Another Straight Convert!

[spoonman]

Shave 6 tonight - a Speick-a-palooza. Started with Speick bath soap in the shower, followed by Speick shave soap (milled in a bowl), finished with Speick AS splash. Great products.

Anyway, it was my first shave with my new modified GD razor from Seraphim. Apart from the great looking worked spine, thumbnotch and heel cut-out detail, the edge was fantastic . Very smooth shave, and great weight from the 13/16 blade. I have drawn first blood in my straight razor journey, albeit a tiny nick. Going XTG on the upper lip, just nicked my septum. Pressing my fingertip on the nick for about five seconds fixed it. Apart from the tiny nick, it was a completely irritation free DFS. The ingrown hairs around my lower neck area that I could never seem to get rid have totally cleared up! So for anyone wondering if straight razors help with ingrowns, in my experience it's a big yes .

Eagerly waiting for my wedge to arrive from lax1mxr - can't wait to try it out!

 

[Luc]

aah. A wedge... Noice...

I've been seen that GD a few times now... Maybe one day...

 

[Ru4scuba?]

A straight shave generally takes longer than a DE shave, so don't be afraid to touch-up your lather as you go. Mid-pass, whatever. If it is starting to dry out, get some water on your brush, re-swirl some on your face, and have at it. I constantly adjust my lather during a shave.

Good point..hadn't thought of that, but now that you mention it...I remember Chimenish doing the same thing in his vid...

 

[spoonman]

Shave 7 - first shave with my 5/8 wedge from lax1mxr, always reliable Tabac, finished with Speick AS splash and GFT Lime skinfood.

The wedge was a very different experience from my other two razors. To my newbie senses, there was much less feedback from the edge, not necessarily in a bad way, just different. It was certainly much quieter than the hollow grind razors, which made it feel like it wasn't cutting any hair, but my DFS after two passes said otherwise! Interestingly, I got the biggest burn ever from my Speick splash but it disappeared in seconds and I didn't have any visible razor burn.

So I now have three fairly different razors to work with:

- 11/16 ERN Spanish Point
- 13/16 modified GD
- 5/8 Garantie Paris Wedge

I'm sure these three will be all I need.........

I'd like to make my next purchase a hone/s. I'm trying to choose between a coticule or a 5k/8k/12k set of chinese stones (from open_razor). I have no intention of restoring blades, just keeping my own razors in tip top shape. I have read with great interest all the recent threads on hones and understand that a coticule can do it all, however shipped to Australia the chinese set will be a bit cheaper overall. I guess my question is - am I going to be missing or losing anything by saving myself some money and getting the chinese set (apart from the ability to set a bevel)?

 

[spoonman]

Shaves 8, 9, 10 and 11 - have been alternating between the GD and wedge. The ERN isn't getting much love at the moment. I love the weight of the GD and man is it sharp! The wedge is such a different shave, it seriously doesn't feel like anything is happening, like I can just throw it around my face without thinking about it (obviously I don't!). However at the end I've got a great shave with no irritation .

The other night it was late when I shaved and I thought I'll use a DE so it's a bit quicker, but then thought no stick with the straight - and realised that I'm only taking maybe 5 minutes longer with a straight now. Very happy about that, I wasn't even thinking about how long my shaves were taking me and obviously my speed was increasing without realising it .

And it looks as though the hone situation has been taken care of - will post more details when it arrives .

 

[Luc]

I don't know about those stones. You should be able to maintain the edge with those grits...

 

[spoonman]

I wasn't going to update this thread until my new strop and hone arrived but just had to after my shave tonight - shave 15 has resulted in my first BBS ever I have never achieved a shave this close with either a DE or a cartridge. I was greatly assisted by T&H Luxury shave soap, and finished off with a very healthy splash of Bravas (great AS, thanks Thunderball). And of course the star of the show - my modified Gold Dollar. The edge from Seraphim is still wickedly sharp!

I would never have believed that using a straight could result in a better shave than a DE if I hadn't tried it myself but......well......it does! I've got a new strop on the way and after reading all the positive reports on here, some Dovo white paste to try on the linen. I'm looking forward to seeing how the edges on my razors feel after the white paste treatment.

 

[Luc]

I wasn't going to update this thread until my new strop and hone arrived but just had to after my shave tonight - shave 15 has resulted in my first BBS ever I have never achieved a shave this close with either a DE or a cartridge. I was greatly assisted by T&H Luxury shave soap, and finished off with a very healthy splash of Bravas (great AS, thanks Thunderball). And of course the star of the show - my modified Gold Dollar. The edge from Seraphim is still wickedly sharp!

I would never have believed that using a straight could result in a better shave than a DE if I hadn't tried it myself but......well......it does! I've got a new strop on the way and after reading all the positive reports on here, some Dovo white paste to try on the linen. I'm looking forward to seeing how the edges on my razors feel after the white paste treatment.

