First shave with a Shavette...

[dtezla]

I've been shaving with my Merkur 1904 for about a month now and I've recently started getting some very nice DFS. A few rough spots on the neck as I work on my technique, but my neck has always been problematic. My AD kicked in and I wanted to 'try' shaving with a straight razor. Rather than invest in a proper razor, I went the cheap route and bought a $5 blade with 100 derby razors off Amazon. It arrived yesterday and I got very little sleep last night thinking about todays shave. I spent an hour or so watching videos online about how to shave with on of these shavettes and another hour or so figuring out how to hold the razor for the different places on my face (without a blade inserted).

This morning was the first try. I have to say that I cut my face up pretty bad. The razor doesn't seem to have enough weight to actually cut since it is a plastic holder and I believe the part that holds the blade is aluminum. So I end up trying to push the razor along my face which resulted in quite a few cuts. It also came with Derby blades which I was totally unimpressed with in my Merker.

Lastly, I've mentioned before that my hands shake a bit and this slight tremor was very noticeable as it was magnified by the longer blade and handle.

All in all, I got a marginal shave and quite a few cuts that are obvious even after the styptic pen. I'll give it another shot in a few days after the cuts heal, but I think with my tremor I'm better off staying with my Merkur.

 

[drocu]

With any straight razor, even disposable ones, a steady hand is pretty important. I'm sure that you could learn to compensate but it's hard enough to start out with a steady hand let alone a slight tremor. Personally, I find the shavettes (with the exception of the Feather series) to be a waste of time. Like you mentioned, the weight is all wrong and those DE blades are incredibly sharp; in other words, it can be hazardous to your health. I think the cut that I gave myself with a Parker SR1 finally cleared up after 3 months; I sold it shortly after that.