test.

4. Being firmer.
Okay, I left the more controversial point for last. I say being firmer, really this is just a PC way to suggest that using a little more pressure actually helped the shave and reduced irritation. I found that when the blade is not making firm clear contact with my skin, it tends to tug and pull at the hair rather than sheer them off. by slightly increasing pressure, I felt noticeably less tugging while shaving, especially in the first two passes. After the shave, I still experienced a little irritation, but less than I have had during previous shaves with the straight. This adjustment also allowed me to finally get a close enough shave with the straight

Adam, don't forget you have 3 free re-hone jobs that you can utilize.

Ooooh, I forgot about this, or maybe never realized it. Though I feel that I would need to get another razor before I could consider sending this one out for a period of time. I am afraid I may be at a bit of a loss without a straight around the house, even though I am still not really using it during the week.

De-lurking just to say that this a great thread. Thanks for sharing your experience. It makes me want to try!

Go for it, no harm come come from trying....... Wait, actually I guess a lot of harm can come from..... well it is still a good idea.

[bbarton713]

I just got my sight unseen package from Larry and read this thread with great interest. Big breath and tomorrow I take the leap!

[superbleu]

I just got my sight unseen package from Larry and read this thread with great interest. Big breath and tomorrow I take the leap!

Congratulations Bob,

If you have any questions shoot me a PM, or write me a letter with your fancy new VP. Better yet start your own straight shaving journal for us to follow.

[bbarton713]

Congratulations Bob,

If you have any questions shoot me a PM, or write me a letter with your fancy new VP. Better yet start your own straight shaving journal for us to follow.

I love my VP with the medium nib. It hasn't gone unused a single day since I got it!

A shaving journal sounds good and thanks for the offer of help!

[inspiringK]

Lets talk stroke length.

So, I am getting into a bit of a groove now. Still no major cuts. The shaves are getting closer and I don't really have much irritation. Especially on my chin and in a crevasse type area in my neck (below the jaw angle, between the Adam's apple and the jugular), my shaves are still not as close as a DE and I do feel more irritation than with my DE, but the shaves are improving.

Amongst DE shavers, the go-to advice is that short controlled razor strokes are better. With the straight, I feel that the opposite is true. Should I be making my shaving strokes longer with the Straight or should they stay short as is recommended for DE razors?

[superbleu]

I tend to use longer strokes on the first pass, then shorter strokes with the following passes and final touch ups.