First Straight Razor Shave was a moderate success--but need help...

[bmiller3230]

Hello All,

I've been lurking for a while, and enjoy the content here and have learned a lot about wet shaving and have used that knowledge in DE shaving for about a year now. But, I just got my first straight razor today and had my first shave with it tonight (a Dovo half-hollow grind round tip). It did come shave ready. I was able to get BBS smooth on my cheeks after 2 passes, and was able to get an acceptable shave on my neck--eventually.

The issue is 2 parts, I think. First, I have a full beard and only shave my cheeks and my neck up to the jaw line, so I have to be careful about the razor catching my beard or mustache. The second issue is that the hair on my neck grows left to right, and slightly up. So, there didn't seem to be a good mode of attack to shave my neck from right to left to go against the grain--at least none that seemed remotely sane or safe, with a blade this large. So, I kept trying to stretch my skin to make the hair stand up and kept attacking it from an up or down stroke, which caused some mild irritation.

So, how do you shave against the grain, right to left on the neck? Or is there another method?

Also, since I have a beard I ordered a Dovo Barbarossa which is shorter and supposed to be good for detailing beards. Haven't gotten it yet, but will report when I do, and not sure if it will help with ATG on the neck for me, but I'm thinking that it would be more maneuverable. Then again, it has a Spanish tip so might not be great for a beginner like me.

I do have to say that I am proud of the fact that I got no weepers, didn't cut myself, lop anything important off, and only had some mild irritation on my neck (nothing that alum wasn't able to handle--but I did really feel the alum where ever I shaved), and had a pretty decent shave, considering. I'm feeling more confident about pursuing this method of wet shaving, and no longer fear the blade.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Brett

 

[Tomo]

Sounds like you’re on the right track. Keep practicing and it will all come together.

Straight left to right isn’t really possible on the neck but you should find that with a bit of practice diagonals do the trick just as well.

 

[bmiller3230]

Thanks Tomo. Will definitely approach it that way next time. I was quite impressed with how the razor performed on my cheeks. It was better than DE.

 

[silverlifter]

So, how do you shave against the grain, right to left on the neck? Or is there another method?

I don't go ATG on the neck, I do two XTG passes: the first is North to South, then the reverse. Both involve a slight diagonal from the chin to the shoulder and the same in reverse.

Keep at it. I found that by around shave 30 I was getting decent enough results, and no longer sweating profusely!

 

[bmiller3230]

Thanks silverlifter. Seems to be a consensus around going diagonal on the neck and will definitely go that route next time

 

[rbscebu]

I have similar grain pattern on my neck, growing horizontal towards the rear. My solution was a very keen edge, first pass a normal N-S, second pass a normal S-N and final pass again S-N but with a "Gillette slide" motion so that the edge is still about horizontal but moving at 45° to the vertical towards the throat. That side motion to some time to perfect but can give me a BBS neck if I want it.

 

[Invicta]

Welcome to B&B.

But, I just got my first straight razor today and had my first shave with it tonight (a Dovo half-hollow grind round tip). It did come shave ready. I was able to get BBS smooth on my cheeks after 2 passes, and was able to get an acceptable shave on my neck--eventually.

With a straight razor you can angle the blade so you get a sycthing cut as @rbscebu suggests above so you are slicing the stubble as you go N-S or S-N.
If you post in the straight razor section you will get very good advise. It will take a few shaves to build good technique.

 

[Kaldane]

Welcome to B&B.

I'm another one with horizontal grain on the neck. I'll second (or third) scything and diagonals, and throw in a kind of "windscreen wiper" motion where the pivot pin stays roughly where it is and the blade rotates about that point. Best for short strokes - I think of it as shaving with a polar rather than rectangular co-ordinate system, but I'm just like that.

I tend to tilt my head back and use the opposite hand on each side of the neck.

BBS in two passes sounds like the edge is good, but "shave ready" seems to be more subjective than "just the right amount of beer".

 

[Lightcs1776]

My experience is that it took a couple of weeks to get a decent shave, a little longer to get a great shave. It was worth the effort, as I can now get a great shave with no irritation. I still use a safety razor most week days, but a SR is a very enjoyable change on the weekends.

