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I suppose it's just time and practice I need, yeah?

Morning,

I'm just over a month into wet shaving now. Started over Christmas. My first handful of shaves were with a Merkur Futur which bit me hard. For some reason, I decided to try a straight instead of a DE. So far I completely love it.

I've used it before work every day since I started. I 'usually' skip Saturdays, so that I can shave Sundays with an extra day growth.

My question is on technique.

How do I do a good XTG pass (Ear to nose) on the right side of my face?

The left side of my face is easy. My beard growth is orderly and I'm right handed. I shave WTG left handed on the left side easily enough. I still have to concentrate on angle and whatnot, but I'm comfortable with the stroke. I haven't really cut myself on the left with WTG, left-handed. Same with my neck. I do pretty well WTG and ATG. For most of my neck I don't need an XTG pass as 3/4s of it clean up BBS with 1 x WTG and 1 x ATG. The last 1/4 of my neck, up under my jaw, in front of my carotid, in that evil little hollow there...grows in what feels to me like 5 different directions. It's been a trouble spot my whole lift, so I'm not worried there. Yet. I'm having decent results switching out the straight for a shavette for this area, and the weird little strip that runs `backwards` along the edge of my right jaw.

The hair on the my right cheek sort of grows in a swirl, so if I want to attempt a DFS (still not pushing for a BBS yet, I'm far too new. I tried a couple times...the burn....so, I'm sort of aiming for a DFS- if you will. My beard is not the most co-operative thing. In reality, I think I've only had a BBS shave twice...thrice max...in my life, so I'll be more than satisfied by progressing to a consistent DFS)

Anyhow. The biggest issue I've got is the 'backwards' strip on my right jaw. It's angled 45 degrees downwards, just kind of under the edge. It's a really thin strip that's about 2 inches long. The hairs point towards the edge of my shoulder sort of. (Mid-jaw, bottom edge, hair growth targeted at acromion process). If I want to get them cleaned up, I have (I think...options, please?!) to do this weird angled, ear to nose XTG blind angle stroke.

Probably every 3rd shave...I plant my edge a bit. So I've got a little touch of a railroad of shallow slices in various stages of healing. 3 visable right now. I 'thought' I got myself again today, and I can feel it, but I can't see it. So that's good I guess.

All in all, I'm getting better. I can feel it.
I've been experimenting with my badger brush and have started a bit with my new boar as well. I've headed the "What did you learn from your last shave" thread: Not to change multiple variables at a time.

I just got the Omega 48, so I've used it exclusively for this week.
Prior, I was using my Sir Henri exclusively.

Over the first month, I've mostly used TOBS Sandlewood shaving cream for my weekday morning shave. I've worked with it the most. I'm starting to get decent lathers with it. So I don't mess around with it in the mornings.

I'd been practicing with Col. Conk's unscented soap on the weekend, and now that I've been using the Omega 48 that's what I've been using in the mornings for this week.

I've consistently been using 2 drops of TOBS sandlewood PSO. It makes a big difference for me weekdays, as I have a coarse beard and I've been shaving without showering in the AMs. PSO + 3 to 5 min hot towel.

I've been switching each shave between my Dovo 6/8s and Frakenrestored 5/8s.
I honed the Dovo on my Nani 12k.
I honed the 5/8s up to my Shapton 16k.

My last 2 shaves, I've started trying to do my touchups with a Shavette. It's helping so far, the shorter length blade helps me get the angles I need. Hearing the voices of the forum again, I've so far respected the shavette and not cut myself with it yet. 'NO PRESSURE. ANGLE ANGLE ANGLE. Shavettes are unforgiving. Go slow.' But I've only been using it on maybe a total of 2 sq in combined.

Stropping, I do 25 linen passes and 50 leather passes before each shave. (I usually strop my razors the night before to save time in the morning. Prepping my shaving kit has become part of my nighttime routine. Nightly hygiene, strop razors, lay out software/hardware. When I wake up, just wash face, PSO, hot towel, etc)

On my technique:
I'm happy WTG on my face and neck.
I'm happy ATG on my neck, and on my face so long as I've gone WTG/XTG)
Left side XTG (E/W or W/E) I'm ok. One I do left handed, Ear to Nose I do a crossover right handed stroke.

