Grit's Straight Razor Shave Journal

[Grit]

Received my restored H. Boker Kingcutter in the mail the other day, finally got around to cleaning off the oil that was applied for shipping, barbicide soak, rinsed and dried it, stropped on Chromium Oxide/Balsa and then Leather strop and finally shaved with it.

All in all the first shave went really good, having three days worth of growth, so my angle needs some work, my feel for holding the razor needs some work. My shaky hand when trying to shave just under my lip needs a ton of work, as I drew a bit of blood when the razor tapped just under my lip . Two North South passes, touch up with my safety. Feeling some minor irritation.

Other details
Brush: Wee Scott
Soap: D.R. Arlington
Alum
Krampert's Finest Bay Rum AS

 

[rockviper]

Welcome to the wonderful world of straight shaving from your neighbour in Ajax. Today marked my 1-year anniversary but I totally remember struggling with grips and whatnot. Hang in there, it definitely gets better.

 

[AndroiDad75]

Hey Grit. Not that far ahead of you. You will have a ton of great guys coming in to give you advice. Take it all in and listen to what they say. They are a wealth of info.

The grips will come. I am just over 50 shaves in, and there are still a couple grips I haven't completely worked out.

I stuck with 2 WTG passes for probably close to 35-30 shaves. I can look back through my journal to find out, but I think it was about that long. Then one day, the grip just didn't feel as foreign, so I gave it a try and have been working on it since.

The one thing I kept my eye on was "I wanted a comfortable, irritation free (as much as possible), shave". If that meant 2 WTG passes that ended up CCS, then that's what I got.

Now I don't have to be completely clean shaven, like some of our brethren who are in the Armed Services, so I just had to come to grips that it was what it was, and I was going to work...

Good luck, and keep the journal going. It really does help. (Or it has really helped me)

 

[Grit]

Thank you for the greeting, I have too much time and money invested to quit wet shaving now. Straight shaving was where I wanted to be to start with, I just lacked the funds for the start up, so I slowly built up my kit towards the goal of Straight razor and got caught up in DE shaving along the way.

The grips just do not have that natural comfortable feel yet, though I know it will come as it did with the DE. Now to tackle the learning curve of honing.

 

[Attila]

Now to tackle the learning curve of honing.

Welcome fellow Canadian! Honing is a rabbit hole you should be very careful of venturing into too early. I would try to get the hang of shaving first if possible. Buy another razor or two that was professionaly honed. Vintage if possible or a Gold Dollar sold by a vendor here on this site. If you are trying to learn to hone and to shave at the same time...things are going to get very difficult very early. I sympathize with you though, being in Canada and having to ship our razors to get honed costs a lot of money. That is why I started honing soon after I started shaving but I'll tell you, it sure does make the learning curve one heck of a lot steeper!! Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[rockviper]

We're only a short distance apart, so I'm not adverse to hooking up on a a weekend morning to play with honing. I'm not great at it by any means, but I've been able to put a serviceable edge on my blades when I need to.

 

[Grit]

We're only a short distance apart, so I'm not adverse to hooking up on a a weekend morning to play with honing. I'm not great at it by any means, but I've been able to put a serviceable edge on my blades when I need to.

Thank you for the offer, I just might take you up on it when and if I muck up the edge while stropping or when it needs a touch-up.

 

[Grit]

Prep: washed face with warm water and applied Proraso pre-shave White
Soap: D.R. Harris Arlington
Alum
AS: Krampert's Finest Frostbite

Something is starting to click in with the stropping as it felt less awkward, though a few times I noticed I lifted the spine a bit, actually I heard a difference before I visually clued in to what I had done. Is acceptable to place one's index finger along the spine or would that be an unnecessary crutch?

How often should I return to the Chromium Oxide/Balsa strop, every shave, every X shave?

The Shave:
With the first shave out of the way two days ago, things seem more relaxed. The razor feels easier in my hand more comfortable even, the grip still feels foreign though.

Between my first and seconds passes I added more water to my lather, as I noticed around the right side of my chin it had dried out a bit, perhaps I had removed some of the lather when shaving and the thinner layer dried up some. Did not noticed the drying effect during the second pass.

I also noticed more ease with trying to use different sections of the razor, actually found myself doing this with out realizing I was trying to do so. Of course this made me want to try it different sections of the razor in different places on my face.

My chin and neck need angle work and I know it will come along. I can say after two North South the stubble on my neck is not as heavy as what was left behind after three passes with the DE and touch ups.

I am starting to think I over thought everything during my first straight shave.

 

[Grit]

Been a while since my last straight shave, do time restrictions and more recently a bout of back pain, which has cleared up nicely.

Took the razor for a hundred passes on Chromium Oxide coated balsa, then sixty passes on leather board strop.

Prep consisted of face exfoliation, a good hot shower a rarity before most of my shaves, Proraso white pre-shave, then face lathering with Tabac soap.

Not sure if my angle was off today or if I mucked the edge of the blade during stropping, the cutting action of the blade just did not seem as smooth as it did the first two shaves. The closeness of the shave after two WTG passes seems lacking. A bit of irritation was present after the shave, even after the alum being rubbed across my face, threw on some AS and the irritation melted away and never came back. Grip seems forgotten at this point, will do another shave tomorrow and see how the grip feels then.

 

[AndroiDad75]

I am in no way an expert with touching up a blade, but 100 passes on a chromium oxide balsa strop seems a bit excessive to me - and sounds like it would make the blade a bit harsh. Just a guess though.

 

[Grit]

Not an expert myself, and figured I would give it a go.

My fourth shave was much better and it was smoother, I am wondering if it is the Tabac soap, or blade angle as I switched the soap to Arlington on a whim that struck my fancy. Seems to me the angle I used today was shallower than the day before. Came away with a minor weeper near my earlobe not even sure how I managed that, though noticed a touch of red in re-lather for my second pass.

Enjoyable shave all around I must say.

 

[Attila]

I am in no way an expert with touching up a blade, but 100 passes on a chromium oxide balsa strop seems a bit excessive to me - and sounds like it would make the blade a bit harsh. Just a guess though.

100 passes on CrOx is way too much. It is generally recommended to do no more than 10-20 laps. The CrOx is for touch ups, not serious sharpening. If you use it too often it will round the bevel. Which won't take long if you are doing 100 laps each time.

 

[Grit]

100 passes on CrOx is way too much. It is generally recommended to do no more than 10-20 laps. The CrOx is for touch ups, not serious sharpening. If you use it too often it will round the bevel. Which won't take long if you are doing 100 laps each time.

This is good to know, thank you for the info I will pack away the CrOx and just keep with the leather.

 

[Attila]

No worries! Keep us posted on your progress!

 

[buca3152]

As was said 100 laps sounds like a lot. But 6-7 laps every 2 weeks can help keep it refreshed. You end up rounding the edge after a while and then a complete bevel set is required when it needs honing ime.

 

[Grit]

Will do, though I am not that much on the big detail write ups. Hopefully tomorrow I have the time to grab the straight and take it to some whiskers.