Checking in. Now moving upwards to a straight edge !

[adamw]

Evening all. Along while since my last post but thought I would check in again and update you on where I am at.

I have used various blades and handles but have settled with a two murkers one being a slant and shark blades which work very well for me.

I am now moving into straight edge. Purchased a shave ready blade and paddle strop from a seller who I was talking to for days before I settled on my purchase. The seller gave some solid advice on blade and strop and stropping technique so all good.

I shall be venturing into my first straight edge shave in a few days so it's back to the learning curve for me with something new. I am hoping not to cut and nick myself too much but as a realistic person I expect one or two.

I will as always post here on progress and I am always open to advice from the BB forums.

One the best things I did switching to DE from multi blade plastic so I hope the straight edge (over time) is just as an enjoyable experience.

Stay safe and feel free to offer up advice.

 

[rbscebu]

Welcome to the gentlemanly art of straight razor shaving. Now some words from experience to a SR n00bie:

• Chicks dig scares.
• Use a wetter lather than you normally would with DE shaving.
• Stretch your skin.
• Forget that 30° rubbish you saw on YouTube, the correct blade angle is ½ to 1 spine thickness from the skin.
• The sharper the edge, the flatter the angle.
• Use only enough pressure to just remove the lather - don't worry, your whiskers will be cut with it.
• Don't try for BBS results, that will come as you develop your technique.
• Your DE shaving soap may not be suitable for SR shaving (try Arko).
• CONCENTRATE!
• Shave daily.

 

[adamw]

Thanks RB. The angle of 30 degree is every where so I agree even without shaving yet the spine angle you suggest does seem more logical.

 

[Lefonque]

Welcome to the gentlemanly art of straight razor shaving. Now some words from experience to a SR n00bie:

• Chicks dig scares.
• Use a wetter lather than you normally would with DE shaving.
• Stretch your skin.
• Forget that 30° rubbish you saw on YouTube, the correct blade angle is ½ to 1 spine thickness from the skin.
• The sharper the edge, the flatter the angle.
• Use only enough pressure to just remove the lather - don't worry, your whiskers will be cut with it.
• Don't try for BBS results, that will come as you develop your technique.
• Your DE shaving soap may not be suitable for SR shaving (try Arko).
• CONCENTRATE!
• Shave daily.

Great advice.

 

[JPO]

Thanks RB. The angle of 30 degree is every where so I agree even without shaving yet the spine angle you suggest does seem more logical.

Listen to the blade. When you hit the best angle there should be less sound, and less resistance. The scraping toast sound is not good for anything. As you advance your technique you can try with a toe or a heel leading stroke. Push cutting vs slicing paper. What is most efficient?
Again do not try to add any lateral movement at this stage

 

[ajkel64]

Thanks for the update on your shaving travels.

 

[BigJ]

Great progress!! Congrats!!

 

[adamw]

Thanks everyone. I do like to listen to the blade cutting the whiskers so I get your point JPO.

Looking at the blade fills me with fear but so did the first shave with the DE. Hopefully in a few months I can report back some kind of success story from the straight edge.

Daft question time I bought a paddle strop as I believe it will be easier for me. Storage wise I was thinking a hook on side bathroom cabinet but I am worried as bathroom does get rather steamy when the shower is on. Will it be OK there or should I look at alternative?

 

[JPO]

Thanks everyone. I do like to listen to the blade cutting the whiskers so I get your point JPO.

Looking at the blade fills me with fear but so did the first shave with the DE. Hopefully in a few months I can report back some kind of success story from the straight edge.

Daft question time I bought a paddle strop as I believe it will be easier for me. Storage wise I was thinking a hook on side bathroom cabinet but I am worried as bathroom does get rather steamy when the shower is on. Will it be OK there or should I look at alternative?

The most important thing is to keep it as clean as possible. Wipe it with your hand before each use.

 

[adamw]

Certainly will do JPO.

Will report progress in coming days.

 

[JPO]

Certainly will do JPO.

Will report progress in coming days.

