Moving forward, a few questions: razors & technique?

[brothers]

I'm looking to those among us who have crossed these bridges already, I love straight razor shaving, and am at a stage in the curve of learning where I need your valuable advice ---

Is it best to find the one (two) razor(s) that seem to work best, and use the same razor all the time, as opposed to my DE practice of randomly selecting one from about 6 favorites on a frequent basis?

I shave every day. As much as I love my DEs, would it be better for me to abandon them for a period of time while I focus all of my shaving energy into perfecting my straight razor technique? Along the same lines, am I correct in thinking that a part-time on again, off again shave with a straight razor is not really moving me measurably forward towards the goal of becoming adept at straight razor shaving?

Moving off the razor questions to the question of technique in the hardest areas to shave, shaving the upper lip is coming along better than the chin. My chin is "craggy" for want of a better term, and the whiskers there seem to be very tough and wiry. I get my fair share of cuts, and it seems that about 90% of those happen when I try to shave my chin WTG. ATG on the chin is virtually impossible, as is XTG. Any words of encourgement in this regard?

 

[Fnord5]

What angle do you have the blade at?
I notice that as I shave, it gets steeper and steeper, and then I get weepers.

Keep that blade as flat as possible.

Once I really got into straights, I never picked up a DE again.

 

[Raso]

IMHO, stick with your one or two straights for 6 moths to a year and don't go back to the DEs at all. If you do not do this, your learning curve will simply get longer and longer. What's happening with your trouble areas is that the blade is cutting hairs (or not) too far away from your skin, like skipping a stone on a pond. I have the same issue directly beneath my lower lip. Remember that those areas are not "flat" like your cheek, so the trick is to angle the blade closer to the skin without causing a weeper. It just takes time and practice.

 

[brothers]

Thank you guys for the great advice. I will focus more on the angles, and it looks like I'm going to be using the straights far more frequently.

 

[Bertilak]

I get my fair share of cuts, and it seems that about 90% of those happen when I try to shave my chin WTG. ATG on the chin is virtually impossible, as is XTG. Any words of encourgement in this regard?

I also have difficulty with the chin -- tough whiskers! Here are the things I do for that area (I do end up with a decent shave, if not always BBS, in that area).

First, I do two WTG passes then two XTG passes. The XTG passes are in opposite directions. The first XTG is actually half way between WTG and XTG. This is probably too many passes but it does work.

Once I am into the ATG pass I use a buffing action -- short up and down strokes, less than a half inch. I start that in the easiest area (just under lip for me) and work my way into the tougher areas. Again, this is probably too much but again it does work.

Of course I am always paying attention to pressure and angle. Shallow angles help.

I also believe my blade needs sharpening. I just got myself a hone (a Coticule) and have been attempting to use it conservatively to restore the keenness of the edge. I follow up with 0.5 and 0.25 pastes on a paddle strop. This is helping but I think I need to do something more (or different).

So the encouraging words (from my home on the range in Texas!) are that it can be done, even by a newbie like me. I was completely unable to do any ATG when I first started. I don't know exactly what it is that I am learning but something is helping my progress!

Another point of encouragement (for me, anyway) is that I am probably better at it than it appears because I believe my (mis)use of the razor for two months has bought me to the point where at least some of my problems are due to the razor's condition and not my technique. A new learning curve to climb!