First SR shave goes... OK I guess?

[rbscebu]

I know you have explained this before, but I'm not sure where. What is a "hanging balsa strop?" I actually assumed I knew what this must mean, and attached a clip to a long piece of 1/8" by 3" balsa, and hung it on my strop hanger. It did not go well. Later, i saw that that was not what you meant. I think you mean a normal pasted balsa strop, just holding it vertical? But I'm not completely sure. Would you explain exactly what you intend with this phrase?

The 0.1μm diamond pasted hanging balsa strop maintenance only works on an edge that has been properly finished on a full diamond pasted balsa strop progression; 0.5μm (about 50k grit), 0.25μm (about 100k grit) and 0.1μm (about 200k grit). The OP's SR was finished this way.

A hanging balsa strop is a normal 0.1μm diamond pasted balsa strop as described in Annex II of the SR Shaving Instructions for Beginners. It is held hanging vertically while stropping, also described in the instructions. This is so as to strop with even less than the weight of the blade pressure on the strop.

 

[Seelector]

Shave #2 is complete and it was a definite step up from the first one. I did two passes almost everywhere then a cleanup with my DE.

Skin stretching was a big help and I used short strokes. On my first shave I was doing much longer strokes.

Thanks everyone for your tips, they really made a difference!

 

[Flanders]

Shave #2 is complete and it was a definite step up from the first one. I did two passes almost everywhere then a cleanup with my DE.

Skin stretching was a big help and I used short strokes. On my first shave I was doing much longer strokes.

Thanks everyone for your tips, they really made a difference!

Congratulations! I have kept my mouth shut as you are receiving excellent advise, but I have been reading along.

 

[Shangas]

Straight razor shaving = lots of little short strokes. This may be slow, but when you get the muscle-memory, the right blade sharpness, etc, etc, those short strokes become faster and faster, and soon you'll be shaving extremely competently. I can do a complete straight razor shave in about five minutes, but that's on top of about 15 years of practice.

The important thing is to do what you're comfortable with first, learn what a sharp razor is, what a dull razor feels like, how to strop, etc, and gradually adjust your grips, angles, approaches and techniques according to how you shave and what you want to achieve. This will get easier as you get more competent with holding and using the blade.

Along with the short-strokes thing, another thing to remember is to have a LIGHT. TOUCH.

Do not apply weight, do not force the blade in any way. If the blade isn't cutting purely on its own - it's not sharp enough - don't try and force it, if this is the case. You'll only end up with razor-burn or cuts.

The blade should skate, should skim, across your skin. It should almost float, barely kissing the surface and scything and whisking away your stubble.

If it can't do that - your blade isn't sharp enough, or hasn't been stropped properly.

 

[Seelector]

Amazon tells me that my linen and leather strop arrives today, so that is my next thing to learn.

I should have said in my last post that any tugging is gone and so is the blade suctioning to my face. I think that I was too slow and hesitant on my first shave (understandable I’d say), so I made a point of using more decisive movements.

I had a nice moment on my sideburn area where my blade angle was too large. I could see this and brought the spine closer to my face during the stroke. As soon as I did this, sound changed from a scrape to a sweep (?? I don’t even know the right word. Less than a scrape) and the stubble came off like it wasn’t even there. It was very satisfying.

Shave #3 is tonight and I can’t wait.

 

[Titleist]

Amazon tells me that my linen and leather strop arrives today, so that is my next thing to learn.

I should have said in my last post that any tugging is gone and so is the blade suctioning to my face. I think that I was too slow and hesitant on my first shave (understandable I’d say), so I made a point of using more decisive movements.

I had a nice moment on my sideburn area where my blade angle was too large. I could see this and brought the spine closer to my face during the stroke. As soon as I did this, sound changed from a scrape to a sweep (?? I don’t even know the right word. Less than a scrape) and the stubble came off like it wasn’t even there. It was very satisfying.

Shave #3 is tonight and I can’t wait.

Happy to hear that things are getting better for you. Also happy to hear that you are going to have a Leather strop in your kit. Linen and Leather are an essential part of your edge maintenance. If you are going to use a pasted balsa strop, make very certain that you thoroughly rinse and wipe your blade carefully before going to the linen and leather.

The last thing you want is to contaminate your linen and leather with diamond or Crox pastes.

