Razor Pass Around--George86's Straight Razor Blood Drive

So this is going to be my shave journal thread for my straight razor journey. I named it a blood drive because I never want to forget how much blood I'm going to shed learning this thing.

Shave 1:

Razor: Kleen Kutter 5/8 full hollow (Sight Unseen from Larry at WD)
Pre-shave: Stirling Soap's Unscented Pre-shave oil
Brush: Rudy Vey Custom
Soap: Stirling Soap's Executive Man
A/S: Fine Platinum

I didn't strop the razor today as per Larry's instructions. However, I did find out that these razors will part flesh as easily as hair, and they don't care which they are cutting.

I didn't shave yesterday, as I usually get a better shave with a DE if I let my beard grow a day in between shaves (I usually have to do more passes though, so this may have factored into my results) I lathered up as per my usual routine, and started on a WTG pass. I've been practicing skin stretching and ambidextrous shaving with my DEs, and the the right side of my face went fairly smoothly, minus a couple weepers on my chin, probably from the wrong blade angle.

But when I switched to the left side of my face, I started having trouble. First was the grip. Left handed for left side of face? But it seemed like my hand was almost in front of my eye, and that caused some issues. Then the blood really started flowing. I wasn't paying attention to the toe of the blade while I shaved my sideburn, and I sliced right into my earlobe. Put about a 5 mm long, deep cut in my earlobe in an instant, and all the cursing I could think of wouldn't stop the blood. Eventually, a styptic pencil did stop the blood, and I finished my WTG pass with a couple other weepers, but nothing major.

Then I got...ambitious. I decided that I wasn't satisfied with the shave (it was pretty rough still, maybe an SAS at best) and lathered up again for an XTG pass, ear to nose. I managed most of the pass alright, except for slipping and slicing my cheek by the jawline once on each side. Once I got to my neck under my chin though, I just could not figure out how to hold the razor for the life of me. Everything I tried ended up with the handle in the way, and I was having a really hard time with the angle on the blade. I ended up just going ATG, and not managing the angle very well, so the whole underside of my throat was raw by the time I finished, and I still ended up with only a somewhat smooth shave.

End result: SAS, with a sliced earlobe, two decent nicks, and about a dozen weepers. Not close, not comfortable, but its a result.

Questions: How to hold the razor when shaving left side of face WTG / shaving neck XTG?
Also, how do you guys clean the lather off the razor while shaving? I usually swirl my DE in a sink of water, but hesitate to do that with a straight b/c I don't want to hit the sink and nick the blade.

Finally, a picture (no blood in this one)

I just had a reply all done and hit the wrong button.....

Love the Avatar of one of my favorite teams. 5 years ago today there was a duck boat tour celebrating the Cup victory vs. Vancouver.

Use a car wash sponge for getting lather off blade. Smaller pores. Cheap one from auto or dept store.

It will take practice. I think you did good by using a straight for the shave. You will get there do not get discouraged. Off hand or non dominant hand feels very strange at first, but it will come. You can use dominant hand - some do, but I find I need my non-dominant hand for my pass on right side (I'm a lefty) from ear to mouth and parallel to lower jawbone on neck. I do my S2N (south to north) pass all with lefthand.

Great choice of gear and nice razor from Larry. Looks like you achieved a great lather!

Welcome 2 the forum section. Very good entry and good read. Looking forward to hearing about your progress!

Regards - Pete

Sent via Tapatalk from phone

Very nice pic, and good set up!

That was more than respectable for a first time with a straight. I think I only did 1 stripe on my right and left cheeks , finishing with my DE, for the first 5 days lol.

If you have an alum block, it is really helpful to rub your fingers on it before gripping the razor. It has always given me a better grip. I normally shave above the jawline with left hand for left side, right hand for right side. I'm right handed, and when I use do the left side of my face, it is usually with my head turned, looking out of the corner of my eye. It felt awkward as all get out the first few times, but becomes habit after a while. I don't think that there is any right or wrong way with regards to what hand you use for what side of your face. You just find something that works for you and go with it.

+1 to the car wash sponge. If you do rinse it off, try to not get any water where the razor is pinned to the scales. It's an easy way to get rust.

I've gotten pretty good technique ideas from watching Lynn Abrams or Anthony Esposito on youtube.

Good to see you here, and hope to read more.

labrax said:

I just had a reply all done and hit the wrong button.....

