Tom's Intro to Straights - Down the rabbit hole I go

Thanks to [MENTION=110007]doc47[/MENTION] aka Dan I have been given the opportunity to partake in a new passaround for straights. It has definitely peaked my interested and glad to be one of the first people to give it a whirl. He has graciously sent me 5 WD razors with awesome instructions. I took them out of the tubes to take a look at them. Here are some pics:



Some closer looks:

I am curious to see how the thinner blades compare to the thicker blade. Now I just need to practice grips. Just to make things consistent I will be using Tabac with my Aristocrat DE as backup.

Welcome to this section of the forums!

Nice assortment to get you started and to see what works best for you.

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I shaved this morning but wanted to do a test run with one of the straights. Since this is new territory to me, I went with the "unknown razor" since it seemed fit. It was one of the more narrow straights and it seemed like the margin of error would be easier. Please correct me if I am wrong.

After looking at all the grips, it took some time to get used to it especially with my left hand.

So I went with my EJ Super Badger with Tabac since the brush is super soft and whips a lather in no time. Tabac never disappoints and the combo made lather for days.

On to more important stuff... I started with WTG on the right side of my face since I am right handed. It definitely felt weird and I started with a very shallow angle like I did with I started with DE. I am unsure if I ever hit the sweet spot though. After a few strokes the cheeks and sideburns seemed very easy and I could see why it would be enjoyable.

I moved to the jaw line and it took me awhile to find a comfortable grip to shave with. When I felt like it wasn't going smooth, I had the will power to stop instead of forcing it. I recalibrated more than I wanted during the jawline. The same can be said with the chin.

Fortunately WTG on the neck was a piece of cake. When I moved to the upper lip I was deathly afraid of cutting myself. I think this is where the smaller blade helped with manipulating the angles.

I decided to do XTG as well since it seemed like the first pass went well. Besides the cheeks and sideburns, it was a pain in the butt finding a comfortable grip on the jawline, chin, neck areas. I felt my angles were wrong and had to constantly stop and restart. I guess this is to be expected.

Since I had the most success with the cheeks I decided to do ATG and it was fine. I attempted everywhere else but I stopped immediately since it felt like I was gonna cut myself. Oddly enough my grip allowed me to do the upper lip area comfortably.

I decided against touch ups with the Aristocrat since it was a nice shave.

The good news - no nicks, no blood, very minimal irritation with the alum (sideburns, jaw line, chin), and surprisingly very enjoyable even though it was a first time. Oh yeah - the razor was very sharp and did not feel dull at any time (Thanks Dan!)

The Bad - it took a long time but depending on who u ask it can be a good thing LOL. I thought I was cutting closer but it wasn't DFS all around.

Overall it ended up as a CCS with a DFS on the cheeks. I blame this for not finding the right angle due to my hesitation on making a steeper angle closer to the 25-30 mark.

I can see why people enjoy this and how it can be a HUGE rabbit hole.

There are some fantastic razors in that bunch, you certainly have very good tools at your disposal. I love that frameback (have a couple similar and would not hesitate to acquire more.
Hang in there, it will happen.

Good job. 👍
I like the look of the frameback, too.
I can see these threads reigniting my interest in straights......😱

Sounds like you had a great first shave! [MENTION=110007]doc47[/MENTION] is very generous and I'm happy to be one of the participants as well. This is just a wonderful passaround.

Congratulations on you maiden voyage. You did a whole lot more shaving with the straight than I did on my first try. Go slowly and it will come.

Interestingly, many find that the wider blades are more forgiving for the beginner shaver, and I had found this to be true for myself as well. Although I was about a year in before I ever tried a 7/8" razor. It is inevitable that blood will be shed along your journey with a straight razor. But I have found that I rarely make the same mistake twice that results in crimson.

CBLindsay said:

There are some fantastic razors in that bunch, you certainly have very good tools at your disposal. I love that frameback (have a couple similar and would not hesitate to acquire more.
Hang in there, it will happen.

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Bluebriz said:

Good job. [emoji106]
I like the look of the frameback, too.
I can see these threads reigniting my interest in straights......[emoji33]

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Forgive my ignorance which one is frame back?

ciderguy said:

Sounds like you had a great first shave! [MENTION=110007]doc47[/MENTION] is very generous and I'm happy to be one of the participants as well. This is just a wonderful passaround.

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It is quite interesting and fun!

McVeyMac said:

Congratulations on you maiden voyage. You did a whole lot more shaving with the straight than I did on my first try. Go slowly and it will come.

Interestingly, many find that the wider blades are more forgiving for the beginner shaver, and I had found this to be true for myself as well. Although I was about a year in before I ever tried a 7/8" razor. It is inevitable that blood will be shed along your journey with a straight razor. But I have found that I rarely make the same mistake twice that results in crimson.

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LOL maybe I should take a look at the big one.

doc47 said:

Tom, I enjoyed reading about your first attempt and I must commend you on your first shave and the approach you took. Way to go! I think you should stay with that razor for a few days before trying something else. Right now you are getting a feel for manipulating a 5/8 blade, keep with it and move on with the next most similar razor as you move through the box. Do keep notes for yourself regarding how theses guys felt in your hand, how easy it was to change angles with it, etc. Remember you want to pick the razor thats feels best in your hand and gives you the shave you want. The time will shorten, be patient on that, otherwise I don't think you could have had a much better experience. Keep having fun!

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I'll stick with this one or two more times. Can you give me a quick overview of the number system for straights?

Great first shave with the straight. The FW Soderen is the frameback.

