Giving my face a break-back to the DE for a couple weeks...

[JMP]

4 weeks of straight razor shaves. I started out slow, and have probably only had 5 cuts/nicks total with my straight, all were small. I am pondering upgrading all my equipment and getting a 6/8 dovo hollow ground. I have a light beard, am a thin guy with pronounced jawline, and I think that having a blade with a little more "give" in comparison to the 9/16 wedge I am learning on may make shaving a little easier.

When I shave with my DE, it takes ZERO pressure to get a great shave. With my straight (it is shave ready, and i use green paste once a week to keep it sharp), even with faster, short strokes, I still feel like I am using quite a bit of pressure, especially in comparison to the DE. Otherwise, I get the skipping/pulling. Does this sound like an angle issue, or general technique? I think my angle is pretty good, I always shave WTG and try to stick between 15-30 degrees.

In the meantime, I will take a couple weeks of shaving with the DE to let my face completely heal up/clear up.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

A break probably isn't a bad idea...good for your face and good for your mental health. Str8 shaving is a journey that takes time for sure!

I know most on the boards recommend a 5/8 or 6/8 for a starter blade...that seems to be a good starting point. That said, some guys can start with a Bill Ellis chopper and make it work for them right off the bat...so its really up to what you feel comfortable with.

There shouldn't be a whole lot more pressure with a str8 than with a DE. I think its safe to say I use a little more pressure than a DE...but not much. The shaving experience is difficult to compare however...its a bit apples to oranges.

With a DE you just lather up and go...no stretching or tugging your skin or contorting your face. With a str8...the whole mission is much more "in your face" so to speak where I feel much more engaged in the shave, engaged in planning each angle of attack and then following it through carefully with short, concise (not fast) strokes.

Maybe a better way of describing it (than in your face) is just much more "involved" than a DE shave.

So take a break, relax and start thinking about your next str8 shave in a couple of weeks....I can almost guarantee that a week of DE shaving and just contemplating your next mission using the str8 will motivate you to go "once more into the breach dear friends"

 

[sanfranciscian]

For what it is worth about 2 weeks ago i was out of town and took the slant with me to make it easy. well i had been shaving with a straight about 3 months til then and was in a little mini plateau spot. when i got home and picked up my straight i realized that what i had thought was a light touch had been pretty heavy handed. i then proceeded to have the best shave to date and have been able to reproduce that consistently. what has really fascinated me is the fact that the lighter pressure seems to slice right through the whiskers like never before. so i say take a break and reacquaint yourself with the soft touch. as an aside it was probably the best and fastest DE shave i had ever had that week to boot.you will be amazed what you have learned about blade angles now that you have played with a straight.

 

[JMP]

Thanks for the words of advice/encouragement.

Part of me thinks that being heavyhanded with my straight may be partly due to less than ideal stropping technique and my strop. I LOVE the leather/draw on my strop, but the hole is VERY off center, and when pulling it taut the whole strop rotates about 20-35..... this makes it difficult to strop the blade without using any pressure.

(I won't discuss the vendor to be fair; I did not contact them about this before I started using the strop so the problem is ultimately my own fault).

This is part of the reason why I think I want to upgrade, especially in the stop category.

I apologize for making multiple posts, but I will probably repost this in the strop section to get advice on a new one...

 

[Ru4scuba?]

There are a ton of good stropmakers on the market. I got my first good one from Jim at Vintage Blades...Red Latigo 3"

Been a fantastic strop with no complaints!