First Straight Razor Arrived today

[Anonymous]

So I got my first straight razor home today; it's a pre-honed 5/8 Dovo Best Quality from Straight Razor Designs. I picked it up from the post office this evening so I haven't had the chance to use it yet as I figured it would be best to wait until tomorrow morning when I'll have the time to go slow with it. I've got 3 days of beard growth ready and I can hardly wait to mow it down

Anyways, I figured I'd ask if there's any advice or tips you guys can give me before I attempt my first straight shave. I'll check back here in the morning, before the shave and then report back here on how it went when I'm done; hopefully I'll still have ears and lips

[Gissy]

First advice: Don't use it on three days growth on the first shave. Do one pass with a DE, SE or cartridge razor first. The first shave will be mostly about learning how to hold the razor and angle.

[Kentos]

+1

You might be a Straight Razor savant, but most people just starting out will have trouble with a 3 day growth. If the first few passes give you trouble, break out the DE or whatever for beard reduction then go back to the straight.

Good luck, and report back !

[mdunn]

If in doubt, get the spine closer to your cheek.

When you think your angle is good, get the spine closer to the cheek.

Once you've got the spine closer to your cheek, then you know you must get the spine closer to your cheek

[Doc226]

Agree with all the above comments.

3 days worth of growth is great for a straight razor, but not on a first shave.

[Tkocloser]

Agree with all comments above. I'd focus on WTG only for the first dozen or so shaves, better yet the first 20 shaves.

[coachschaller]

If it came from Straight Razor Designs, do NOT strop first. They strop it for you!!! Practice lathering a couple of times before actually shaving - you will want a thick, creamy, almost meringue-type consistency to your lather. Start with just the cheeks (I did not have this advice when I started). Put the spine against your face, if it doesn't seem to cut very well, move the spine away a millimeter or so away at a time. Practice stropping with a butterknife BEFORE using that straight. One good way to start stropping is practice on a hanging sheet of newspaper. If you rip the newspaper you are stropping too hard. Stay safe and keep us posted on the progress!

[Anonymous]

First off, I'd like to thank everyone who replied to my thread; your advice was useful and very much appreciated. I used my straight razor for the first time this morning, following the advice posted here; I did a single WTG pass with a DE before doing a second WTG pass with the straight. Now that my stubble has been cut down I intend to do two WTG passes with the straight tomorrow and hopefully daily from here on out for the next little while.

So, onto the results: First pass was with a feather blade and it cut almost all the hair down to a manageable length. Following this I went onto the straight and started at the right sideburn. I was pretty shaky at first but that went away about halfway through the shave and near the end my strokes became allot more confident and smooth. I did, however, have trouble maintaining the angle at parts but I suppose that's to be expected on a first shave. I also had some trouble on my lower cheeks; I'm a skinny guy and as a result I have little hollows in both my cheeks. The problem was that the blade kind of bridged over these hollows in that both the ends of the blade contacted skin but the middle of the blade was unable to make contact with these depressed areas. If anyone as any ideas on how to solve this issue then please let me know.

Other than that, however, it went fairly well; I got some slight irritation characterized by some burning when applying the alum block but it was definitely less than I got when I did my first DE shave about 3 months ago. I also didn't get any cuts, Knicks, or weepers and I suppose that's an accomplishment in and of itself. Today, I think, was really mostly about familiarizing myself with the feel of using a straight razor and getting over some of the instinctive fear of trying to shave with it. I believe tomorrow's shave will be better and I intend to stick with straight shaving until I master it.

I'll report the results of my second shave tomorrow.

[BakerAndBadger]

Re the hollow cheeks I read somewhere here that you can puff your cheeks out like blowing a trumpet. If you don't have a trumpet you can stick cotton balls in your cheeks and then pretend to be the Godfather! Congratulations and welcome.

[Gissy]

That sounds like sucessful first shave to me. Congrats! Stay with it and have fun, I know I am!

[coachschaller]

+1 on puffing out your cheeks. Mine stayed puffed for at least half the shave. All of the facial contortions one makes while shaving must make an observer laugh!

[Raithskar]

I believe tomorrow's shave will be better and I intend to stick with straight shaving until I master it. I'll report the results of my second shave tomorrow.

The shaves get better with each one. Before you know it you will be weilding that blade like a Fencer wields his Foil.

