Hey All; I'm new here and would like to introduce myself (Hello from NY/DE/PA)

[scholarly*gentleman]

Welcome aboard, Justin! Nice to have you here.

I love my EJ DE89L, awesome tool!

It really is!

I just used a BIC blade and got the best shave yet.. I think I am getting close to a BBS shave.

Also, a question for everyone; If you made the transition to shaving with a straight, whether all the time or occassionally, how long did you DE shave prior? How long should I wait for the transition (as a general guideline)?

[oakeshott]

Justin,
Welcome aboard. You've made some great choices in your den already. Curious what your fellow students think about your obsession.

Also, since you're in Mech Eng, you may be interested in this thread if you haven't already read it:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...ata-on-Shaving

It's a very geeky thread and the kind of thing one would only find on the forum. It will also help with your shaving.

There are a lot of tech types in the mix here so you should feel right at home.
oake

[Mr_Spiffy]

It really is!

I just used a BIC blade and got the best shave yet.. I think I am getting close to a BBS shave.

Also, a question for everyone; If you made the transition to shaving with a straight, whether all the time or occassionally, how long did you DE shave prior? How long should I wait for the transition (as a general guideline)?

Welcome! I'm a fellow newbie and mechanical engineer, myself (at least I consider myself to be a newbie, yet). I've been DE shaving since about March or April, and have gotten ever so curious about straight razors. If you're willing to put in the maintenance and extra time to do straight-razor shaving, I don't doubt you could do it. I still have issues with a couple areas around my neck, so I'm concerned that I need to figure those out before I move on to straights. But I'm really curious about them, and may give them a try anyway.

Keep in mind, that along with the straight razor, you'll need a strop and some type of honing board or stone. WhippedDog has straight kits for beginners to start with that come with a strop and a couple of balsa boards with abrasive paste on them to hone with. Eventually, it seems that most straight users move on to good-quality stones to hone on. But, I intend on trying one of WD's kits, once I feel I'm up for it (and have a little spending cash).

[jollyr]

Welcome aboard from a fellow PA resident - am just a bit to the South and East, in the Lehigh Valley.

[scholarly*gentleman]

Justin,
Welcome aboard. You've made some great choices in your den already. Curious what your fellow students think about your obsession.

Also, since you're in Mech Eng, you may be interested in this thread if you haven't already read it:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...ata-on-Shaving

It's a very geeky thread and the kind of thing one would only find on the forum. It will also help with your shaving.

There are a lot of tech types in the mix here so you should feel right at home.
oake

Thanks! I will start reading ASAP!

[scholarly*gentleman]

Welcome! I'm a fellow newbie and mechanical engineer, myself (at least I consider myself to be a newbie, yet). I've been DE shaving since about March or April, and have gotten ever so curious about straight razors. If you're willing to put in the maintenance and extra time to do straight-razor shaving, I don't doubt you could do it. I still have issues with a couple areas around my neck, so I'm concerned that I need to figure those out before I move on to straights. But I'm really curious about them, and may give them a try anyway.

Keep in mind, that along with the straight razor, you'll need a strop and some type of honing board or stone. WhippedDog has straight kits for beginners to start with that come with a strop and a couple of balsa boards with abrasive paste on them to hone with. Eventually, it seems that most straight users move on to good-quality stones to hone on. But, I intend on trying one of WD's kits, once I feel I'm up for it (and have a little spending cash).

Yeah I have done my fair bit of research on the subject and would probably purchase and learn with the Feather Artist SS before entering the world of more traditional straight razor shaving. I am quite busy as a student and all and honing is something I would not be fond of at this point in my life..

As for my neck, I do have some problems at times with irritation (a tad) since I have been shaving everyday but this has been getting better and better as I shave more and my skin gets used to the single blade. I still have quite a few blades to try as well but my blade angle feels really good right now since I changed it to be greater when measuring the angle between the handle and skin.

As for your profession, are you a student or somewhere in the professional world?

[Mr_Spiffy]

I graduated in '05, and work with a CAD reseller, right now. I'm interested in getting back into the professional engineering world again. I'm just a bit intimidated by all of the pressure, since I've been in a pretty low-stress job since graduation. I'm also a fairly relaxed person (some may say lazy, but I prefer laid-back), so stressful situations don't really appeal to me too much. But I've gotten bored with where I am, and need a little bit more of a challenge for my brain. I gathered you're still a student? How long until graduation?