Love the Avatar of one of my favorite teams. 5 years ago today there was a duck boat tour celebrating the Cup victory vs. Vancouver.

Use a car wash sponge for getting lather off blade. Smaller pores. Cheap one from auto or dept store.

It will take practice. I think you did good by using a straight for the shave. You will get there do not get discouraged. Off hand or non dominant hand feels very strange at first, but it will come. You can use dominant hand - some do, but I find I need my non-dominant hand for my pass on right side (I'm a lefty) from ear to mouth and parallel to lower jawbone on neck. I do my S2N (south to north) pass all with lefthand.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I will get a car wash sponge soon, right now I was just using a bar towel to wipe the later off. I'll keep hacking away at it, hopefully I have an ear left by the time I'm done. Go Bruins!

Smattayu said:

Very nice pic, and good set up!

That was more than respectable for a first time with a straight. I think I only did 1 stripe on my right and left cheeks , finishing with my DE, for the first 5 days lol.

If you have an alum block, it is really helpful to rub your fingers on it before gripping the razor. It has always given me a better grip. I normally shave above the jawline with left hand for left side, right hand for right side. I'm right handed, and when I use do the left side of my face, it is usually with my head turned, looking out of the corner of my eye. It felt awkward as all get out the first few times, but becomes habit after a while. I don't think that there is any right or wrong way with regards to what hand you use for what side of your face. You just find something that works for you and go with it.

+1 to the car wash sponge. If you do rinse it off, try to not get any water where the razor is pinned to the scales. It's an easy way to get rust.

I've gotten pretty good technique ideas from watching Lynn Abrams or Anthony Esposito on youtube.

Good to see you here, and hope to read more.

Click to expand...

Thank you! I saw the trick with the alum for getting better grip while stretching skin, but I hadnt thought to try it on my razor hand, too. I will do that next time. Not sure if I'll go with two passes on the SR again, might need to get the hang of this thing first, lol. I'm going to rewatch the how-to videos I watched last week, and see what I can adjust. Thanks for the feedback!

Shave #2:

Razor: Lafayette 9/16 full hollow (Bought shave ready from sbogill)
Pre-shave: Stirling Soap's Unscented Pre-shave oil
Brush: Semogue Owner's Club Badger
Soap: Stirling Soap's Sharp Dressed Man
A/S: Stirling Sharp Dressed Man
Balm: Nivea Sensitive post-shave balm

Today I tried out my other straight, a Lafayette 9/16 full hollow I picked up from sbogill on the BST. It came shave ready, so no stropping again today. Next shave I'll have to practice stropping. I figured I would try to integrate a couple tips from the gentlemen on the forum, but reduce the number of passes to just one WTG to avoid some of the irritation I had yesterday.

So, started off my whipping up some lather on my SOC Badger. I can get great, yogurty lather right now, but I think I might need to work on thinning it a little to make it slicker. I'll experiment with it a little. Lathered up and used the alum block on both hands for better grip of both skin and razor. Worked like a charm. I did a WTG pass on my right side with minimal difficulty, and increased the blade angle from what I used yesterday. That seemed to help with some of the tugging I had felt, and I concentrated on short, confident strokes. No problems on the right side, and only a couple mild weepers.

Switched over to the left hand for the left side, and spent a minute trying to figure out how to hold the blade and look in the mirror. Did a couple strokes without being able to see that well before I maneuvered around enough to find my angle. Wouldn't you know it, I managed to nick my left ear AGAIN!! It wasn't nearly as bad as yesterdays mishap, but the fact that it happened again was a cause for a but of melodrama. Finished up the pass with one more nick on the jawline (symmetrical from the nick on the right side, must be a technique problem), and surveyed the results. A definite improvement from yesterday's first pass, but still pretty irritated, especially on the neck. It's progress, though!

I wanted to get a better shave than yesterday, so after the WTG pass, I put away the SR and grabbed my 1968 English Tech. One ATG pass with a Rapira Supersteel blade, and a DFS was had. Slashed on some A/S, then grabbed the balm for my neck. I think I'll pass on the SR shaving tomorrow and give my skin a chance to heal. Besides, I have to be on the road at 0330 to get to our family vacation spot for next week. Bringing my SRs on the trip though!