Right side....ugh.
Upper cheek I'm ok WTG/XTG/ATG
From the edge of my mustache down towards mid jaw it grows down and back, so I'm slowly learning the proper angle for WTG/XTG, which is more kind of left eye to cartoid 'N/S' orientation. ATG here is where I get most of my weepers. I haven't figured out a 'proper' XTG pass to cover this area. I may try the shavette here too, but considering I'm already getting weepers here...I'm sure it's me and no the razor.)

I still can't get over the little river of backwards beard growth on my jaw though. It and my neck hollow (right side only) are my trouble areas.

I'm also one of those folks, who even if I manage a BBS, you can still see my dark hair growth below.

Anyhow. Sorry for yet another long post, but hopefully with a breakdown of what I'm doing, it will help for tips.

Thanks in advance.

Dave
 
Oh, also, FYI, as the only 2 straights I've been using I've honed myself, I've got 2 more inbound that are supposed to be shave ready. So between 2 shave ready straights and the shavette, I'm hoping that I'll be able to get enough of a benchmark to know what I'm feeling with my own honing.
 

Kentos

B&B's Dr. Doolittle.
Staff member
Sounds like a lot of good progress! And you are correct that practice makes perfect and eventually you can shave anywhere on your face safely.

So your problem would need an ear to jaw pass on the right side of your face? If so a left hand hold "hammer hold" with the blade facing your thumb would work. Thumb on the bottom or side of the tang and head facing up to lessen the angle your wrist angle.
 
Maybe you are over thinking this. You are only month into this. Generally the saying is that it takes about a hundred shaves before you really start feeling comfortable shaving with a straight. BBS is over rated in my opinion. If you get it, great. If not and you just get a DFS, damn fine shave, great. It will come, just keep going, you will get there.


Mike
 
On the over-thinking. Honestly. I can't help myself. Social work, psychology, psychiatry, mood behaviour specialist, SSRIs, anti-psychotic/sedative, dopamine inhibitors and a few others...have none produced any tangible effect on my neural-cognitive transits. There's pros and cons. I score pretty well on the adult intelligence and memory scales, but I never really achieve 'calm' per se. My brain runs a million miles a minute from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep, so I really can't help myself. Shy of a baseball bat, I know of nothing that will cause me to think about things less.
'
Trust me when I say I'm doing my best to do this learn "organically", as in through a non-forced manner. This whole business of wet shaving actually helps to give me some relative calm. Something about using a cut-throat razor and the required concentration seems to help me ignore other trains of thought. But on the other hand, 'that' much focus for me on one topic produces a rather large degree of analysis just by nature of the way I'm wired. If I could take a break from my internal mental dialogue...I would. Happily. In a heartbeat.


On the left handed, hammer grip. Noted, I will look into. Thanks. Even sitting on my couch, the visualization is promising. Alas, I've already shaved today!! Tomorrow then.

I do love this hobby so far. Ups, downs, nicks and weepers. Forgive my enthusiasm!! When I get excited about something...well..."obsessive" is a good descriptor.
 
I do love this hobby so far. Ups, downs, nicks and weepers. Forgive my enthusiasm!! When I get excited about something...well..."obsessive" is a good descriptor.
There's lots of those around here, so you'll fit in just fine.:biggrin1:
 
I feel your struggle. I am nearly 100% right handed, I only began experimenting with my left hand TODAY. I've been straight shaving 36 days BUT I have had BBS more than once and DFS often. Why? A few things.

One big thing is to have a sharp razor. I bought one of Sersphim's razors and have been following Slash McCoy's maintenance routine (it's what works for me). Assuming you are stropping correctly to begin with, try increasing the number on leather. I have observed differences in shave quality simply as a result of changes in how I strop.

