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My first straight shave was a fail. Help!

hold your horses. I am like you. I just started straight razor shaving a week ago. and here is my experience. I have 2 razor. one crazy sharp. and one very dull. although is was supposed to be "shave ready". my advice buy a good razor and send it for honing. even if it is labeled "shave ready". that is what I did in. well in some sense(I will post it the link below) and I had an awesome shave from my first trial. now this week I even tried ATG in parts of my face. and it was so insanely smooth. it bested any other razor I ever tried.

the other razor I have is just too dull. I had the SAME problems you had. a sharp razor means less struggling and better shave. also, better learning and experience. like you I had a very bad first impression. but with my sharp razor. it changed everything from bad to good. I posted a thread here, please read it. you don't make this mistake twice.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/360360-my-str8-razor-journey

so I was in your shoes last week. so don't lose hope. a sharp razor is even safer than a dull one. and you must have a strop, read the thread above and hope this helps.
 
My strop has arrived. I also got a second razors to work with that should be here this week. Interestingly enough the other razor I picked up was a Gold Dollar 66. It is honed and shave ready so I should be good to go when it gets here.
 
My strop has arrived. I also got a second razors to work with that should be here this week. Interestingly enough the other razor I picked up was a Gold Dollar 66. It is honed and shave ready so I should be good to go when it gets here.

Who honed the Gold Dollar? If not one of the guys on this forum, it is not shave-ready.
 
Who honed the Gold Dollar? If not one of the guys on this forum, it is not shave-ready.

That's a pretty broad statement, is there nobody else anywhere in the world selling shave ready gold dollars? completely off topic but that's a heck of a statement.
 
That's a pretty broad statement, is there nobody else anywhere in the world selling shave ready gold dollars? completely off topic but that's a heck of a statement.

Considering that this is the largest shaving forum, and the 2nd largest shaving forum will ban you for even suggesting that a Gold Dollar can be made to shave well and hold an edge.... ya, it's a heck of a statement and pretty much true.
 
Considering that this is the largest shaving forum, and the 2nd largest shaving forum will ban you for even suggesting that a Gold Dollar can be made to shave well and hold an edge.... ya, it's a heck of a statement and pretty much true.

Oh yeah I forgot about that place... lol. Well sir, touche!
 
Practice is the key :)

as for you mentioning that its too light .. what did you get? there is a lot of difference from razor to razor .. the grind, the wight etc. A 4/8 with that is hollow ground will be both smaller (shorter) and lighter then a 6/8 wedge for example, also will be lighter then a wedge 4/8. And there are many different razors to chose from :straight:
 
The first razor I used was a HM Christensen. Very light. The gold dollar that just came in today is a good bit heavier. I had a second shave with the HM and it was better. The angle advice helped a lot. I was able to make a full WTG pass with less tugging and pulling but still not anywhere close to a smooth or comfortable shave. I got brave after that and tried an XTG pass and got a decent cut. The blade just seems to almost grab the beard instead of cut through it. The blade got hung up and when I tried to push through it I got myself pretty good. Going to give this new razor a try tomorrow and see if my luck will be better with it.
 
Going to give this new razor a try tomorrow and see if my luck will be better with it.

Hey Colin, I'll be interested to hear how you make out with the GD. From the posts of others on this thread, perhaps the edge on that HM isn't shave ready any longer.

The blade got hung up and when I tried to push through it I got myself pretty good.

I've done this too. I've found that stretching is so important with a straight. I need to flatten and tighten my skin for each stroke of the blade. When I fail to do that, things get bloody. In a way, the DE does a disservice in that regard by making us lazy. Just this morning I noted that a particularly sticky area on my chin has been going much better recently with better stretching.

Good luck!

Josh
 
I've found that stretching is so important with a straight. I need to flatten and tighten my skin for each stroke of the blade. When I fail to do that, things get bloody. In a way, the DE does a disservice in that regard by making us lazy. Just this morning I noted that a particularly sticky area on my chin has been going much better recently with better stretching.

Good luck!

Josh

I heartily second that - stretching is far more important with a straight than a DE, as a DE has a guard bar or comb to do some stretching for us. You really don't want to be running a straight blade over floppy skin - it'll dig in or slice bits off.
 
The Gold Dollar was head and shoulders better. It is a bit heavier, which I like, and actually shaved my whiskers instead of dragging them off. Got a successful WTG pass. Then made a second WTG pass and then cleaned up with a DE. This makes me feel a lot better about straights and the potential to get a good shave with them. I'm struggling a bit with using my left hand. It just feels a little awkward. I'm sure I will get better with time. I also keep a goatee so figuring out how to get a nice line shaved without cutting into it is also quite the chore. Any suggestions from guys that keep a goatee?
 
The Gold Dollar was head and shoulders better . . . I'm sure I will get better with time . . . I also keep a goatee . . .

:thumbup:

Good news!

In the last 2 months I've almost given up a few times, but I'm glad I perceviered. After 2 months, I'm beginning to get some shaves that are starting to rival my DE shaves in closeness, but the straight shaves are more comfortable.

One of my more difficult spots is chin & soul patch, so if you have a goatee, you're in fat city! Getting a nice line with a straight seems easier for me on my sideburns than a DE. There is less bulk in the way and I can see exactly where the edge is.

Now you need to get that first blade honed. There are so many guys that can help you in that area, but I got a great JNat edge from Doc226 -

http://www.doc226.com/Doc226/Honing_Services.html

Good luck!

Josh
 
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