End Result: DFS (cheating w/ the DE), but still pretty abraded on my neck. And I cut my ear again!!!!! Just call me Van Gogh.

Question: Do you guys oil the blades after each shave? What do you use? Larry at WD suggested using a bit of vaseline on the blade after each shave, which I have done so far. Is there a better substitute? Also, what do you use for a travel / storage case?

Lastly, picture time.


Edit: Ha! I didn't even see my reflection in the blade until just now. Apparently I have some things to learn about photography as well...

Sounds like you made some good progress from the previous shave! I'm coming up on 40 shaves with a straight, and still clean up my neck with my go to SE half the time. My neck hair grows all over the place and I tend to go a little overboard in chasing BBS, which often results in more irritation than I would have if I'd just let it go lol.

How do you hold your blade for the left side of your face? I hold my razor in my left hand, with my fingers just under my left eye, reaching over my head with my right arm to pull the skin up from my sideburns. From that position, if I squint or close my right eye and look out of the corner of my left, I can see the first two passes from my ear towards my nose without too much trouble.

I've heard conflicting reports on oiling the blade after each use. I got my first straight from SRD, and added oil to the order. It takes about 1 drop to coat the whole thing, so it's not like I'm adding much to the cost of my shave, and it only takes 10 seconds to oil it up, so it's worth it to me.

I've seen a few good threads about travel storage. This is one of my favorites. It's got options that are inexpensive as well as a bit more extravagant. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/275112-Straight-Storage?highlight

I've taken a day or two off from the straight after a rough shave, and have usually made small breakthroughs when I come back to it. Good luck Van Gogh, and see you next shave!

All last week I was out in the OBX without reliable internet. I brought my straights along for the ride (toothbrush holders work great!) so here is the update on shaves while I was gone.

Shave #3 (21 June):

Pre-shave: Stirling Soap's Unscented Pre-shave oil
Strop: Whipped Dog Poor Man's Strop

Straight Razor: Lafayette 9/16 full hollow
DE Razor: Mercur 34HD w/ Rapira Swedish Supersteel
Brush: Frank Shaving Finest 2-band Badger
Soap: Stirling Soap's Executive Man

A/S: Fine Accouterments Platinum
Balm: Nivea Sensitive post-shave balm

So, this was my first time stropping a straight razor. "don't buy a good strop" they said, "youll nick your first one" they said. Well, they were spot on. I put at least three minor nicks into my strop as I very slowly tried to figure out pressure, positioning, and the x-stroke. Eventually, I finished up 30 or so passes and tested the razor. I hadn't dulled the heck out of it, so time to take it on a test run.

1 pass WTG is what I'll limit myself to for now. At least until my ear heals. I'm still having trouble high on my left cheek, by my temple. It just seems that no matter what I do, my own hand is blocking my view. Maybe that explains all the mutton-chops those guys used to have. I'll rewatch the tutorials and see if I'm missing something. I managed to spare my ear this time, but instead sliced my cheek up near my left temple when my razor slipped laterally just a tiny bit. The cut was longish (a couple cm) but shallow, and closed up quickly. I had a couple other weepers, but nothing major. Seem to be making progress!

Finished up the shave with 2 passes (XTG then ATG) with my trusty Merkur 34HD, then cold rinse, alum, A/S and finally balm. Smelling and looking good for the beach.

End Result: DFS, approaching a BBS. Very little irritation. Great shave!

Question: Does anyone have a good diagram of an X-stroke for stropping? Also, the spacer at the back of the scales, near the tip of the blade, seems to be deteriorating. I found a piece of it in the razor case. Anything I can do about it, or am I going to need to re-scale in the near future?



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Shave #4 (23 June):

Pre-shave: Stirling Soap's Unscented Pre-shave oil
Strop: Whipped Dog Poor Man's Strop

Straight Razor: Kleen Kutter 5/8 Full Hollow
DE Razor: Mercur 34HD w/ Rapira Swedish Supersteel
Brush: Frank Shaving Finest 2-band Badger
Soap: Stirling Soap's Executive Man

A/S: Fine Accouterments Platinum
Balm: Nivea Sensitive post-shave balm

Only change to the set up today was the straight. Stropped 30x again, a little smoother this time. Still managed to put another couple nicks on the strop though.

1 Pass WTG again - only a couple minor weepers! Everything went really well, just have to be super careful on my left temple. Did a shorter follow up with the DE today - one pass ATG and a clean up, and I was finished.

