First ATG shave with a razor I honed.

[psfred]

Finally got a straight razor sharp enough to do a partial ATG pass. Still too much drag though, and I'm not sure what I finished it on any more, but with some effort it gave me a great shave on my cheeks.

Since most of the hair on my face grows straight down nearly parallel with my skin, WTG doesn't do much for a clean shave. I have several razors that do a good job WTG, but ATG is a different story.

Razor is a GD 66 with some heavy modifications to get the shoulder off the stones and has a rather astonishing amount of spine wear from learning to hone -- too much pressure on the spine and no "torque" into the edge, the usual beginner errors. I will drop back to an 8k stone and clean it up, then finish on my Jnat after I fix the pinning job. Stainless pins I left too long, will have to file them down some first I think.

But all in all I'm pleased. I think I'll be able to hone razors with some practice, and the shave was fine other than being rough ATG.

 

[Herrenberg]

Nice milestone.

The GD66 probably benefits from the excessive spine wear, considering the excessively high angle (IMO) that these things start out with.

 

[albsat]

Congrats! I don't mind the drag, as I am used to push blades for more shaves but I do mind the post shave skin feeling. Most of the time they go together and end bad for me.

 

[psfred]

No major irritation, just not happy with the force required. I'd like to keep my ears attached to my head, lol. Did get one small nick -- one of the joys of aging is all the weird stuff that starts showing up on your skin. Actually removed a skin cancer a couple years ago, Doc was going to freeze it off next visit, but my DE razor started catching on one side of it, and it gradually died off and peeled away.

Took took the razor downstairs and reset the bevel and fnished on my Jnat this morning, should give me a better shave this evening.

Gold Dollars hone slowly, lots of metal to take off to get to the edge, and the heel is still not quite there, factory over-grind I think. I don't mind a blunt heel, saves nicks.

 

[Saloogie]

I don't have any real issues going ATG except on my mustache, upper lip area. Dang, that can be really tough! So I can pretty much get a BBS on my cheeks and neck but I still have stubble on my upper lip because I can't go ATG there.

But my last two shaves have been a bit of a revelation and an improvement there. I recently reset the bevel on one of my razors and went up through the stones, finishing it off with my Vermont Slate, and to my delight, it went ATG very nicely on the stache. Very little drag or resistance and it was smooth to the touch. Nice!

What I'm learning with SR shaving is that it takes patience. Everything takes time to get it right. So persistence is key. It'll come.

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

If having trouble shaving ATG, it is usually a keenness issue.

If you are having issues with honing the heel, the razor may not be sitting flat on the stone and probably needs reprofiling to move the heel corner away from the stabilizers and the wonky spine grind over the heel. A simple fix.

Gold Dollars usually have a weird uneven grind where the spine meets the tang. If you hone on that part of the spine, it will change the bevel angle and also make it easy to hone on the stabilizer and then the heel is off the stone.

If either of these are occurring, half of the razor is not fully on the stone and not getting honed, fully.

Post a Photo of the razor, both sides.