My First Boker Straight Razor Shave

[JoWolf]

Saturday October 3
Ten minute hot shower
Boker Straight
Gold Grande
Feather
Oumo Two Band 28mm Fan
Vitos Extra Super Coco
Osma Alum Block
T.N. Dickinson’s Witch Hazel
Hyaluranoic Acid
Bull Dog Skin Care Moisturizer
Lucky Tiger After Shave & Face Tonic

A late Post

My second straight shave is backed up with my Gold Grande. My favourite DE Razor. Second SR shave felt almost the same as the first. I started left side again and immediately felt the blade start to hesitate. I knew the blade had lost it’s keen edge. Since I’m learning how to strop. My feeling was I did a poor job on my bench strop. I have a new strop coming this week and I’ll do a better job. Completing my left cheek and neck I moved to the right side and completed the right cheek. Strokes were short to medium blade hesitation was on the edge of tugging. I went around the chin on both cheeks and only half way down the neck. Unhappy with the edge performance I decided to go with the Grande to complete my shave. My SR confidence increased slightly and the razor felt a tad less strange. Pleased with my second start and looking forward to the third. I can feel a better skin comfort with the straight. I’ve moved my shaves to 96hrs from 120hrs which will increase from six to seven shaves a month.

I was very happy to be shaving with the Grande again. Performance was flawless and the face and head shave tuned up to a nice BBS. The Grande BBS not quite as tight as Lo Storto’s BBS. Grande is a bit more comfortable with a better post skin. Better skin comfort is needed moving to a 96hrs shave interval. I used steep angle for both face and head. Zero blade feel. A little audio feedback was the only indication of a loaded blade. Comparatively Lo Storto has big blade feedback. My good established techniques with the Grande will be a joy to use as I transition to Straight Razor Shaves.

The big Oumo Two Band 28mm fan knot can paint my neck from chin to collar bone. A big soft pillow paving lather. A fun brush to use. Vitos is halfway down the tub. I ordered the 1000ml block. The only soap I want to use. Excellent brush and soap performance kept different blades working comfortably and smoothly. A fine shave.

 

[rbscebu]

.... I can feel a better skin comfort with the straight. I’ve moved my shaves to 96hrs from 120hrs which will increase from six to seven shaves a month.
....

I was on 72hrs when cart shaving. Dropped to 48hrs when I started SR's and quickly dropped to 24hrs. It wasn't long before I wanted to shave every 12 hours - and it's still that enjoyable. Trouble is that my whiskers don't grow fast enough!

 

[MelC]

I'm on my 6th straight razor shave with a few slashes along the way, though none as bad as yours. I tend to reach for the DE after a cut or when I have done a little more surface than the time before. It is getting easier and I look forward to the next challenge/shave.

 

[JoWolf]

Wednesday October 7
Ten minute hot shower
Boker Straight
Gold Grande
Feather
Oumo Two Band 28mm Fan
Vitos Extra Super Coco
Osma Alum Block
T.N. Dickinson’s Witch Hazel
Hyaluranoic Acid
Bull Dog Skin Care Moisturizer
Lucky Tiger After Shave & Face Tonic

Third SR shave was a little better than the second. The blade was sharper then the second outing but not as sharp as the first. I started on my left side and found I was comfortable finding the angle and using shorter strokes. I moved to the right side a little more comfortable being RH. I worked a bit around the moustache edges, a little around the chin. I had done both R&L side neck and was pleased with my progress. A nice third SR shave. I have a 12,000 grit Naniwa in the mail. I will soon start my honing apprenticeship.

The Grande stepped in. I found myself thinking about straight shaving while the Grande whizzed around and finished up the face shave. Brush, soap and Grande delivered nice comfort with their efficiencies. Finished the head shave and tonight’s results a comfortable BBS all around. Grande backing up my
SR shaves couldn’t get any better. Always a joy to use. Two straights in the mail and negotiating on a third. Straights are starting to feel like a commitment.

 

[Frank Shaves]

Good move on the Naniwa 12k - it has helped me get my razor to that threshold where it really slices through the hair.

I would watch a few videos on YouTube to get the lay of the land.