The near-disaster today happened right at the beginning of the shave. I was getting things out and ready, and knocked the straight right off the shelf! It fell into the sink with a bang, and I thought it was done for. Luckily, the razor had been closed, the scales did their job of protecting the blade, and there was no detectable damage. I shaved with the razor with no problem. Crisis avoided!

End Result: DFS

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Shave #5 (24 June):

Pre-shave: Stirling Soap's Unscented Pre-shave oil
Strop: Whipped Dog Poor Man's Strop

Straight Razor: Lafayette 9/16 full hollow
DE Razor: English Tech w/ Rapira Swedish Supersteel
Brush: Semogue Barbero Classica Mistura
Soap: Tabac!

A/S: Tabac lotion
Balm: Nivea Sensitive post-shave balm

A good shave today. Seems like I might be getting the hang of the X-stroke while stropping, but still not real smooth about it. I was real careful on my left temple, and avoided any mishaps, until just cut myself on my throat on the right side! Nothing too serious, but annoying. Anyway, I cleaned up with the DE again, this time my English tech, and got a pretty decent DFS for my effort. Next shave should be Sunday, I'm going to let my face rest tomorrow.


Thanks again everyone for your help! Here's hoping I keep improving.

I don't know if strops bleed, but I'm pretty sure mine has cried a couple times. I mean serious whimpering, like Wesley in The Princess Bride after he had a year taken off his life by the torture machine. I got my first strop several days before I got my first straight razor, and practiced with a butter knife, and still nicked the crap out of the poor thing in the first week.

I found a few diagrams and put a basic one in, but you probably know how to do the x-stroke as well as anyone can describe. It just needs to be done enough to internalize it. Make sure you turn the blade on the spine, keeping the spine in contact with the strop at all times. Grip it between your fingers and turn your wrist instead of flipping it over in your fingers, all that stuff. Once you've done it enough it should come more naturally, and when you've gone a while without a nick, it's time to upgrade.




I'm a long way from being able to answer the rescaling question, but is it the wedge that separates the two pieces of scale that is falling apart? If so, it will probably need to be replaced.

It sounds like you're making great progress. We'll be cheering for you Van Gogh!(yeah, that one isn't going away anytime soon. Bwahahaha!)

Smattayu said:

I'm a long way from being able to answer the rescaling question, but is it the wedge that separates the two pieces of scale that is falling apart? If so, it will probably need to be replaced.

It sounds like you're making great progress. We'll be cheering for you Van Gogh!(yeah, that one isn't going away anytime soon. Bwahahaha!)

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info on the X-stroke. And yeah, its the wedge on the opposite side of the scales from the tang of the razor that seems to be deteriorating. I'll try to get some pictures and maybe make another thread so some others can weigh in as well. And as for the Van Gogh thing, lets hope a mod doesn't get a hold of that. I'll end up with a forum title that will never let me live it down. Not that the scars on my ear are going away soon, lol.

Shave #6:

Pre-shave: Stirling Soap's Unscented Pre-shave oil
Strop: Whipped Dog Poor Man's Strop

Straight Razor: Kleen Kutter 9/16 full hollow
Brush: Rudy Vey Custom w/ TGN Finest 2-band
Soap: Stirling Soap's Executive Man

A/S: Fine Platinum
Balm: Nivea Sensitive post-shave balm

So today I pulled out the Kleen Kutter and stropped it up about 30 times. As I was stopping, I waxed philosophical, and nearly cut my thumb. Gotta remember to pay attention to these things, they're sharp! I only managed to nick the strop once, but it did bring up a couple questions for me (below). After popping a couple hairs off my arm, which is immensely satisfying, I lathered up and went to work.

1 Pass WTG went pretty smoothly. Still trying to figure out the left temple... maybe its a left eye dominance thing? Dunno, I'll try closing my left eye next time to see if it helps. The WTG pass went so well that I decided, what the heck, I'll go for it, and lathered up again for a XTG pass. That went very well on the face and decently well on the lower neck, but my throat under my chin was very difficult. The handle of the razor seemed to keep getting in the way, and though I eventually finished my shave with just a half dozen or so weepers, it still has some significant irritation. The Nivea A/S balm helped a lot though. Also, I finally finished off one bottle of Fine Platinum A/S and the Stirling Executive Man soap. Will be rotating some others in now.

