Diagnose My Problem?

[Blaine]

Next shave I'm going to video myself and watch it back to see if I notice any problems (also, be good in case I need to show others for advice).

Okay, 16 days with a straight. Call it shave...12. My face is buttery smooth, but I'm knicking myself a LOT more than I used to. I can't tell if I've improperly stropped or not since I have no frame of reference. When I first got it and it was Seraphim Certified I was so focused on not dying that I don't remember if it's 'dragging' compared to then.

Giving the styptic one hell of a work out. None of them are ever deep. I haven't had a 'cut' (horizontal line) since shave 3 or 4. But the **** hurts! ha ha ha.

Is it more likely that a newbie has bad shaving or stropping technique?

I have a Spyderco UF handy and a Filly strop with crox on the unfinished side. If my stropping sucks, won't I cause MORE damage if I try to touch up with the strop?

 

[mdunn]

it could be that youre past the initial super-cautious 'holy crap ive a razor to my neck' stage, and youre not paying quite as much attention now you know you wont kill yourself with it and your technique has slipped a bit

 

[dpm802]

I don't use a straight, so I can't help you there. But I have cut myself more than I care to remember.

Instead of a painful device like the Styptic Pencil, try a good astringent like Thayer's Witch Hazel. (I use the Lavender and Aloe.) It should seal up the nicks and weepers pretty easily, and it will impart a nice tone to your skin that will make it look and feel great.

I use Thayer's as a regular part of my shave routine, whether I've cut myself or not. I even put it on BEFORE I lather, as the very last step in my pre-shave prep routine, and again after a warm water rinse. (I stopped using cold-water. I find it better to apply the Thayer's and other after-shave products to open pores.)

Ironically, most of my worst shaving cuts are on my thumb, when I pick up my razor by the wrong end. The Futur seems particularly prone to this. When I cut my thumb rather deeply last week, I irrigated the wound with Thayer's, and kept it covered with a BandAid saturated with the same. The wound sealed up in a hurry, and is pretty much healed just a week later.

The last time I cut myself this badly, it took about 6 weeks to heal without Thayer's, as opposed to 6 days using this amazing product.

 

[AFDavis11]

I can only share that that is very odd. I can't even guess what the problem is, well, actually I can guess.

I would think the edge has gotten too torn up and that you might not be stropping enough to correct the damage.

The only other thing that pops up in my mind is that the edge is getting duller but that you are trying to compensate by using pressure while shaving.

If I had to take my best guess it'd be the first one. For me, as an edge dulls over time the last thing that would ever happen is getting more nicks.

When I first started 12-16 shaves off a single honing was about what I would get and rehoning helped. The razor would feel dull and certainly would not start nicking me more.

I assume though that you've NEVER put any abrasive anywhere . . . ever apply anything to the strop and then have someone give you some advice about removing it? I'm only asking because you actually can't remove grit from a strop, its always there. This would account for over nicking the way you describe almost to a tee.

 

[SavantStrike]

I can only share that that is very odd. I can't even guess what the problem is, well, actually I can guess.

I would think the edge has gotten too torn up and that you might not be stropping enough to correct the damage.

The only other thing that pops up in my mind is that the edge is getting duller but that you are trying to compensate by using pressure while shaving.

If I had to take my best guess it'd be the first one. For me, as an edge dulls over time the last thing that would ever happen is getting more nicks.

When I first started 12-16 shaves off a single honing was about what I would get and rehoning helped. The razor would feel dull and certainly would not start nicking me more.

I assume though that you've NEVER put any abrasive anywhere . . . ever apply anything to the strop and then have someone give you some advice about removing it? I'm only asking because you actually can't remove grit from a strop, its always there. This would account for over nicking the way you describe almost to a tee.

He's never used the abrasive pasted side of the strop, so yeah, he's never put abrasive anywhere.

There is a good chance that your edge is a bit tired now. 12 shaves and not enough quality stropping will do that to a blade. It will get better in time.

As far as a touch honing vs stropping on the crox, I would almost say go with the touch up honing. That's what I did and I'm glad I did it that way. That said, I did my touch ups on a Chinese 12k, which is a very slow and forgiving hone.

First things first though, is your UF one of the good ones, or is it not flat enough? Try Putting a flat metal object on it and seeing if there are any air gaps, if not, then you may want to consider touching up on the UF.

 

[OldSchoolYoungin]

Are you sure you're not subconsciously being over-confident?

When beginning with a straight, it's normal (and obligatorily necessary) for one to be super cautious with an open blade to their face. However, especially if one is fairly successful a few shaves in, that creeping confidence can come in without you even knowing it.

If that's not the problem, examine, as you mentioned, your stropping technique. This too can lead a beginner to become over confident in the beginning. Stropping seems simple enough, but beginners too often consider themselves "proficient" when in reality they're just now realizing the little idiosyncrasies that accompany straight shaving. Take it slow, but not TOO slow. Concentrate on form; it's imperative.

Moreover, even in my limited experience with different straights, I've noticed that each straight has a certain "hot spot" that gives you that perfect shave. The angle I use with my Henckels is a tad bit different than the one I use with my Sheffield. Both are more or less equally sharp, the Sheffield being a tad bit sharper, but there are subtle differences that make a huge difference in the end once you learn the blade.

Other than that, I'd guess it's your honing technique. I don't exactly consider myself proficient with honing, so I won't go any more into that aspect.

 

[leighton]

I'm going to go with the razor dulling theory laid out above. I agree with AFDavis.

 

[cityjim]

Blaine ,

Could be the preshave prep or lack there of .

You might give a quality soap like Mitchell's Wool Fat , Tabac or Dr. Harris a go . What cream/soap are you using ? Brush type and lather quality ? Possibly too much water ?? No strop before the shave ?

Was the razor honed all the way out with 0.5um paste ? If so these edges fail rather quickly . Going over 1000 ANSI (American) grit moves into the polishing stages . The Spyderco 302UF at 2000 ANSI is the final hone I use . Now my edges last and are perfectly sharp . I tried all those fancy 0.5um pastes . I and others here have found the edge simply doesn't last before turning dull .

Look in your sink when you rinse the blade . Do you see lather and hair going down the drain ? Or just lather ? Just lather tells you the razor clearly has dulled out and is not cutting hair anymore . All you are doing then is scraping skin and causing cuts/razor burn . Good luck buddy .


cityjim

 

[alexo]

I don't work for 3M but I highly recommend lapping film. I honed my 7 razors twice on the same films and it doesn't seem to lose anything, it's relatively cheap and highly effective.

 

[Blaine]

Okay. Thanks for everyone's help!

I did 2 laps of 10 on the hone and had a shave. One tiny technique nick on my philtrum, but otherwise pure rock and roll.

I also reverted to my initial shave technique, which is 90% right handed . I know it's not a contest, but if it were... I'd probably lose more points for drawing blood, then I would weird razor gripping.

Today I'll be extra careful stropping and if all goes well, I'll throw the xtg back in the mix (I was cutting myself wtg, if you can believe that).

It wasn't just one thing, it was a combination of things. If I didn't get so many responses, I might not have sorted myself out.

Thanks a million guys!

 

[Seraphim]

Keep the angle of the razor very low, almost flat against your face. No more than the width of the spine should the back be off of your face.

A too steep angle will increase the likelyhood of cuts/nicks/weepers,and also beat up your edge as you will be more scraping than shaving.

And stretch your skin taut!

Keep it up!