Another thing that has helped me is getting better at stretching my skin during the shave. I struggled to incorporate simple stretching techniques because I couldn't get a grip, even with alum. I recently learned to use a rag wrapped around my finger to grab my skin and get amazing grip now. That jaw line / sneaky neck hallow area...pull it UP while you look down and/or open your jaw, now it's in the same spot as you would regularly find your lower cheek. Stretching was a magical moment for me and its only getting better as I get better at doing it. (It's hard to have both hands a wash rag and a razor all up in your face, but it's worth it)

One last thing I did that helped me a lot was to STOP trying to shave WTG or XTG etc in all the odd places. I have several changes in direction and trying to adjust all the time for growth pattern was killing me. I started getting better shaves almost immediately upon fixing my passes in basic directions. For me I do a North-South then South-North then Ear-Mouth. If needed, I will then clean up the spots that need a little extra.

For me, this pass routine is mostly WTG,XTG on the neck but ATG on cheeks, ATG neck but XTG cheeks. I played with changing up the order but settled on this order.

The last thing. Don't forget to keep your lather wet/slick. When a sharp razor meets slick lather and stretched skin good things are going to happen.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
What they said!

If you really love to overthink stuff, you need to think about getting into honing after a couple dozen more shaves. An analytical mind is a plus, in honing. Some rocks or film, sandpaper and plate, powerful USB microscope, and you have a deep deep rabbit hole to fall into.

Perfect alignment with WTG/XTG/ATG is often not possible, and worrying about it is misplaced. Instead, concentrate on pressure, angle, and stretch. BBS is not needed. Generally, nobody really notices the difference between BBS and DFS. Try to relax a bit. Maybe one day a week, just do a single careful pass. My regular shave is a single WTG pass and I am fine with it. Also on occasion I will use a shavette, DE, antique wedge blade SE, or an injector which I recently tried for the first time, believe it or not. I think it helps to re-direct and refresh a bit, and get out of the routine.
 
What they said!

If you really love to overthink stuff, you need to think about getting into honing after a couple dozen more shaves. An analytical mind is a plus, in honing. Some rocks or film, sandpaper and plate, powerful USB microscope, and you have a deep deep rabbit hole to fall into.

Perfect alignment with WTG/XTG/ATG is often not possible, and worrying about it is misplaced. Instead, concentrate on pressure, angle, and stretch. BBS is not needed. Generally, nobody really notices the difference between BBS and DFS. Try to relax a bit. Maybe one day a week, just do a single careful pass. My regular shave is a single WTG pass and I am fine with it. Also on occasion I will use a shavette, DE, antique wedge blade SE, or an injector which I recently tried for the first time, believe it or not. I think it helps to re-direct and refresh a bit, and get out of the routine.

I've already taken your advice on hones. Before I knew a thing about straight razors I loved knives. Over 10 years ago I outfitted for up to 8k for my knives. So I added a couple...

full

Not shown is my Atoma 400 plate.
For razors I've added the Nani 12k, Shapton 16k and the Atoma 400.

Aside from using my shavette, I've only used two razors I've honed.
I have 2 that are supposed to be shave ready arriving Wednesday so I have something to compare to.

Between those 2 shave ready and my shavette with a variety of blades, I hope I can get a feel for what a properly sharpened razor is like.

So far I can tell the shaving difference in a 12k and 16k edge.

I haven't gotten the hang of setting the bevel on my smiling 5/8ths. I have the belly set fine, but I'm not getting the rolling 'x' down just yet. But it had no bevel to begin with as it's a restored razor.

full

I'm not letting myself get frustrated. I only really mess with it on weekends. Take it to the hones, evaluate... Put it down. But I figure I'm allowed to screw that one up as it's my first shot at restoration.

Haven't shaved yet today... Just lounging out right now listening to some tunes, drinking a coffee with SWMBO and the pup.

Love my weekend shaves where I've got all the time in the world. She doesn't work today, so it's a rare no obligation, no rush type day. The best kind.
 