End Result: A DFS (-) with only straight razor! A few weepers on the neck, but nothing too terrible. just have to figure out some positioning to make it a bit easier.

Questions: 1) What grit sandpaper should I use to smooth out my stop? Both ends where I make the turn are starting to look a little sad.
2) If stropping on just a piece of leather gets the job done most of the time, why do fancier strops have cloth as well? Is it not for daily use? Does it prolong the time between using the pastes?
3) Is there a way to polish off the black spots on the blade of my razor?

It looks like you're making really good progress! I'm jealous of that brush. It looks amazing, and I've considered picking up a TGN 2-band for a some time. I managed to sneak onto the Wolf Whiskers waiting list before it shut down, and was thinking about going with the TGN, but the Nathan Clark Envy White is also calling my name lol.

George86 said:

Questions: 1) What grit sandpaper should I use to smooth out my stop? Both ends where I make the turn are starting to look a little sad.
2) If stropping on just a piece of leather gets the job done most of the time, why do fancier strops have cloth as well? Is it not for daily use? Does it prolong the time between using the pastes?
3) Is there a way to polish off the black spots on the blade of my razor?

Click to expand...

1) If the nick is not affecting the stropping, I'd say leave it. Most of the nicks on my first strop were so small that it didn't affect the stropping at all, so I left them alone and never had a problem. I did have one deeper gouge on the right edge that I sanded out with 400 grit sandpaper, then went up ascending grits to 1k. I don't know if going that high was necessary or not, but it didn't hurt lol.

2) I've read conflicting reports about the canvas or linen side. The going theory seems to be that the slightly abrasive quality of the material helps remove micro-abrasions on the blade before hitting the leather, thus helping smooth out the edge more and allowing the blade more use before requiring a touch up on stone or paste. I don't have nearly enough experience with stropping to say one way or another, but I strop on the cloth about 20-30 strokes before going to the leather, and will probably continue to do so. It takes very little time, and so far my blade has kept an excellent edge.

3)They can be either polished or sanded out, but it probably isn't necessary for any reason except aesthetics. You could start with Maas or Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish, or one of the others that many people on B&B prefer, and see if you can buff them out that way. If that doesn't work, you can go down the rabbit hole of sanding them out, starting with a high grit wet/dry paper, and go with descending grits if the higher grit doesn't do the trick. Then, depending on what finish you want, go with ascending grits to finish the job. I just finished restoring my first straight and opted to sand them out. Looking back on it, I kind of wish I hadn't. It took a lot of time, and I haven't gotten the blade exactly where I wanted it. If I could do it again, I would just hit it woth some Mothers and call it a day. I look at before and after pics, and think that the blade had more character before. A little more care would need to be taken to avoid corrosion if you keep them, but no long term affects. If you do go that route, be very careful to stay off the edge, as that will kill it quickly, and require a honing job.

Just my $.02 on all of your questions, and all should be taken with a grain of salt as I am still only a few months in with the straight razor and all that comes along with it. There are a ton of far more knowledgeable people on these forums that would also be happy answer your questions if you wanted to go to other areas of the forum and post them there.

Good luck!

Shave #7:

Pre-shave: Stirling Soap's Unscented Pre-shave oil
Strop: Whipped Dog Poor Man's Strop

Straight Razor: Kleen Kutter 9/16 full hollow
Brush: Semogue Owner's Club 2-band badger
Soap: Fine Platinum

A/S: Fine Platinum
Balm: Nivea Sensitive post-shave balm

I've been taking a little break from SRs for the last few days. Right now I don't have time for the full SR experience during the week, so I was sticking to weekends. This past weekend we had company, so no SR shaves until this afternoon. Stropped the Kleen Kutter 40x, on the poor man's strop (no nicks!) and got a very nice first pass WTG with minimal weepers. Then I got greedy, and decided to go for a second pass, this time ATG. Well, I managed not to cut myself too badly, but man is my neck irritated. I ended up with a half dozen weepers, probably due to blade angle under my jawline. I'll need to try again, but it will have to wait until I heal up a little, I think.

End Result: DFS w/ lots of irritation

I think I might be getting the hang of stropping and WTG passes. Time to work on XTG and ATG angles... under the jaw is going to be hard.