No Nicks and No Blood are indeed a very excellent result for a first straight shave my Friend and Welcome to the Rabbit Hole of no return, at least with the blades provided you KNOW they are definitely Shave Ready

So I went with round 2 with the unknown. The first pass seemed a little rough and I just didn't feel comfortable. I tried to go with the optimal 25-30 degree angle and had difficulty. From a prior post here, [MENTION=91731]McVeyMac[/MENTION] suggested that a wider blade is easier. I decided to switch over to the Torrey. I haven't measured it but it is closer to the 1 inch width.

He was definitely right. I don't know if it is because I can see the blade angle better but it was quite easier to find the "optimal angle". I went with another WTG pass and it went really well.

For some reason I find the ATG grip more comfortable than the XTG grip. So for the 2nd pass, I went with ATG. It was great hearing the audible feedback and it seemed like I was doing something right.

Everything went smooth BUT there was some slight difficulties in the neck area. I irritated it a little bit with ATG. I could see some minor redness.

I did end up with a few weepers (3 to be exact) which was solved with the alum block at the end.

And the rinse, I was surprised of how effective the shave was this time around. My first was a CCS but this felt more like a DFS+. It even felt smoother than some of my DE shaves.

Take aways: Wider blade makes it easier to work with angles.

Positive: Very close shave. I can see the benefits of it. And so much easier working around the upper lip and chin.

Negative: The jawline seems to be a challenge for me to get the right angles. I can still feel a little stubble. I didn't want to risk being adventurous. Finally got a weeper. Usually my Proraso AS doesn't sting too much but today it felt like Captain's Choice AS with a bite.

After a few hours, my face feels great. The AS and balm did its job and I don't feel any irritation and the redness has gone down.

Post negative/positive: My eBay watchlist now had 20-30 straight razors.... I know Doc said we can take a razor but I want to give others the chance to thoroughly enjoy all five razors. So I am resisting from taking from the box. I may need some help with honing to make sure any razor I do obtain has the sharpest edge.

Down the rabbit hole I go I say.
On other note, the SWMBO thinks I'm nuts for letting you guys use razors that are decades old. And that I'm gonna bleed to death any day now. Thanks guys

Update:
So after waking up, I saw three small cuts where u can see the blade marks. Oddly, it didn't really bleed last night. These things are sharp LOL

Your start is light years ahead of my snail's pace start - way to go!!! Welcome to the dark side and the long, cavernous, rabbit holes that await you! BTW, a recommendation, FWIW: don't even think about honing until you feel proficient in your shaves.

I agree with do a shallow angle will cut better and scrape less leading to a more comfortable face with less/no irritation.

My jawline is a PITA. I need to stretch skin, turn head and go parallel to lower jawbone on cheek and neck on my right side. My grip on razor has my right hand palm facing up and next to my ear for right side of face. Stretching my skin and pulling the skin that covers the area where the bone is up to the cheek are to be able to get at that skin easier (if that makes any sense).

You are doing great!

Good luck on the auction site with your bidding.



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Awesome write-up! Great job on getting going with straights!

Excellent write up and I agree with all of the above, Stretching the face is paramount, angles are difficult to negotiate until you find the right ones with the right grips and definitely doing better than I did when I started for sure

I'll add a small trick for your neck. Lather your neck as usual and use your finger tip to find the ATG direction you need to shave. Then, hold your finger out straight like it was a blade and with your neck stretched but in a comfortable position, move your finger in the ATG path you would need to shave. Now you should SEE very clearly the path you need to shave because you have a clear spot in the lather. For me this path is sort of ear to Adam's apple (who am I kidding, I am only guessing I have an Adam's apple ...fat neck) regardless this path is not easy SO once you SEE it you begin stretching skin, cocking your head to the side, open your jaw-close it and all that jazz until the hard to reach spot is positioned in a way that is more accessible and maybe even in a more natural down stroke.
I found I can come at my neck from the bottom with a sort of collar bone to chin windshield wiper like move. This requires the blade to be folded all the way back into the scales and my grip the be on the pivot. My stroke is sort of shoulder to chin AND up ...done wrong I suppose injury is a given.

Appreciate all the help guys! I do look ridiculous at some of the facial expressions I make while straight shaving. Like you guys all suggested, don't rush. So I shaved last night with the Torrey. I am not going to lie, but I truly enjoy the feedback it gives. Having said that, I stuck with 2 passes (WTG + a hybrid XTG/ATG) and touch ups. It felt me with a DFS but since I had work the next day, I did a quick ATG with my Aristocrat. It left me with a BBS.

I am slowly getting better with the neck/jawline. What is challenging now is that I feel I have somewhat of a handle on things and want to "speed" up the shave at times. I have to catch myself and restart go get back into a smooth casual pace.

The alum has minimal irritation and the face kept super smooth after my AS balm (big advocate of Stirling's Unscented with Menthol right now).

So the hybrid XTG/ATG pass encompassed the following:
ATG - Cheeks, Sideburn, Neck
XTG - Jawline, Chin, Upper Neck

The chin is still the most challenging when attempting ATG but I don't feel like it is necessary.

I know I shouldn't have but I went fleaBay hunting yesterday and pulled the trigger on two razors.
A decent looking Kropp --> looks like in good shape but probably needs a sharpening
A shave ready Geneva Cutlery Co --> buyer seems to "know" what he is doing, so I am hoping the blade is as sharp as the WD straights

Today and tomorrow, I will be moving on to the 3rd razor - I am going to try to Wosterholm since I have read good things about the German blade.

Finding a comfortable grip will take a bit of time. It's a new skill and will feel awkward for a while. Eventually your hand will just do it without brain guidance. Great job so far! Minimal leakage! Chicks dig scars!

Nice finds on those razors, an 11/16 at that price is great, in that condition even better. I think you will like that Wosterholm, I think they are a lot like the Genco blades ...a secret treasure SHHH! don't tell anyone about them.