Back to shaving, I don't really get razor burn, as many people do. But I tend to get nicks on my right side of my neck between my adam's apple and jugular, in that valley area. It's not just a dip in one direction, it's more of a concave area in the north-south and east-west directions. And my hair runs east-west in that area, making it tough to shave. I think I just need to work on stretching my skin a bit more into areas that have a flatter topography.

[scholarly*gentleman]

I graduated in '05, and work with a CAD reseller, right now. I'm interested in getting back into the professional engineering world again. I'm just a bit intimidated by all of the pressure, since I've been in a pretty low-stress job since graduation. I'm also a fairly relaxed person (some may say lazy, but I prefer laid-back), so stressful situations don't really appeal to me too much. But I've gotten bored with where I am, and need a little bit more of a challenge for my brain. I gathered you're still a student? How long until graduation?

Back to shaving, I don't really get razor burn, as many people do. But I tend to get nicks on my right side of my neck between my adam's apple and jugular, in that valley area. It's not just a dip in one direction, it's more of a concave area in the north-south and east-west directions. And my hair runs east-west in that area, making it tough to shave. I think I just need to work on stretching my skin a bit more into areas that have a flatter topography.

I will graduating May 2014. When you say you work with a CAD reseller, are you part of the designing of the software or a knowledge base within the company? Regardless, I understand what you mean about the high stress of the industry. I am currently interning this summer for a large company in a group that does mainly design work and have been able to experience first hand the kind of stress that occurs..

[Mr_Spiffy]

We just take the CAD software and sell it. We're also called a VAR (value-added reseller) or channel partner. So, we do the sales, tech support, training, and consulting around the software and customers' needs. But we're not part of actually designing the software.

Fortunately, as of late, I've been able to at least exercise my brain a little bit by doing a couple of consulting projects using finite element analysis and flow analysis software. It feels good to dust off a little engineering knowledge again.

[scholarly*gentleman]

We just take the CAD software and sell it. We're also called a VAR (value-added reseller) or channel partner. So, we do the sales, tech support, training, and consulting around the software and customers' needs. But we're not part of actually designing the software.

Fortunately, as of late, I've been able to at least exercise my brain a little bit by doing a couple of consulting projects using finite element analysis and flow analysis software. It feels good to dust off a little engineering knowledge again.

Haha yeah I gotcha. A lot of what I have been doing this summer involves FEA, static, and stress analysis. Its fun at times but sometimes I wish the stuff we were designing moved. I still am not quite sure what it is I want to do in the field but for now I am just learning whatever I can in whatever field will offer me a job

[Agravic]

Welcome fellow AD sufferer and PA resident.
I too am enjoying the benefits of DE razors and associated paraphernelia.
I've read many of the posts, and am trying to follow the advice of others. It's amazing how much technique makes a difference. I've been using the same blade/razor combo for the last week, and am noting incremental improvements i.e. DFS - BBS and less in the way of razor burn etc. I am using an EJ89, but have an R41 waiting in the wings for when I'm ready.

[scholarly*gentleman]

Welcome fellow AD sufferer and PA resident.
I too am enjoying the benefits of DE razors and associated paraphernelia.
I've read many of the posts, and am trying to follow the advice of others. It's amazing how much technique makes a difference. I've been using the same blade/razor combo for the last week, and am noting incremental improvements i.e. DFS - BBS and less in the way of razor burn etc. I am using an EJ89, but have an R41 waiting in the wings for when I'm ready.

Yeah it is pretty interesting how incrementing blade angle can make such a huge difference. I feel like it is overlooked in many threads/posts here but I may have overlooked some tutorials where it is stressed..

My first few shaves lacked a decent shave on my neck even going ATG because of the fact that the blade was nearly perpendicular to my skin, ultimately doing nothing.. After changing my blade angle it quickly became clear that I had been doing something wrong. I also feel using Astras and Feathers are a good precursor to a more agressive razor like the r41. Of course, this is purely speculation as I have only broke out one Astra and decided to work with milder razor blades for the next week or so to give my skin a little longer to get used to the shave.

[Mr_Spiffy]

That makes me think I should try out another razor to see how it affects my shave. I love the construction quality of my DE89, but I can't help but wonder if I could get a better shave with another razor.