Shave #10:

Pre-shave: Stirling Soap's Unscented Pre-shave oil
Strop: Whipped Dog Poor Man's Strop

Straight Razor: Kleen Kutter 9/16 full hollow
Brush: Rudy Vey Custom TGN 2-band badger
Soap: Fine Platinum

A/S: Fine Platinum
Balm: Nivea Sensitive post-shave balm

I hadn't been keeping up with the journal very well, since the last 2 times I shaved I did it before work, and was rushed for time. Not a very good combination with learning a SR. Didn't cut anything off, but I have some healing to do. Each time though, I have been doing a full SR shave, two passes, without using a DE for cleanup. This morning was the same. I had a fairly light growth since I got a nice shave yesterday with my Fatboy, and so I lathered up for two passes with the Kleen Kutter this morning. On my last two shaves, I would have been able to say that the WTG pass was smooth and had minimal bloodshed, but for some reason this morning my head wasn't in the game and I cut myself below my lower lip, twice. Both times were when I placed the blade on the skin, and immediately felt it bite. I'm betting I had way too steep a blade angle. I followed the WTG pass with an ATG, and ran into some more problems there. I can do my face no problem both WTG and ATG, but ATG on my neck just seem to cause a massive amount of irritation, and I havent been able to figure out the angles for XTG on the neck, especially below the chin, without feeling like I'm going to slit my own throat. Anyway, I had about a dozen weepers and a very red neck for a long time after the ATG pass. Kind of frustrating when I know that I could get a BBS shave with my DE. But I wanted to learn SRs, so here we go.

Oh, and I signed up for a pass around box of SRs. Hopefully I'll get a chance to use them soon, and experiment with some different sizes, styles, and grinds. Excited about that.

I'm on vacation now so I'll be brief (ha right). If you choose to sand your strop you can do it with 600 (even 400) grit paper on a sanding block. I've done this with my cheaper strops and it really brings them up a notch. Also I like to get a towel damp and wet/dampen the surface a little then roll a wine bottle over the surface. I'll do this before or after sanding but AFTER helps to smooth the surface for a nice easy draw. Let it dry completely (which shouldn't be long because you aren't getting the leather very wet) then run with a small amount of leather oil (oil from your forehead is great for this ...I'm NOT joking) but you can use a light beard oil or neats foot oil rubbed into you hands then rubbed on the strop. Larry might have sent neats foot oil with the strop, if not don't buy any I have a huge bottle I'll send you some. WARNING using too much oil makes the strop slower or stickier, start with a small amount and add more a day later if you need more.

Oiling the blade. Most people don't but you can. I just rinse with 90% alcohol and wipe dry ...then I strop on that canvas/linen part of the strop.

That fabric part of the strop is a huge can of worms. Let's just say you don't need it but it can bring a new level of refinement to your edges (and help maintain an edge by keeping it dry). When the time comes for you to get a new strop I say focus on a good leather piece first then bring the "fabric" to the den. And don't add stuff to your primary strop. Check out the thread on how to use a pasted balsa strop started by slash McCoy ...good stuff.

As for making your blade pretty so much can be said. Yes the simple way is mothers mag cleaner (I think it adds a bit of protection too) but that won't clean everything like you want. To get it sparkling you start with sand paper ...rub rub rub. Depending on the damage you might start with a very abrasive grit like 80 or you might start at 120. What ever you start at you progressively sand with a higher grit until you get to 1000 or 2000 then for extra polish you can include diamond paste.
I have done this by hand and with a Dremel...Dremel is more fun but you might risk more than ear lobe loss.

On the earlobe. Done that more than once ...they BLEED a lot

On the Alum. It is great for grip but remember if you touch your face with it on your fingers it WILL remove all slickness in that spot and seems to cause issues with brushes (mine anyway) if you face lather without rinsing off the alum. You can use a hand towel for extra grip on your mom shaving hand.

Read Pete's journal (labrax) you will pick up a ton of pointers ...he did the research for you.

Good luck

Lol Chris!

I find the angle on the neck is easy to get away from what is ideal. I gotta put the young one away, but Chris has good info - will add more later or in morning.

Sent via Tapatalk from phone

I'm 50+ shaves in with an SR and still have issues with my neck, so don't feel like it's something you need to solve right away. You're already farther ahead than I was, and it will come with time.

