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Hello & S'mae - my SR journey

No shave today, but I have re-scaled a J.G. Graves razor I picked up cheap to learn to hone with.

3D printed the scales based on the originals, including a wedge. 40% infill at a 0.12mm layer thickness.

I've gone from 220 up to 1500 for Sanding off the rust, had to remove a lot from the tang, including in the pin hole. Used the Dremel to clear that out. Not the best sanding job, but certainly functional for learning to look after my razor. The razor is stamped as extra hollow but i really don't think it is.
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No shave today, but I have re-scaled a J.G. Graves razor I picked up cheap to learn to hone with.

3D printed the scales based on the originals, including a wedge. 40% infill at a 0.12mm layer thickness.

I've gone from 220 up to 1500 for Sanding off the rust, had to remove a lot from the tang, including in the pin hole. Used the Dremel to clear that out. Not the best sanding job, but certainly functional for learning to look after my razor. The razor is stamped as extra hollow but i really don't think it is. View attachment 1212322View attachment 1212330View attachment 1212325View attachment 1212327
You are right, it doesn't look like a modern extra hollow grind, more like a quarter hollow.
Well done, you have a functional razor that should shave as good or better than a modern razor once properly honed.
A razor only shaves as good as the edge allows. In many cases a well honed Gold Dollar will outperform a very expensive razor.
 
7th shave.

TOBS soap, best badger brush and 60 laps of the dovo on the plain leather strop. No nicks on the strop, so that's a win for today's shave.

I went with two passes WTG and used a lower angle than before. Some reading round the forum suggested that it can sometimes be worth even shaving off of the spine. Well that's two passes, and absolutely no cuts, weepers or irration when the Albion AS went on. First pass wasn't the best or closest of shaves, but the second massively improved the closeness of the shave. I would say a 7/10 overall.

Snow at the weekend meant I was seriously time crunched so went for a BBS shave using the DE (cheating I know), but yes it's taken three days to actually need a shave.

So in total:
2 shaves without strop nicking incident.
1 shave without burn
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Twenty-three more SR shaves to go. Stick with it. It's worth the effort.

Don't worry I plan on it.

8th shave, 2 passes WTG first pass for a SAS and second for CCS. TOBS sandalwood soap, best badger brush and the 5/8th best quality Dovo and Albion AS. If anything I'm going for Mr consistency. 30 strops on the SR, before and after so that's 50/60 total for the shave. Starting to get the hang of lathering for the straight razor, obviously not changing soap all the time is going to help with that as the last few shaves it's been really consistent. 2 passes with the grain, I'm finding the hollow is causing me less trouble now. Starting to get the technique and it's showing because that is now...

3 shaves without nicking the strop
2 shaves without razor burn

I have added a little extra into my routine, but that's because of the change in weather. I shaved after I'd been for a run and had a shower. The wild weather meant my skin really needed some food so I used a bulldog face wash and a Proraso pre-shave cream before lathering. I'm glad I did as the pre-shave basically disappeared my skin was so thirsty. I think I'd have to lathered 2 or 3 times before actually shaving otherwise. Bulldog moisturiser to help skin afterwards, some women say I take better care of my skin than they do.
 
some women say I take better care of my skin than they do.
Straight razor shaving gives me the excuse to spoil myself with the nice things men usually deny themselves. It's all about taking your time, preparing, enjoying the scent of a good soap, the actual shave and the after-care.

I tried a few pre-shave oils and creams, but can honestly say it does nothing for me. For after shave care I love the sting and skin tightening properties of a alum block which I rinse off after a few minutes with cool water.

I mix my own after-shave oil using 20% pure vitamin e oil (Jasons) mixed with 80% sweet almond. Pure vitamin e oil is a bit too sticky. Apply a few drops and massage it into my face. If it doesn't absorb completely I just wipe it with a paper towel. My skin likes it and I have no issues with oiliness or irritation. I can testify that my facial skin is in better shape than ever.

I don't like alcohol based after-shaves and I prefer to apply a fragrance of my choice rather than to have a mix competing with each other.
 
9th shave, 1 pass WTG, 1 pass XTG. TOBS sandalwood soap, best badger brush and the 5/8th best quality Dovo and Albion AS. I lost count of the laps of the SR after 20. So somewhere between 50 and 60 total for the shave. 30 strops on the SR after.

Hollow caused no issue today at all until I tried to go XTG. That's certainly harder than going WTG or ATG! Just plain wrong for my hands to want to move like that. I get a feeling this is my new challenge, XTG on the right side of my neck. I did wonder about doing an angled ATG.

