1st straight shave

[ash410]

Well after 6 months of DE shaving starting with an EJ89L and then moving onto an R41 I have always had the urge to have a shave with a Straight razor. From a chance conversation with a work mate (whom has also changed from cartridge to DE thanks to me! ) about shaving and relighting my urge for a straight shave I started browsing on Ebay (stupid i know)
Anyway I happened to stumble upon a "shave ready" straight razor now I know shave ready does not always mean that it IS shave ready, so I decided to take a chance and bid on it. As I only paid £11 including the postage if it was not up to shaving standard it would not be a great loss.
After a little research on straight razors and the HHT I decided to try it for myself to see if it really was "shave ready" before putting it near to my face. With a hair donated by my good wife it was indeed HHT 4.
I did my usual pre-shave prep, shower, followed by lather of proraso (a little wetter than for my DE shave) I was all fingers and thumbs for quite a while and VERY nervous of having such a large,sharp possibly lethal blade (compared to a DE razor) so close to my face. I managed to shave my right side cheek without losing any body parts or spilling blood so carried on to the left side, which was more of a challenge being right handed. The left was very awkward using a combination of left and right hand hold of the razor but it got the job done. Still no loss of blood and both ears/nose intact so proceded to shave under the jawline. The right seemed to go OK and so I continued onto the left, again using an awkward left/right hand combination managed to finish the job, the hardest part seemed to be around my chin. The result was an acceptable shave with only a very slight nick to my ear
A strap is now on order to maintain my new razor and I am looking forward to my next straight shave.

 

[Giant Kiwi]

Well done.
Stick with it and you'll wonder why you didn't try it sooner

 

[Nobody]

It should get a lot easier in fairly short order. And then the SRAD will probably kick in. Not a bad thing really. There are far worse hobbies to have and they can leave you much less clean and fresh smelling.

 

[QuarkVI]

Congrats - it does get easier with time and you eventually won't feel like a spastic monkey trying to get your hands and arms in the right place while somehow seeing the mirror at the same time. Keep at using both hands and working on the angles, also try and stretch the skin, especially round your chin, so that it forms a nice flat surface to shave - lot easier than following a curve.

 

[mdunn]

Good on you!

 

[Doc226]

 

[drathgeb]

It's a blast. Welcome to the club

 

[ash410]

I was going to have another go tonight but I think I will wait until the weekend when I have a bit more time, a rushed shave and a straight is a recipe for disaster !

 

[Zamonium]

I was going to have another go tonight but I think I will wait until the weekend when I have a bit more time, a rushed shave and a straight is a recipe for disaster !

Also, it's better to have the time to enjoy it, even if you could do it fast. It's not like any of us are shaving with straight razors to save time...

 

[ash410]

I have had 3 shaves with my straight now, stropping before the 2nd + 3rd shave, however the blade seems to "tug" a little as though the blade may be blunt. It passed HHT4 with ease when I got it and remained so after the 1st shave but it no longer does. I stropped 30-40 passes before shaves 2&3 on a brand new leather strop. Question is should I increase the number of passes or has my dodgy stropping technique taken the edge off the blade? I have bought a sample pack of lapping film from http://www.workshopheaven.com/tools/3M_Imperial_Lapping_Film_PSA_Sample_Pack.html which contains one sheet of each of the following grades of lapping film: 40 microns, 30 microns, 15 microns, 5 microns, 1 micron and 0.3 micron so should I use 1 of these? if so which grade should I start with?

 

[ladykate]

I have had 3 shaves with my straight now, stropping before the 2nd + 3rd shave, however the blade seems to "tug" a little as though the blade may be blunt. It passed HHT4 with ease when I got it and remained so after the 1st shave but it no longer does. I stropped 30-40 passes before shaves 2&3 on a brand new leather strop. Question is should I increase the number of passes or has my dodgy stropping technique taken the edge off the blade? I have bought a sample pack of lapping film from http://www.workshopheaven.com/tools/3M_Imperial_Lapping_Film_PSA_Sample_Pack.html which contains one sheet of each of the following grades of lapping film: 40 microns, 30 microns, 15 microns, 5 microns, 1 micron and 0.3 micron so should I use 1 of these? if so which grade should I start with?