Aw Man I totally forgot to tell you about using a nail file to touch up those spots on your strop you nicked. If the spot has any texture to it you can use a regular old Emory board nail file to lightly file/sand that little nick smooth. It may not look entirely uniform but it does the job perfectly.
Only remembered because I was just now filing a nasty hang nail with a file I found in a cigar box I bought at the swap meet today.

CBLindsay said:

If you choose to sand your strop you can do it with 600 (even 400) grit paper on a sanding block. I've done this with my cheaper strops and it really brings them up a notch.

Click to expand...

Do you sand the whole strop, or just the parts that might be nicked? I've been applying the neatsfoot oil after each time I strop, just a couple drops every round.

CBLindsay said:

That fabric part of the strop is a huge can of worms. Let's just say you don't need it but it can bring a new level of refinement to your edges (and help maintain an edge by keeping it dry). When the time comes for you to get a new strop I say focus on a good leather piece first then bring the "fabric" to the den. And don't add stuff to your primary strop.

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I assume there are different grades of leather, but if I was going to buy my first "nice" strop, what should I look for? And what do you mean by adding stuff?

CBLindsay said:

As for making your blade pretty so much can be said. Yes the simple way is mothers mag cleaner (I think it adds a bit of protection too) but that won't clean everything like you want. To get it sparkling you start with sand paper ...rub rub rub. Depending on the damage you might start with a very abrasive grit like 80 or you might start at 120. What ever you start at you progressively sand with a higher grit until you get to 1000 or 2000 then for extra polish you can include diamond paste.
I have done this by hand and with a Dremel...Dremel is more fun but you might risk more than ear lobe loss.

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Do you just get different grit sanding wheels for the dremel? Also, is there something you use to protect the bevel, or do you just call it a lost cause and plan on re-honing after polishing?

Smattayu said:

I'm 50+ shaves in with an SR and still have issues with my neck, so don't feel like it's something you need to solve right away. You're already farther ahead than I was, and it will come with time.

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Thanks! I'm looking forward to being 50 shaves in... I can't imagine how much I'll have learned!

CBLindsay said:

Aw Man I totally forgot to tell you about using a nail file to touch up those spots on your strop you nicked. If the spot has any texture to it you can use a regular old Emory board nail file to lightly file/sand that little nick smooth. It may not look entirely uniform but it does the job perfectly.

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I actually used this on a couple of the nicks, and it worked great! There's a larger nick towards the top of the strop that I'm going to have to sand out, but the emory board worked really well.


Thanks for all the feedback guys! [MENTION=92153]labrax[/MENTION], I'd be super interested to see if you have any tips or thoughts for me. Thanks!

Shave #11:

Pre-shave: Stirling Soap's Unscented Pre-shave oil
Strop: Whipped Dog Poor Man's Strop

Straight Razor: Lafayette 9/16 full hollow
Brush: Semogue SOC 2-band badger
Soap: Tabac!

A/S: Tabac lotion
Balm: Nivea Sensitive post-shave balm

Today I got up early, grabbed the Lafayette razor, and decided to try a nice SR shave before work. I stropped the razor about 40 passes on the poor man's strop, and although it didn't "tree-top" much hair on my arm, it did pop them off with no resistance once the blade touched the skin of my arm. I wonder if that means the blade should be sharper, or if its just because my arm hair is very fine and a bit sparse.

Whipped up the Tabac in my brand new shave bowl, then lathered up and went for a WTG pass. Nice and slow, took my time, and finished up with one little weeper that closed up before the shave was finished, so it doesn't count. Re-lathered, and went back to it, this time ATG. I really took my time, concentrating on blade angle and no pressure, and moving in very small, controlled strokes. Everything was going very smoothly, and I am really happy with the way the shave came together today. I still had a bit of on issue with my neck and the point of my chin (how do you keep a consistent blade angle on a round area?) and a little irritation after, but a quick splash of the Nivea balm took care of that.

End result: DFS, with minimal irritation! A big step in the right direction, and what it took was patience and attention to detail. I'm sure my shaves will speed up later, but this one really lifted my spirits regarding straight razors.

Questions: Blade sharpness (see above about tree-topping}, and how to keep the blade angle correct while on the point of the chin.