Watch some videos on proper strop technique and go slow. You won't accomplish anything by stropping "faster". It won't align or refine your edge any faster and to the contrary, you end up damaging your edge and your strop. Slow is fast ..... Take your time and learn a slow, proper and rhythmic pace. Pay attention to both tactile and auditory (feel and hear) feedback as you strop.



Good luck.

 

[Shangas]

Technique is more important than speed. Once technique is mastered, speed will come with time.

I know you see videos and movies and stuff where people strop or shave really fast - and it is cool - that's for damn sure - but doing that without knowing how to do it properly, only leads to strife.

 

[rbscebu]

@Seelector, you are now hooked.

Now for my next victim.

 

[Biltong & Boerewors]

Something else that doesn't get mentioned enough is that the blade should be in motion before making contact with your skin. When starting out you tend to place the blade carefully where you want to start the stroke, but this allows the edge to displace the lather that's supposed to be the buffer and lubrication between the blade and your skin, and it is easy to nick yourself.

So in practise hover the blade just above your skin, start the stroke, then make contact. Sound complicated, but most shavers learn to do it without thinking about it or without someone pointing it out to them. A stationary blade on your skin is a recipe for disaster.

 

[Seelector]

Something else that doesn't get mentioned enough is that the blade should be in motion before making contact with your skin

I honestly don’t know what I’ve been doing so far. Tonight I will make a point of putting the blade in motion before contacting my skin.

 

[Tomo]

Something else that doesn't get mentioned enough is that the blade should be in motion before making contact with your skin. When starting out you tend to place the blade carefully where you want to start the stroke, but this allows the edge to displace the lather that's supposed to be the buffer and lubrication between the blade and your skin, and it is easy to nick yourself.

So in practise hover the blade just above your skin, start the stroke, then make contact. Sound complicated, but most shavers learn to do it without thinking about it or without someone pointing it out to them. A stationary blade on your skin is a recipe for disaster.

Good advise. I would say that this is also applicable to stropping.

 

[Butch Waxx]

I would say the whole stroke process boils down to confidence and that takes time and practice, (Very few short cuts out there).

 

[rbscebu]

I thoroughly enjoy reading this thread. Thank you all who contribute and especially to @Seelector for reporting his progress.

 

[rbscebu]

.... , (Very few short cuts out there).

I must be one of the lucky ones. Most of my cuts are short .

 

[Butch Waxx]

I must be one of the lucky ones. Most of my cuts are short .

 

[Herrenberg]

Something else that doesn't get mentioned enough is that the blade should be in motion before making contact with your skin.

Well, yes, but many of us learned that the hard and bloody way. But by gosh, we learned it.

 

[Titleist]

Well, yes, but many of us learned that the hard and bloody way. But by gosh, we learned it.

Pain is an effective teacher.

 

[MurderousCrow]

Shave #2 is complete and it was a definite step up from the first one. I did two passes almost everywhere then a cleanup with my DE.

Skin stretching was a big help and I used short strokes. On my first shave I was doing much longer strokes.

Thanks everyone for your tips, they really made a difference!

Well done.

One thing I found very useful in my learning has been to occasionally shave first with a safety razor, then touch up with the straight.

I wish I'd done this from the start, it would have saved a lot of hassle. It keys in the muscle memory, and makes it much easier to start shaving against the grain.

Remember to keep your lather rich but slick. A poor lather seriously hampers development of good shaving technique.

 

[Seelector]

I completed Shave #3 last night and I’m getting better. I did my whole face and neck and have yet to get a cut or weeper.

It was 3 passes more or less all of WTG but XTG on my cheeks. I had a lot of trouble getting into the concave area of my neck so I had to go XTG with the razor held vertically there. I definitely need to get better at skin stretching there; I think it would help a lot.

I stropped before and after the shave. How many laps should I be doing on the linen and leather? I did 40 of each which took a long time.

I made sure the razor was moving as I contacted it to my skin. This was more difficult on my neck than cheeks.

The shave wasn’t great in that it wasn’t super close and there was a good amount of stubble left on my chin but it was fun and definitely my best SR shave yet.

 

[Butch Waxx]

Congratulations!!!!! There are no shortcuts. Keep taking one shave at a time.