First attempt last nite

[Crisp]

Recieved the wares from whippeddog.

Much Respect to you guys that can pull this off. I gave up after 5 minutes. Tug Tug Tug, Pull PULL PULL!

What made it worse is knowing that I had a shave ready razor froma reliable seller.

I learned that my lather is going to need to be on the "wetter" side than for DE shaving.

Whippeddog had lots of info with my packet. I think the most usefull was to imagine you are SHAVING OFF THE TOPS OF TREES during your first pass or so. My problem must have been trying too steep of an angle at first, hence all of the pulling.

Would you agree?

I also found that my forearm and/or hand would get in the way of my line of site when shaving. I almost started laughing at my incompetence! You guys must be magicians!

-Crisp

 

[natchez]

Recieved the wares from whippeddog.

Much Respect to you guys that can pull this off. I gave up after 5 minutes. Tug Tug Tug, Pull PULL PULL!

What made it worse is knowing that I had a shave ready razor froma reliable seller.

I learned that my lather is going to need to be on the "wetter" side than for DE shaving.

Whippeddog had lots of info with my packet. I think the most usefull was to imagine you are SHAVING OFF THE TOPS OF TREES during your first pass or so. My problem must have been trying too steep of an angle at first, hence all of the pulling.

Would you agree?

I also found that my forearm and/or hand would get in the way of my line of site when shaving. I almost started laughing at my incompetence! You guys must be magicians!

-Crisp

The first shave is always a bit awkward. That is why some recommend going with the just the flat cheek areas first, finish with DE, and then moving on as you acquire some skill. Just take it slow and you should be fine.

My belief is just to be careful and do your whole face with the straight, just WTG to start, and maybe an XTG from ears to chin with the opposite hand, until the awkwardness fades. You may not get the best shaves, but they will do as you learn.

It should not be pulling. Yes, try lowering your angle a bit, about 30 degrees on the simple areas like cheeks is plenty of angle, and let the blade to the work. Lower the angle more if you need to. Just enough pressure to keep it where it belongs. IMO, Larry's edges are quite good and sharp.

Just don't give up if the first few shaves feel quite weird. You are learning a whole new skill that takes some practice and patience. In a month or so, you will be posting BBS shaves- the best you have ever had

 

[Crisp]

Indeed! Thank you for the words of encouragement. They blade certainly is sharp! That is one thing I am certain of.

 

[LarryAndro]

When I first started shaving with a straight razor, even though using a razor from one of the top honers on StraightRazorPlace, the blade pulled a lot during my WTG pass. And, like you are doing and many other newbies have done, I inquired about the edge and technique.

For the easy areas, when shaving WTG, hold the razor about 30 degrees and shave. That should cut the whiskers off at skin level.

For the tough areas, on the WTG pass, I recommend you lay the blade flat to shave the whiskers down to skin level. You will be pushing the whiskers over before they are cut, and the whiskers will be cut diagonally. This will result in some resistance, some pulling. During this initial beard reduction phase, pulling is expected to varying degrees.

Alternately, in tough areas, on the WTG pass, you can shave to stubble length with a safety razor, and finish with the straight. After a few times, you can wean yourself off the safety razor gradually.

But, believe me! What you are experiencing is quite normal.

 

[Mink]

Your observation that things didn't seem to be wet enough was spot on for me. If you're starting out on a stroke and things seem too dry/stiff/pulling, I would suggest more time soaking your skin and whiskers (prep), denser lather (wetter), and trying a pre-shave product. For me Proraso Pre/Post works better than the oil drops. As soon as you get a reasonable stoke across your cheek, your confidence will jump - and it's very cool.

 

[joshmpdx]

Don't give up!

The learning curve is pretty steep, but it's well worth the reward.

 

[California Cajun]

Recieved the wares from whippeddog.

Much Respect to you guys that can pull this off. I gave up after 5 minutes. Tug Tug Tug, Pull PULL PULL!

What made it worse is knowing that I had a shave ready razor froma reliable seller.

I learned that my lather is going to need to be on the "wetter" side than for DE shaving.

Whippeddog had lots of info with my packet. I think the most usefull was to imagine you are SHAVING OFF THE TOPS OF TREES during your first pass or so. My problem must have been trying too steep of an angle at first, hence all of the pulling.

Would you agree?

I also found that my forearm and/or hand would get in the way of my line of site when shaving. I almost started laughing at my incompetence! You guys must be magicians!

-Crisp

I can identify with all those experiences. I thought I had three arms and elbows and two of them were always in the way.

Watch Joel's video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W44WFTfqzA) and in fairly short order you'll be able to imitate his strokes.

Don't put pressure on your razor because that's how you cut yourself.

Gradually, over time, it seems possible. I promise, because if I could learn to do it ANYONE can do it!