 

[BigJ]

Great advice above!

Welcome aboard!

 

[HazMat Shaver]

Welcome and keep at it. It will all come together the more time you put into shaving. With the fact you have a beard you're not getting as much practice but any practice is good practice.
I wonder how you know your razor came shave ready, as you don't know what a shave-ready straight feels like. Most everyone who sells new razors says it's shave-ready and only needs stropping. But that is just not correct. A razor needs to be honed by hand, not a machine like the manufacturers do. Or a spinning wheel. That isn't shave-ready either.

So did you send it out for honing? Where did you buy it? Maybe you got lucky enough to get one really ready but it's hard to believe nowadays. Some sellers will hand hone before they sell. But you have to ask for it to be done. Let us know.

 

[NickCutlip]

Welcome to the forum, Brett !!

 

[bmiller3230]

Welcome and keep at it. It will all come together the more time you put into shaving. With the fact you have a beard you're not getting as much practice but any practice is good practice.
I wonder how you know your razor came shave ready, as you don't know what a shave-ready straight feels like. Most everyone who sells new razors says it's shave-ready and only needs stropping. But that is just not correct. A razor needs to be honed by hand, not a machine like the manufacturers do. Or a spinning wheel. That isn't shave-ready either.

So did you send it out for honing? Where did you buy it? Maybe you got lucky enough to get one really ready but it's hard to believe nowadays. Some sellers will hand hone before they sell. But you have to ask for it to be done. Let us know.

I bought it from West Coast Shaving and they offer the option of having it honed in their shop, which I selected, so that’s more than just the shave ready claim that Dovo makes. And it shaved hair off my arm as well as my Gillette Fatboy with a new Astra in it.

I think it was shave ready.

 

[rbscebu]

I bought it from West Coast Shaving and they offer the option of having it honed in their shop, which I selected, so that’s more than just the shave ready claim that Dovo makes. And it shaved hair off my arm as well as my Gillette Fatboy with a new Astra in it.

I think it was shave ready.

I am not trying to pass judgement on the quality of WCS's honing. Your blade's edge could very well be truly shave-ready, but shaving hair off an arm is no test for a shave-ready SR edge.

 

[bmiller3230]

I am not trying to pass judgement on the quality of WCS's honing. Your blade's edge could very well be truly shave-ready, but shaving hair off an arm is no test for a shave-ready SR edge.

If it shaves it shaves. What further voodoo does it need?

 

[rbscebu]

If it shaves it shaves. What further voodoo does it need?

How well it shaves.

I can shave with an edge off a 1k Chinese synthetic. It is nowhere near comfortable and irritates/damages my facial skin. I would not consider such an edge even remotely shave-ready.

There is a difference between shaveable (shaving arm hair?) and shave-ready (comfortably shaving whiskers off a face). Each person has their own standard of an acceptable shave-ready edge. Your standard may be different than others.

 

[bmiller3230]

How well it shaves.

I can shave with an edge off a 1k Chinese synthetic. It is nowhere near comfortable and irritates/damages my facial skin. I would not consider such an edge even remotely shave-ready.

There is a difference between shaveable (shaving arm hair?) and shave-ready (comfortably shaving whiskers off a face). Each person has their own standard of an acceptable shave-ready edge. Your standard may be different than others.

It shaved well. BBS smooth on my cheeks with only 2 passes. My Gillette doesn’t do that nor does my Rockwell. My issue was making multiple passes on my neck because I couldn’t figure out the angle with such a large blade. User error, not the razor’s fault.

If a straight razor needs some mystical, magical attention, where it has to be shipped off to some mountain top in Tibet to be chanted over by Druids to make it shave-worthy, maybe I should just stick to DE razors…

 

[rbscebu]

@bmiller3230 you appear to be missing what I said so I will leave it at that. Enjoy your shaves. That's the main thing

 

[HazMat Shaver]

Enjoying the shave it all that counts.
I can shave the hair on my arm with a 220 grit edge of my pocket knife. But my face gets 20,000 grit at a minimum.
As long as you are able to shave, and are learning the skills needed to keep an edge with a strop,.then your on your way.

 

[dmshaver]

Glad you’ve joined, welcome!