George, you asked a few questions I'll try to answer.
1) yes sand the whole useful area of the strop if you are going to be sanding with paper and a flat block. Sand lightly and clean the resulting leather dust frequently.
2) since you are applying neats foot oil daily (too often for sure) you should expect a tighter draw along the surface right now. If you wipe down with a rag that has been damped by rubbing alcohol you can clean off some oil ...definitely do this before sanding or al you will get for the first several sheets of paper are crusted leather spots on your sandpaper (I speak from experience).
3) what makes a good strop and how to you find them...all strop leather with a decent quality surface (free from scars and such) is GOOD. Some makers promise excellent quality leather which just means it's the best "looking" and most even texture. Larry sold you a poor mans strop with confidence because he knows it can/will do everything a rich man strop does only it looks like ...well he couldn't sell it for much more and feel good about it. Finding a next level strop can be hard if you aren't prepared to pay top dollar. I bought several from Amazon in the $15 range that I like just fine. The issue with those is they may come bent or not in the best of conditions despite being sold new. You can fix that by rubbing or rolling. If you have ANY level of crafty in you, go to Hobby Lobby and search their leather scrap bags for a piece that looks like you could cut it into your own strop. Larry sells strop clamps that make adding a hanger easy or you could try to fold the top and make a different hanging system [MENTION=92153]labrax[/MENTION] and I (many others too) have made and become rather proficient at making strops or strop like items this way. As I type this I am planning on attempting a top notch strop made from leather that is known to be high quality etc and looks great ...I also know I can find a pretty nice hand made strop WITH cotton attachment for about $50 from some guy I found on Esty I really have no idea how to share the etsy persons store(?) name but I'll bet a search for leather strops finds them.
4) attachments for strops. Most people consider at least a firm piece if cotton a necessary addition to their strop. Some add other kinds of leather (horse, cow, buffalo, suede, bridle...)so they can get different or more refined edges. I want more leather because it sounds cool but I have no idea (yet) what they each do that the other cant. Just strop properly on your "regular" leather (whichever you choose) and that's enough to make things nice.
5)tree topping arm hair, a sharp blade should pop hairs at some level. Super sharp can top hairs 1/2 an inch above my arm a regular blade must be much closer ...all that really matters at this stage for YOU is that is cuts at any point (and does it with a decent amount of ease) which means you didn't roll the edge while stropping.
Larry sells a balsa strop that is worth getting (or make your own), it can be used as a refresher to bring a dulling edge back to life. I can't begin to tell you how instrumental the balsa strops were in my early learning...maybe the same for Pete. We each made our own using diamond paste instead of FeOx and CrOx ...that made for nice sharp blades but we think it may have made for a harsh edge that the FeOx doesn't. I have plenty of FeOx (0.1 micron) if you want/need enough to smear on some balsa (you have to mount the balsa to a hard flat surface and lap it flat then smear the stuff on).
6) Dremel sanding etc. I found sanding things that came in grits from 80 to about 300, they are puffy looking like cotton wheels. I got them from Amazon, slow boat from China These work well and don't destroy much compared to the regular disks. I alway figure I'm re-honing after so I don't worry about the bevel BUT I do protect the edge. The best way I found to do this is to lay the blade absolutely flat against a glass tile (I use the same kind of tiles as backing for my balsa or sandpaper for lapping), let the scales hang off if they are still attached. I ALWAYS sand so the rotation of the wheel is from spine to edge and keep the blade pressed to that glass. You have to be careful not to sand so long or hard that you hear that edge (the glass might help keep the edge cool). After I have done as much as I can with the sanding things I switch to leather disks (another Amazon slow boat from China find) loaded with the polishing compounds used on buffing wheels. Again always spine to edge. The disks can get into the area around the pivot and really clean that up. Sometimes I still resort to a hand rubbing with 2000 grit before the leather disks.
Another great thing I found is to use navel jelly (rust removing gel at Home Depot) to remove and stall rust. It turns the blade grey but if you sand it the grey comes off ...buff the grey and it looks like old patina.
7) angle on round spots? Stretch your skin OVER to a spot that isn't round and shave it there. Another is to watch the scales, they give you an idea what's happening with your blade angle. My solution to shaving the chin is simple...goatee. But the solution to many difficult spots on the neck and chin is to pull the difficult spot over to a spot that is not difficult. Like that horrible spot just under the jawline, **** your head to the side and pull up from the cheek toward your ear open you mouth a little and what WAS neck is now on your cheek waiting to be shaved.

That's all I have for now.