4 shaves without nicking the strop
3 shaves without razor burn

Straight razor shaving gives me the excuse to spoil myself with the nice things men usually deny themselves. It's all about taking your time, preparing, enjoying the scent of a good soap, the actual shave and the after-care.

Absolutely it does. I found that with the DE as well. It's part of the day where no one disturbs me.
 
some women say I take better care of my skin than they do.
One of the women at work asked me what my skincare routine was as my facial skin is "always fresh looking". I replied I use a quality soap and then remove it by scraping it off with a piece of sharpened steel. She asked how sharp does it have to be, and I replied razor sharp. The penny eventually dropped that I meant shaving.

You sound like your SR journey is coming along well. Don't be surprised if it seems to plateau after 10-15 shaves. It might seem you're not making any improvement, but your technique will still be improving. If you're like me, you will again start to notice improvements to your shave after another 10 or so shaves. Either it will be closer than before, it will be 20 seconds faster, you will have less irritation or other slight improvement.
 
9th shave, 1 pass WTG, 1 pass XTG. TOBS sandalwood soap, best badger brush and the 5/8th best quality Dovo and Albion AS. I lost count of the laps of the SR after 20. So somewhere between 50 and 60 total for the shave. 30 strops on the SR after.

Hollow caused no issue today at all until I tried to go XTG. That's certainly harder than going WTG or ATG! Just plain wrong for my hands to want to move like that. I get a feeling this is my new challenge, XTG on the right side of my neck. I did wonder about doing an angled ATG.

4 shaves without nicking the strop
3 shaves without razor burn



Absolutely it does. I found that with the DE as well. It's part of the day where no one disturbs me.
Sometimes diagonal is just as good as XTG or ATG. With a SR you sometimes need to compromise on shave stroke direction (less compromise if you learn to use both hands). What you gain is complete control over the shave angle. As you start to develop some finesse you will discover what an advantage shave angle control can be. This is the real advantage of SR’s and one of the main things that makes them so comfortable to use. You can start to allow some concessions in shave direction that you would not have gotten away with using a restricted angle DE. The result will be just as close or closer.
 
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One of the women at work asked me what my skincare routine was as my facial skin is "always fresh looking". I replied I use a quality soap and then remove it by scraping it off with a piece of sharpened steel. She asked how sharp does it have to be, and I replied razor sharp. The penny eventually dropped that I meant shaving.

You sound like your SR journey is coming along well. Don't be surprised if it seems to plateau after 10-15 shaves. It might seem you're not making any improvement, but your technique will still be improving. If you're like me, you will again start to notice improvements to your shave after another 10 or so shaves. Either it will be closer than before, it will be 20 seconds faster, you will have less irritation or other slight improvement.
One of the women at work asked me what my skincare routine was as my facial skin is "always fresh looking". I replied I use a quality soap and then remove it by scraping it off with a piece of sharpened steel. She asked how sharp does it have to be, and I replied razor sharp. The penny eventually dropped that I meant shaving.

You sound like your SR journey is coming along well. Don't be surprised if it seems to plateau after 10-15 shaves. It might seem you're not making any improvement, but your technique will still be improving. If you're like me, you will again start to notice improvements to your shave after another 10 or so shaves. Either it will be closer than before, it will be 20 seconds faster, you will have less irritation or other slight improvement.
Very true. This is a journey of break throughs, plateaus and gradual improvement. Even after hundreds of shaves you still get the occasional breakthrough. Long after you thought that you had it all figured out. They become much rarer with time though. In the beginning they come thick and fast and that’s what makes the learning so exciting.

I feel like you are on the right track. My big milestones were are 10, 30, 50 and 100 shaves. A slow but confident DFS is just around the corner.
 
10th shave, 1 pass WTG, 1 pass XTG. TOBS sandalwood soap, best badger brush and the 5/8th best quality Dovo and Albion AS. 50 laps total on the strop. WTG the hollow caused no issue again which makes me happy for the 10th shave. XTG on the cheeks is starting to feel more natural, it's strange how it feels vastly different to the DE. I guess that's because of being able to control the angle completely. To go XTG on the hollow, instead of coming from the underneath with SR I tried going from above it. Seemed to work better, we shall see over the next few shaves as I work it out.

I've got a Westholme starter strop being made up, nothing fancy but it's an early birthday present to myself. I'll continue to use the nicked strop until I get to X number of shaves without nicking it. Not sure on the number yet, I did think 25.

5 shaves without nicking the strop
4 shaves without razor burn
 
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