[Doc226]

Yep, puff out the cheek. I am not a skinny guy and I still puff out.

[Bk124tt]

Congrats on the inaugural shave my man!! I am recently back to shaving with DE Merkur Progress and prior to making the leap on a Dovo ($$) I am testing the waters (aka skin) with a Parker Shavette. So far so good! I am definitely enjoying my new addiction! :)

[Anonymous]

Second shave with a straight today and wow, what a difference from the first! I started with stropping the razor with 10 laps on linen and 30 on leather, being careful and going slowly the whole time. I practiced stropping last night as well and I can feel I'm starting to build muscle memory. So far there's been no Knicks on the strop and I haven't rolled the edge. Yesterday, however, I rinsed the lather off the blade but I must have accidentally gotten some water into the pivot despite trying not to because after a few hours some rust developed around that area. I spent about an hour last night scrubbing the area with q-tips and dental floss and I was able to get the rust off; I also oiled the pivot and the razor seems to be fine now. Since that experience I have taken to wiping lather the from the blade rather than rinsing it and I make sure that I dry my hands before I pick up the razor or change sides so that the hand holding the razor is always dry. I think I actually prefer the wiping method because you can see the hairs you've cut off which gives you a good idea of how well the razor is cutting and I no longer have to worry about getting water in the pivot.

Anyways, on to the shave itself. I did two WTG passes and then a touch up and I was able to get a presentably close shave with no missed patches of hair. My strokes were a lot more confident and smooth this time and I was able to maneuver the blade around my face to get all the lather off without too much issue thanks in part to the cheek puffing tip that some of you recommended. I also did a better job with blade angle than last time. I did, however, end up with some irritation and one small weeper that I didn't even feel on one of my cheekbones which stopped bleeding after the cold water rinse. The irritation wasn't too bad, certainly not enough to cause painful burning when putting the alum on but enough so that I felt a little scraped up until about an hour after the shave. I'll see how my skin feels tomorrow; if I think it's too tender I'll skip shaving for a day to give my face time to rest. But otherwise I feel that the shave was very good for a second attempt and there was a huge improvement over yesterday's shave.

I'll report my third shave back here either tomorrow or the day after depending on how my skin feels.

[coachschaller]

Sounds like you are doing great!!!! I suggest doing exactly as you plan: let your skin tell you when you can shave again. It will take a little while for your skin to adjust to this new way of shaving. Keep it up and soon you will wish your whiskers grew faster so that you could shave more.

[Slash McCoy]

First off, I'd like to thank everyone who replied to my thread; your advice was useful and very much appreciated. I used my straight razor for the first time this morning, following the advice posted here; I did a single WTG pass with a DE before doing a second WTG pass with the straight. Now that my stubble has been cut down I intend to do two WTG passes with the straight tomorrow and hopefully daily from here on out for the next little while.

So, onto the results: First pass was with a feather blade and it cut almost all the hair down to a manageable length. Following this I went onto the straight and started at the right sideburn. I was pretty shaky at first but that went away about halfway through the shave and near the end my strokes became allot more confident and smooth. I did, however, have trouble maintaining the angle at parts but I suppose that's to be expected on a first shave. I also had some trouble on my lower cheeks; I'm a skinny guy and as a result I have little hollows in both my cheeks. The problem was that the blade kind of bridged over these hollows in that both the ends of the blade contacted skin but the middle of the blade was unable to make contact with these depressed areas. If anyone as any ideas on how to solve this issue then please let me know.

Other than that, however, it went fairly well; I got some slight irritation characterized by some burning when applying the alum block but it was definitely less than I got when I did my first DE shave about 3 months ago. I also didn't get any cuts, Knicks, or weepers and I suppose that's an accomplishment in and of itself. Today, I think, was really mostly about familiarizing myself with the feel of using a straight razor and getting over some of the instinctive fear of trying to shave with it. I believe tomorrow's shave will be better and I intend to stick with straight shaving until I master it.

I'll report the results of my second shave tomorrow.

You will learn to make a lot of "shaving faces" as you progress. Puffing out the cheeks is just one of them. Also, stretch the skin very tightly in this area. Stretching the skin is very important with a straight. There is no bar to pre-stretch the skin ahead of the edge. You got to do it yourself. Stretching flattens the skin to be shaven and helps to pop the whiskers out.