That's great!! Bravas is good stuff and Dave is great to push the AS towards you...

 

[spoonman]

Thanks Luc - my straight shaving addiction is primarily your fault!! Reading your shaving journal got me interested and motivated, and then supplying my first razor got me started. Thanks again!

 

[Luc]

Thanks Luc - my straight shaving addiction is primarily your fault!! Reading your shaving journal got me interested and motivated, and then supplying my first razor got me started. Thanks again!

I think that's good...

 

[spoonman]

Since my last post my shaves have been up and down, and it primarily appears to be related to which razor I am using. The modified Gold Dollar is providing awesome BBS shaves, my ERN provides DFS with slight irritation depending on my lather and my wedge is starting to let the team down......so what better time to break out my recently acquired dual-grit barber hone and see what I can do!

I have never sharpened anything beyond a pencil but after watching a video or two and reading articles on honing I figured I can give it a crack. After 5 passes on the lower grit side and 10 on the higher grit side the wedge was slicing through arm hairs like butter. How easy is this I thought! Of course my cockiness got the better of me and the ERN proved a little more difficult. After the same number of passes, the heel of the blade was cutting nicely, however the toe seemed blunt in comparison. I began the process again, this time concentrating on keeping good contact with the toe during the x pattern. Better result this time, but still not great. I then moved to 10 passes with each razor on a CroOx pasted leather strop (back of Filly), then 20 on linen with white paste, then 30 on the front of the Filly, then 30 on a smoother leather strop. By this stage both razors were easily cutting arm hairs mid-strand. Success!! Obviously I was working with edges that were in good condition already, so I'm more proud of the fact that I didn't completely ruin them! I'll be interested to see how they go shaving - they'll probably tear my face up!

 

[JPM]

Congrats! You'll have to let us know how the shaves go.

 

[spoonman]

And here's something for you experienced guys to quietly smile and nod at (or point and laugh hysterically) - the over confident newbie slices himself open While nonchalantly doing WTG strokes down my cheeks without a care in the world I thought 'mmmm, that one felt different. Oh well, carry on....' Then the blood started dripping into the basin and I realised why that stroke felt different - because half the razor was buried in my face at the time

Obviously it wasn't that bad, but I do now have a nice 2" vertical slice down my cheek. I'd guess I'm at shave number 20 and it's the first time I've properly cut myself. I don't mind it though, I think it makes me look dangerous. My wife thinks it makes me look like an idiot

 

[Luc]

And here's something for you experienced guys to quietly smile and nod at (or point and laugh hysterically) - the over confident newbie slices himself open While nonchalantly doing WTG strokes down my cheeks without a care in the world I thought 'mmmm, that one felt different. Oh well, carry on....' Then the blood started dripping into the basin and I realised why that stroke felt different - because half the razor was buried in my face at the time

Obviously it wasn't that bad, but I do now have a nice 2" vertical slice down my cheek. I'd guess I'm at shave number 20 and it's the first time I've properly cut myself. I don't mind it though, I think it makes me look dangerous. My wife thinks it makes me look like an idiot

Yup, been there. As long as it didn't bleed too much and you were able to stop it quickly, it's all good. It's funny how a sharp blade doesn't hurt much... Just like butter...

 

[Huxley]

Nice to know you are getting along well, i normally use my ti but i think today i will grab my self honed gd just to see what it's like, it should be rather interesting id imagine.

 

[Klarion]

I don't post much, but I really o enjoy reading other newbies' straight shaving experiences. Always good to get that first scar out of the way.

 

[JRichmond]

A straight shave generally takes longer than a DE shave, so don't be afraid to touch-up your lather as you go. Mid-pass, whatever. If it is starting to dry out, get some water on your brush, re-swirl some on your face, and have at it. I constantly adjust my lather during a shave.

+1. I know some guys that have been doing this for more than a year that end up doing this as well.

 

[JPM]

And here's something for you experienced guys to quietly smile and nod at (or point and laugh hysterically) - the over confident newbie slices himself open While nonchalantly doing WTG strokes down my cheeks without a care in the world I thought 'mmmm, that one felt different. Oh well, carry on....' Then the blood started dripping into the basin and I realised why that stroke felt different - because half the razor was buried in my face at the time

Obviously it wasn't that bad, but I do now have a nice 2" vertical slice down my cheek. I'd guess I'm at shave number 20 and it's the first time I've properly cut myself. I don't mind it though, I think it makes me look dangerous. My wife thinks it makes me look like an idiot

Yikes! Well, on the bright side, looks like your honing is going well.

 

[spoonman]

I did this with the modified GD, which still has a super sharp edge so I haven't needed to hone it. I'll have to give it a few days to let the cut heal so won't get to test out one of my honed edges for a little while.

 

[netsurfr]

Welcome to the fold. Let the SRAD begin!