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...have been following Slash McCoy's maintenance routine
Is said routine documented ina single place or a culmination of picking and choosing from many threads? If the former, kindly provide a link?
I'm receiving my first straight today-ish and next, I'd love to pick up some 66's and the associated gear to learn to hone but that's a jump for me.
Thanks Dave for posting. Good G-d man, you'll fit in great.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
Hi, Steve. I got tired of typing out the whole method 2-3 times a week so I wrote it all up in one convenient place to refer back to.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/473580-How-To-Use-a-Pasted-Balsa-Strop

Not the only way to play the game, but if you do it exactly that way, following directions perfectly, I can confidently declare your results will be very satisfying. If you improvise or don't follow along exactly, I won't vouch for your results... you are on your own.

Like anything else on this board, the search function will put you on to posts and threads on anything that has ever been discussed here.

I wouldn't use a GD for a first attempt at honing, at least not a #66. Maybe a 300 or 800, but even still, they can present issues that throw a wrench in your efforts to learn. Best way to start learning how to hone is to have 2 or more shave ready razors, and when the first one gets dull, get a finisher and try to bring it back. One stone, good but dullish edge, good razor, a little bit of instruction and some elbow grease, and you bring your edge back to life. If it takes a few days, that's okay cause you have another razor to shave with. For that extra razor or two, can't go wrong with a Whipped Dog.

Learning to hone is a process, like learning to speak Korean or learning to cook. Baby steps at first. Get the findamentals. Touching up a formerly sharp edge is the first step, after learning to shave with a straight so you can recognoze a shave ready edge in the first place. After you have touched up a few edges, you could get a bevel setter and a couple of stones in between to make a full progression, and do a complete full honing from bevel to finish. Once you have achieved a few successes, pick up a couple of $15 ebay beaters with abused edges and repair them. I would say only after that should you take up the challenge of the GD66 or other low numbered models. They can be pretty wonky. There are those who disagree with me, but the handful of Gold Dollars that I have honed and given or sold on this board speak for themselves. Getting an okay edge on a razor that will only get more difficult to hone over the next 20 years of use is not that hard, no. Just hone. Usually. Ending up with a razor that will provide superior shaves with easy honing for generations to come is more involved. Of course, since they cost about as much as one of those 6 bladed cartridges with swivel head and vibrating blades and lubricated wear indicaating strip and bluetooth connection and built in solar panel, or even less, you could think of them as a semi disposable razor, and not worry about how the edge will hone 30 years from now.

Anyway I don't think a GD is a good learner razor for honing practice. I think it can be an excellent razor for the more accomplished honer to modify, customize, beautify, and bring to a magical edge.

YMMV. Get reddy for the dissenting opinions.
 
hi Slash (sorry, it's all I've got :) ),
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this out. I've seen your name pop up several times while reading so I was pleased to see that you were behind some of the knowledge. I will shortly bookmark then go read your process.

I'm actually appreciative of the feedback on the whole "good for a first hone" razor. I want to get something to practice with and not at all sold on GD, just enjoy the price point of of finished GD's. I know that any time one mentions GD, there are going to be opinions on both sides. Frankly, that's the primary reason I wanted to go with something else to start with. Just because. I get enough politics and opinions as a cave diver (imagine that - all those type "A's" in a room and no one agrees with anyone) that I didn't want it in shaving of all things. However, I did. Anyhow, that's a non issue. I was so happy with Larry's professionalism and regularly see good reports about purchasing from him, I'll reach to him for something. I also was pretty happy with the professionalism and information from the strop guy (bigeasytools) that I will dig around a little and see what his edges are like. Heck, I haven't even cut myself yet with my first straight shave!

I'm very grateful for your information and pointers. I like the "one-stone-starter" approach as I am a math/computer science guy and learn one thing at a time - and everything I can about it - pretty well. I compartmentalize so this approach works great.
I'll have a read. thanks again Slash.

Steve
 
It's super slow going for me learning to hone. I have a long way to go.

I've got 2 shave ready straights that I shave with and 3 to hone. So I can play and still not mess up my sharp ones.

So far, so good. Slow progress, but progress.

Even little results are satisfying.
 
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