Two WTG passes should be your daily shave for the next few weeks. The first pass is all about beard reduction. The second pass is the cleanup. When you are consistently getting a solid DFS with partial BBS, then you can concentrate on getting DFS from a single pass, or add an XTG pass to the two DFS. Once you got that down pat, try an ATG pass and go for the BBS. You don't need it but you know you want to. Maybe you will be like me and get bored with it as an everyday shave. My everyday shave is a single WTG pass but I go the whole enchilada when I need an exceptionally close shave. If you find yourself having problems with XTG and ATG, go back to your WTG. The secret of the multi-pass shave is getting good results with the WTG. Closely mown whiskers don't make the blade dig in so hard on the ATG pass. So the best results are to be had when the WTG is extremely close. Usually this requires two, not one, WTG passes. When you are having trouble, always sort out your WTG first.

As you initially master the two WTG shave, your confidence will build but you may find yourself getting careless. Keep your focus. Keep trying to continually improve. And it's not just about closeness, either. Comfort is important. If you continue to get irritation with the two WTG, then you probably won't like what a daily ATG will do to you.

I most strongly suggest that you buy a block of balsa, 12" long or longer, 3" wide, and at least 3/4" thick. You local hobby shop might have it so do a local google search. Or get it online. It shouldn't be more than $5 and generally you can expect to find a 36" long board of it for around $7. Go online and purchase diamond paste, 1u (one micron) grit and .25u also. Optionally and additionally, get some .5u CrOx. I get my diamond paste from www.tedpella.com but there are many sources for diamond pastes and slurries. Make sure your balsa is flat and smooth. Try tacking a sheet of 320 grit sandpaper to a glass tabletop with LocTite spray adhesive, (don't worry... it will peel off and any residue cleans up nicely with acetone or nail polish remover) and sanding your balsa nice and flat by laying it face down on the sandpaper and working it diagonally from corner to corner, switching diagonals once in a while. This lapping of your balsa may not be necessary but it is a detail that takes one more variable and questionable factor out of the equation. Wipe it nice and clean on all surfaces with a clean rag (I like an old tshirt) damp with acetone. Apply your diamond. Initially you should use an amount equal to about half a pinto bean. Re-applications should be an amount a little smaller than a bb. Smear it around all over the whole surface and work it in to the balsa. Do one side with the 1u, the other side with the .25u. Be sure you do not contaminate the .25u side with 1u! If a little .25 gets on the 1u side it will not harm it but if the .25u side gets contaminated with the 1u then you basically will have a very poor 1u surface, because the stray 1u crystals will not let the .25u diamond polish the edge beyond 1u level.

After every shave, carefully strop your blade with a half dozen laps on the 1u side. Carefully wipe the blade clean and strop on the .25u side with a dozen laps. Your edge will last a very long time if you don't damage it; maybe forever. You must still strop on the hanging leather strop before shaving, though.

Buying the 36" piece and cutting it into halves or thirds would give you something to experiment with. You might try .5u diamond instead of the 1u. You might try .1u in place of the .25u. You might want to try CrOx. Maybe try fewer laps, for less wear, so you are using only just enough to keep the edge in good shape. But any trial should get at least 3 months of daily use. Once you determine your favorite grit or grits, you will love the edge you get, and KEEP, on your razor.

Congratulations on your first shave. You are off to a pretty good start.

[prsman23]

After every shave, carefully strop your blade with a half dozen laps on the 1u side. Carefully wipe the blade clean and strop on the .25u side with a dozen laps. Your edge will last a very long time if you don't damage it; maybe forever. You must still strop on the hanging leather strop before shaving, though.

So another noob question. The instructions that came with my whipped dog kit said to do this every few weeks. So I am wondering why the difference in opinion. Not saying either is right or wrong, just new and curious

[Slash McCoy]

I do it every day. If you do it every few weeks, you may find your razor getting pretty dull toward the end. You will have to use a lot more than a half dozen laps, too. I do mine every day and I love the results. The only problem is I enjoy honing, and when my razors refuse to get dull, I have to buy more to have something to hone! But now I will introduce you to a time honored phrase/acronym that is often used on this forum: YMMV.

[prsman23]

Awesome answer. Thank you slash!