How do I clean up my technique?

[bluefoxicy]

So, my right cheek is BBS... I shaved last night. I managed to hone the blade to the point where it pops arm hairs without pinning them to the skin (just brush past them at the correct angle and they catch and cut).

The blade has visible defects still; it'd probably take a thousand passes on the C12k to smooth out all the scratches, so maybe it needs more time on the Norton 8k, who knows... it's a very cloudy finish with lots of visible scratches though, scratches which were there when I started on the C12k.

My stroping has also improved. Less pressure, better grip, and the razor makes a bright metallic hiss as it glides gently over the strop. 10 passes seems enough for carbon steel, and I do 20.

My left cheek and up around my right temple was rougher right after the shave. It seems as well that I have a forced goatee-shadow, as I can't get that area smooth. I also have trouble maneuvering the neck-- though unlike with the DE, I have no trouble actually shaving once I can get the blade there. I shave exclusively with the right hand. I also find that a steeper angle than I was using REALLY cuts the hair WTG, while a shallow angle just makes prickly noises and gets the blade to skip; a really steep angle just induces razor burn.

I don't seem to need to stretch the skin if I make faces and blade buff XTG; stretching the skin used to help my cheeks, but doesn't seem to get me a better cut around my chin. When I did stretch, I would pull from the top, and shave down-- i.e. I would shave away from my fingers, doing a WTG pass.

Any suggestions? Should I get back to the hone and buff that blade proper? Is there a trick to stretching the skin, like stretching down rather than up, or pulling XTG instead of ATG/WTG?

 

[Alacrity59]

I'm not going to claim to be an expert but despite the popping hair the results when you shave sounds like your razor is not very sharp. When I finish on the 8K I don't see visible lines on the edge of the blade. I also strop a lot more than you are doing. Some people say 30 - 60 laps is best to maintain an edge. I do a couple hundred on linen and leather after honing and about 50 on linen and leather before shaving each day . . . sometimes more. (takes me about 3 minutes to strop)

I've noticed that sometimes I start to use too much pressure while stropping and the blade seems to dull. Fortunately in my case this seems to be reversed by more stropping with very little pressure.

For me razor burn comes from pushing the blade against my face too hard. Perhaps this is the case for you as well. Good shaves started to come when I realized I should be shaving the beard and not my face. This revelation came via a Mantic Video when he has a straight razor shave in Las Vegas. Conceptually I attempt to shave the hair and not touch the skin.

Good luck.

Mike

 

[bluefoxicy]

I'm not going to claim to be an expert but despite the popping hair the results when you shave sounds like your razor is not very sharp. When I finish on the 8K I don't see visible lines on the edge of the blade.

Perhaps I should explore this; though, perhaps I can see things you can't. I think these are from the 4k though, come to think of it, so you're likely right. The blade's a LOT sharper than it was for the first month or so I was using it though (it couldn't pop arm hairs without pressure), which may be skewing my perception of "sharpness" ....

I should have got a 2 inch wide hone ~_~ The 3 inch is less than stellar, it's awkward.

I also strop a lot more than you are doing.

Everyone does. I've never noticed a difference. Perhaps this is owing to the "blade is not sharp" issue? The strop is not a sharpener.

For me razor burn comes from pushing the blade against my face too hard. Perhaps this is the case for you as well.

That as well; although taking the blade at a 75 degree angle can't help, and cutting the hair from that angle isn't exactly easy anyway.