 

[kap49]

I too have just completed my first straight shave this morning. I am a long time DE user and have used Feathers almost exclusively. My weapon of choice today was a Feather Artist Club RG loaded with a Pro Guard. Before I let this thing near my face I did a hell of a lot of research, here and on the rest of the Web. I paid careful attention to my lather, Tabula Rasa (Dark Lavender), properly made in my palm. After the lather was in place and awaiting the blade I took a good hard look at myself and said, "Don't screw this up".

I started slowly, and remembering all the warnings about this blade, managed to remove most of my one day growth and to my astonishment not a drop of blood. There were a couple of missed spots, but by and large a pretty good shave. I sport a mustache so I didn't have to cope with the area under my nose. Not wanting to push my luck I used my trusty Futura for a quick touch up.

Feeling pretty cocky I splashed on the Alt-Insbruck and enjoyed a glorious menthol burn (wow), cleaned everything up and noticed that I was walking with a little bit of a strut as I left the house.

By and large a great experience and I will make sure that I continue to respect this blade and pay attention to the angle and No, I repeat, No pressure.

 

[Luc]

The first shave isn't easy. Make sure that you have a firm grip to the razor won't wiggle at all. Don't use your wrist to shave (like a DE) use your arm to do the motion. Take it slow, even if you do 1 pass WTG, that's all right.

You got to make sure that your lather and prep are at best when you use a straight.

 

[MaritimeFanatic]

Congrats on the first step!

I know that I pretty much mangled all my attempts for the first week or so. Every week or so I would find new things and get a bit better. Six months into it, I cannot even contemplate going back to a five bladed piece of plastic. Stick with it, and you will most certainly be rewarded.

I would highly recommend checking out youtube videos - particularly those of Jockeys41. he is a member over on SRP, and had some great tutorial videos.

Good luck!

 

[Crisp]

The first shave isn't easy. Make sure that you have a firm grip to the razor won't wiggle at all. Don't use your wrist to shave (like a DE) use your arm to do the motion. Take it slow, even if you do 1 pass WTG, that's all right.

You got to make sure that your lather and prep are at best when you use a straight.

I have been using my wrist only. I will attempt the arm motion techinique. I also need to dig deeper and watch some of the aforementioned youtube videos to learn some useful grips!

-Crisp

 

[Brownbear]

Don't be discouraged. Listen to the good advice, keep trying and magically your technique will get better with every shave. Your hands will just learn how to do it. I'm on the shallow, long part of the learning curve now, and the steep, short part is frustrating and perplexing but quite doable.

 

[Crisp]

Don't be discouraged. Listen to the good advice, keep trying and magically your technique will get better with every shave. Your hands will just learn how to do it. I'm on the shallow, long part of the learning curve now, and the steep, short part is frustrating and perplexing but quite doable.

Thank you very much. Yesterday I tried again...even thought there wasn't much of anything to mow down. The fear factor was a couple notches down, and I played with the leather strop some as well. Oiled it up with some palm grease and lather.

Gotta get those grips down. Must slice through the forest economically!

 

[brummel]

I started beginning of this year, and experienced the same but i dropped the angle as advised, watched Jockeys videos on you tube for angles and used it daily. Soon got comfortable and better at it . When you hit it right that first time its a great feeling and worth the practise !

 

[OldCarGuy]

Don't give up! I made the jump from Mach 3 to straight razor this past August. It does take time to find all of the angles of arms/hands that works for you and do not try to get that very smooth shave to start off with. It was several weeks of daily shaving until things started to make sense and the shaves got better. Now, months later, I get really good shaves and I am learning by trying small changes/improvements. Some work, some don't. From another 'newbie' just keep it up!

 

[duderdo]

It's eerie how many threads are like this where the first shave is so discouraging, and somehow it magically gets easier to the point where it really does feel like a hot knife through butter...

It happened to me too, keep it up, you're next

 

[sanfranciscian]

Don't be discouraged, it sounds an awful lot like every one else's first shave. there was a lot of good advice in these posts and it seems that you figured out to thin the lather a little bit already and that was a big improvement for me. Like Luc states try to keep that wrist solid, and keep thinking no pressure let the blade do the work. just takes some time and you will be a pro.

Ian

 

[dwlazlo]

Flatten the blade! Awesome advice, thanks LarryAndro! Back to the cutting board.

 

[dpmtherrien]

Excellent advice given. Just keep at it and you'll find your technique improving. I've been using my straight for well over a year and a half, and the shaves have been getting better all of that time. Its just that now their getting to the point of excellent.

Just go slow and learn from each shave.

 

[mdunn]

+1 on everthing above, and practice practice practice.

its tricky at first getting angle, pressure, grips etc all going at once, but before long you will be all over it