Be sure to lap it first. I have been using a progression of P600 > P1000 3M Wetordry sandpaper on a flat marble slab, taping the sandpaper down with 4" long pieces of electrical tape on the left and right sides - just a little dab will do you.

 

[JoWolf]

Good move on the Naniwa 12k - it has helped me get my razor to that threshold where it really slices through the hair.

I would watch a few videos on YouTube to get the lay of the land.

Be sure to lap it first. I have been using a progression of P600 > P1000 3M Wetordry sandpaper on a flat marble slab, taping the sandpaper down with 4" long pieces of electrical tape on the left and right sides - just a little dab will do you.

Thanks for the tips. Much to learn in the honing apprenticeship.

 

[Frank Shaves]

Not sure what all you have, @JoWolf, but you should think about picking up a GD for practice. I have now bought two of these from the Amazonians so I can put one in the trophy case and sacrifice the other to the gods of steel, stone and leather. Perhaps not as nice as my Dovo, but these are very nice razors, and mine passed the tomato and forearm hair tests out of the box.

 

[JoWolf]

Not sure what all you have, @JoWolf, but you should think about picking up a GD for practice. I have now bought two of these from the Amazonians so I can put one in the trophy case and sacrifice the other to the gods of steel, stone and leather. Perhaps not as nice as my Dovo, but these are very nice razors, and mine passed the tomato and forearm hair tests out of the box.

View attachment 1165885

Thanks for the suggestion. I have a razor from AliExpress coming. I should be able to get a little practice on it.

 

[rbscebu]

I enjoy reading threads like this from n00bies to SR shaving and what they are going through. It reminds me a lot of what I was going through last year when I first started SR shaving. I don't think that I will ever forget the trepidation I felt when first puting a straight razor edge to my face and neck.

By the time you get to about 25 to 30 SR shaves, very few would even consider going back to Mr. King's shaving method. It makes me wonder why men left SR shaving in the first place.

 

[JoWolf]

Sunday October 11
Ten minute hot shower
Erik Anton Berg - Shark
Fatip Gold Grande - Feather (2)
Fatip Piccolo - Voskhod
DsCosmetics Boar Knot 26x64mm
Vitos Extra Super Coco
Osma Alum Block
T.N. Dickinson’s Witch Hazel
Hyaluranoic Acid
Bull Dog Skin Care Moisturizer
Lucky Tiger After Shave & Face Tonic

Fourth SR shave with an EAB Shark recently acquired along with three other straights still in the pipeline. I liked the Shark first time in my hand. A nice weight with comfortable balance. The bottom jimps feel better to me than top jimps which I have on the Boker. Maybe its called a shark but it moved like an old slow catfish. The blade chopped arm hair tops pre shave. Sharp but slow moving it was extra effort compared to the Boker. I’m still wondering if I should be starting with my non dominant hand. A little cheek nick on the second stroke finding the angle. It was red but did not bleed. I prefer my face lather medium, getting to the neck I decided to adjust the lather to light just short or runny. It made no difference in improving the glide or slide of the shark. I got more accomplished this fourth shave. I did right side moustache but not left. Both cheeks all the neck and got around the chin and mouth a little more. Nice enough fourth effort I did not like the slowness of the blade. I’ll try another shave with it and see if that changes my mind on blade speed. This is definitely one of those times when I am happy and totally confident with my brush, soap and pre shave. They are solid it’s the blade.

I read one too many threads on Feathers and decided to give it one more try on second use. First use was light. Advantage Feather. For this clean up shave the Feather was harsh and irritated my neck skin. The performance was sub par from first use. I had palm stropped the blade giving it every advantage. A second use Feather does not work for me. The Feather remains my favourite DE blade strictly single use. I finished cleaning up my face shave to a BBS with less skin comfort than usual.

I decided to try my Piccolo for its first shave. It isn’t in the picture. Head Single Pass ATG. All passes steep. The first use Voskhod was smoother than the second use Feather and about as sharp. The piccolo is a nice razor. The Grande is a closer more comfortable shave but was beat out today. A nice BBS head shave with considerably more skin comfort than a second use Feather for me. Three different blades with very different face feel and performance. The straight razor being the most comfortable.