Don't know how religious I will be about keeping up with this, but here goes:
This past Sunday was my first time. I acquired a blade from Whipped Dog about a month and a half back, and had a fit of "what the hell, let's mess around with it today." I've watched all the you tube vids and read the tutorials, so I was prepared from that perspective.
I lathered up, after a little prorasa pre post, and got to scraping. I used some unscented AoS cream in a custom ceramic scuttle (blanking on the name atm, much loved vendor on this site, I'll post it later).
Totally forgot to remove the vaseline from the blade, lol.
So, that led to a funny, sticky first couple of strokes, but I quickly realized my error, and removed the vaseline with a washcloth.
Now, I have to say, even though this is a honed, shave ready razor from Larry's WD, I had some tugging, and had to apply considerable downward force to get the blade to cut through my stubble. It did not cut like butter, or nearly as smoothly as my Merkur Futur or EJ89. However, it cut, and after about 20 min of playng around with different hand positions and whatnot, I got through wtg and east-west xtg on the cheeks, and mostly wtg, with a little north-south xtg on the neck. Didn't get bbs, but got pretty smooth on the cheeks, dfs maybe, and acceptable, though a bit stubbly on the neck-- but no flesh massacre, and my main goal was really to avoid that.
Sunday's beard was a day's growth after a bbs the day before with the DE. Let it go to today (Tue), and went at it again, with a little more confidence and aggression. Again with the tugging (note, I still haven't stropped). Growth was longer, and actually a little easier to cut. I found with longer strokes there was less tugging, but again, this was no "the weight of the razor will do the work" experience. I had to apply considerable force, compared to my DE, and also it would be a good bit more then with say a fusion. Not pressure into the skin, but downward force against the beard hair. Ended up with almost bbs on cheeks and mostly dfs on neck. No irritation, one little weeper, couldn't even find the source after rinsing. Used that Billy Jealousy lube this time, so I could see the effects, which was helpful for learning. Still have some rough spots around the angle of the jawbone and neck area, but those are tough tomget for me even with DE's or carts.
Holding the blade feels a bit awkward, and the neck area is a bit scary and takes a lot of time, but I got the job done. Fortunately I keep a goatee, so I am spared the learning curve on the lips and chin area for now.
I'm going to strop this thing and see if it doesn't cut a bit smoother (I have been sharpening knives for years, so I am not expecting too much of an issue there, even though I know it is a bit different with a SR).
Well, there you have it. I jumped in and the water is fine!
This past Sunday was my first time. I acquired a blade from Whipped Dog about a month and a half back, and had a fit of "what the hell, let's mess around with it today." I've watched all the you tube vids and read the tutorials, so I was prepared from that perspective.
I lathered up, after a little prorasa pre post, and got to scraping. I used some unscented AoS cream in a custom ceramic scuttle (blanking on the name atm, much loved vendor on this site, I'll post it later).
Totally forgot to remove the vaseline from the blade, lol.
So, that led to a funny, sticky first couple of strokes, but I quickly realized my error, and removed the vaseline with a washcloth.
Now, I have to say, even though this is a honed, shave ready razor from Larry's WD, I had some tugging, and had to apply considerable downward force to get the blade to cut through my stubble. It did not cut like butter, or nearly as smoothly as my Merkur Futur or EJ89. However, it cut, and after about 20 min of playng around with different hand positions and whatnot, I got through wtg and east-west xtg on the cheeks, and mostly wtg, with a little north-south xtg on the neck. Didn't get bbs, but got pretty smooth on the cheeks, dfs maybe, and acceptable, though a bit stubbly on the neck-- but no flesh massacre, and my main goal was really to avoid that.
Sunday's beard was a day's growth after a bbs the day before with the DE. Let it go to today (Tue), and went at it again, with a little more confidence and aggression. Again with the tugging (note, I still haven't stropped). Growth was longer, and actually a little easier to cut. I found with longer strokes there was less tugging, but again, this was no "the weight of the razor will do the work" experience. I had to apply considerable force, compared to my DE, and also it would be a good bit more then with say a fusion. Not pressure into the skin, but downward force against the beard hair. Ended up with almost bbs on cheeks and mostly dfs on neck. No irritation, one little weeper, couldn't even find the source after rinsing. Used that Billy Jealousy lube this time, so I could see the effects, which was helpful for learning. Still have some rough spots around the angle of the jawbone and neck area, but those are tough tomget for me even with DE's or carts.
Holding the blade feels a bit awkward, and the neck area is a bit scary and takes a lot of time, but I got the job done. Fortunately I keep a goatee, so I am spared the learning curve on the lips and chin area for now.
I'm going to strop this thing and see if it doesn't cut a bit smoother (I have been sharpening knives for years, so I am not expecting too much of an issue there, even though I know it is a bit different with a SR).
Well, there you have it. I jumped in and the water is fine!