Your stropping technique *might* be the fault. The razor should stay sharp through several shaves if you strop it correctly. If you want to touch it up (it is easier to maintain it sharp with a strop than use a strop to sharpen it), then use the lapping film. Since it is probably close to sharp now, you can start with 5 micron for 30 strokes (optional) and then do 1 micron for 30-60 and it should tune it up nicely. If you want it sharper but maybe less comfortable, then do 50 or 60 on the .3 (I like the .3 but not everyone does). Like all things, YMMV so try the most obvious approach first.

Oh... and I strop on linen for 20 strokes and leather for 50-60 strokes usually. That is the way I prep razors that come in for sharpening. That doesn't mean it is magic... but it works for me.

 

[Kentos]

Since you had the foresight to test your razor before hand, the edge has obviously dulled a bit according to your last test. If a good stropping doesn't increase your HHT at least a bit it may be time for a touch up.

 

[ash410]

I was showing my new straight to SWMBO and said to to look how sharp it is and proceded to pluck a hair out of her head, opened the blade and slid the hair onto the blade where it sliced it in half with a crisp "ping" Even my daughter who was sitting on the other side of the room commented that she heard it! So I know that it was "shave ready" before I used it for the 1st time

 

[hudik]

Your stropping technique *might* be the fault. The razor should stay sharp through several shaves if you strop it correctly. If you want to touch it up (it is easier to maintain it sharp with a strop than use a strop to sharpen it), then use the lapping film. Since it is probably close to sharp now, you can start with 5 micron for 30 strokes (optional) and then do 1 micron for 30-60 and it should tune it up nicely. If you want it sharper but maybe less comfortable, then do 50 or 60 on the .3 (I like the .3 but not everyone does). Like all things, YMMV so try the most obvious approach first.

I'm not sure you could gain any discernible improvement with .3 micron film before you have enough honing experience to master the 1 micron film edge. The PicoPaper (one sheet of paper between film and lapping surface) technique probably helps compensate a bit, leaving a slightly concave final edge even if the honing on coarser grit isn't perfect.

 

[ladykate]

I'm not sure you could gain any discernible improvement with .3 micron film before you have enough honing experience to master the 1 micron film edge. The PicoPaper (one sheet of paper between film and lapping surface) technique probably helps compensate a bit, leaving a slightly concave final edge even if the honing on coarser grit isn't perfect.

I agree that the difference between a 1 micron and a .3 micron edge may be moot for a new shaver. If you mean that you need honing experience to use the .3 micron paper then I guess I would disagree. There isn't much honing experience required to use lapping film - if you can make it work with 1 micron, then .3 micron shouldn't be a big challenge. Just keep the spine on the paper and use smooth, light strokes (or clutzy ones... I have a story but... later). I was blown away when I first used it - I was honing all my stuff on 4/8 k and then pasted paddle (later with a 12K Chug). The effort to make a good edge with lapping film was significantly less than with the stones. Darn stuff is amazing.

 

[paco664]

ditto...

 

[hudik]

Film is easier to use, for sure. I just think that chasing the .3 micron edge might be a bit too much for a newbie. Different sharpness tests, microscope photos and so on are needed because once you get a really fine edge it gets increasingly hard to even notice the effect of additional honing effort.

 

[ash410]

Well I thought that I would having another go with the straight today as it has been 3-4 months since I last used it, I didn't think that it was so long! Anyway after my usual prep I lathered up and then it hit me..... I had forgotten how to hold the razor properly after a few minutes of fingers and thumbs it slowly came back to me and I managed to get an acceptable shave without any loss of ears or my nose, only a small weeper on my chin (I often nick myself there anyway) Not exactly a BBS shave but perfectly acceptable. I must try to set aside some time to practice with it more often