Let the blade be with you

 

[adamw]

 

[dabrock]

Enjoy your transition to straight razors and don't forget to check out the Straight Razor forums for advice on shaving, honing, stropping, etc. I'm a couple of weeks into my SR shaving and it's finally starting to come together and you'll probably get frustrated a few times but don't worry, it gets better very quickly. There are also plenty of good videos on YouTube on how to shave with a SR and if you haven't checked them out yet it's a good idea to. The SR forums can give you some advice on the best videos to watch as well.

Enjoy the ride, it's going to be fun.

 

[rbscebu]

Thanks everyone. I do like to listen to the blade cutting the whiskers so I get your point JPO.

Looking at the blade fills me with fear but so did the first shave with the DE. Hopefully in a few months I can report back some kind of success story from the straight edge.

Daft question time I bought a paddle strop as I believe it will be easier for me. Storage wise I was thinking a hook on side bathroom cabinet but I am worried as bathroom does get rather steamy when the shower is on. Will it be OK there or should I look at alternative?

Hanging strops generally have a stropping length of 300mm to 400mm or more. Paddle strops are generally much shorter. You will need to increase your lap numbers on a paddle strop to obtain a similar result to a hanging strop.

I only use a hanging strop and it has a stropping length of about 400mm. Before each shave, my SR's (maintained on diamond pasted balsa stops) get about 50 very light laps on clean leather. After the shave they get about half-a-dozen laps on a clean chamois strop just to clean the edge.

Using a chamois strop is just a personal preference. Others are happy to use a cloth strop. Me feeling is that a cloth strop, no matter how lightly used, is a bit too course for my delicate SR edges.

 

[dabrock]

After the shave they get about half-a-dozen laps on a clean chamois strop just to clean the edge.

Using a chamois strop is just a personal preference. Others are happy to use a cloth strop. Me feeling is that a cloth strop, no matter how lightly used, is a bit too course for my delicate SR edges.

A chamois strop? Oh deer! (Sorry! )

I've been using my linen strop mostly for cleaning and on the back for my chromium oxide strop paste, is this a mistake?

 

[rbscebu]

It is not a mistake unless you are using diamond pasted balsa stops in your edge maintenance. Stropping on a pasted strop is then not recommended and not needed.

As I said, the natural chamois strop is a personal preference. Most are happy to just use a clean cloth strop to clear their edge of any soap residue after a shave.

 

[dabrock]

It is not a mistake unless you are using diamond pasted balsa stops in your edge maintenance. Stropping on a pasted strop is then not recommended and not needed.

As I said, the natural chamois strop is a personal preference. Most are happy to just use a clean cloth strop to clear their edge of any soap residue after a shave.

BTW, the part about "Oh deer!" was a pun, "chamois" is French for "deer", couldn't resist lol.

My diamond paste seems to have got lost in the mail or I'd be setting up a balsa strop by now.

 

[rbscebu]

Using pasted cloth strops, puts a convex surface on your bevels. As a balsa strop has almost no "give" in it, any convexity on a bevel prevents a balsa strop from reaching the edge of a blade. Before you use your diamond pasted balsa strops, you will need to reset the blade's bevel so as to have no convexity (i.e. it is flat) and hone it up to shave ready.

Remember, diamond pasted balsa stropping does not make an edge shave-ready. It only further improves and already good shave-ready edge.

 

[sanookd]

Thanks RB. The angle of 30 degree is every where so I agree even without shaving yet the spine angle you suggest does seem more logical.

And…. When you think you’re ready to go against the grain, hold the blade almost flat to your face.

 

[dabrock]

Using pasted cloth strops, puts a convex surface on your bevels. As a balsa strop has almost no "give" in it, any convexity on a bevel prevents a balsa strop from reaching the edge of a blade. Before you use your diamond pasted balsa strops, you will need to reset the blade's bevel so as to have no convexity (i.e. it is flat) and hone it up to shave ready.

Remember, diamond pasted balsa stropping does not make an edge shave-ready. It only further improves and already good shave-ready edge.

Thanks, I'll tune and refresh the blade once I get my balsa strops set up.