My First REAL Straight Razor

[rbscebu]

It arrived! A Titan ACRM-2 blade with dark Mahogany scales. It came with a zippered case, double leather/demin strop, whetstone, stropping wax, blade oil, cleaning cloth and a plastic comb.

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The blade is 6/8 with an edge bevel of 17.8deg and edge length of about 70mm. Out of the box it would not pass the HHT. A bit of stropping, first on denim with wax and then clean leather fixed that. I would like to thank my housemaid for donating the hair.

I am guessing that the whetstone is about 8k to 10k. It still shows some faint cutting scores so I will lap that smooth before it sees the edge.

There is a problem with the scales but I will raise that matter in the restoration forum.

Total cost, including delivery, USD 28.

Once I get use to using this SR, I will probably start looking for a better one.

 

[ScottChapin]

Nice. Let the fun begin!


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[rbscebu]

I had my first SR shave this morning with my new Titan ACRM-2. Yesterday I stropped it up to HHT standard. This morning I just stropped it on clean leather before saving.

It took me almost an hour to shave, being very gentle. At first I found the blade to be pulling at my whiskers, then I realised that needed to lay the blade almost flat to my skin. After that my shave was as smooth as silk.

My first pass was WTG followed by a pass ATG. I got two small nicks on the second pass. I thought "not bad for a first time SR shave".

I now have a BBS face. I never knew that shaving could be this enjoyable. Thanks to all here who have guided me to where I am today. I am now hooked on SR shaving!

 

[ScottChapin]

I’m at about 15.5 minutes including pre and post and am at over 240 shaves. You’re doing fine for the first time out of the gate.


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[rbscebu]

After each shave I gently dry the blade and apply a very thin layer of machine oil all over the blade. This is as recommend by Titan to help keep the rust at bay. Before stropping, I clean the oil from the blade so as not to contaminate the leather.

 

[ScottChapin]

I use a light coat of mineral oil. I leave it on during the shave and it rinses off during the shave. Some use Ballistrol as it displaces water.


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[rbscebu]

Scott, I thought of that but then worried that the oil might adversely affect the leather strop that I use just before shaving. Am I correct in my concern?

 

[Tester28]

I have a large tub of renaissance wax, which I plan to use for this purpose

 

[ScottChapin]

Scott, I thought of that but then worried that the oil might adversely affect the leather strop that I use just before shaving. Am I correct in my concern?

I strip after I shave.


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[rbscebu]

I strop after I shave.

Interesting, I'll keep that in mind and give it a try as I progress down this SR rabbit hole.

 

[rbscebu]

I'm now lying in bed and for the first time in my life I am wishing that my whiskers will grow quicker so that I can shave more often. Is this normal or is there something wrong with me?

 

[texh]

I'm now lying in bed and for the first time in my life I am wishing that my whiskers will grow quicker so that I can shave more often. Is this normal or is there something wrong with me?

i think the same since i started wetshaving.

 

[ScottChapin]

Interesting, I'll keep that in mind and give it a try as I progress down this SR rabbit hole.

It was serendipitous. When in vacation I wanted my razor ready to go, so I could leave quickly with the family. I decided to strip afterwards, if I had the time, or when I got back. It has worked well for me.


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[Seveneighth]

I'm now lying in bed and for the first time in my life I am wishing that my whiskers will grow quicker so that I can shave more often. Is this normal or is there something wrong with me?

This is the correct mindset.

I have a large tub of renaissance wax, which I plan to use for this purpose

Best protective compound I have found.

 

[Slash McCoy]

I had my first SR shave this morning with my new Titan ACRM-2. Yesterday I stropped it up to HHT standard. This morning I just stropped it on clean leather before saving.

It took me almost an hour to shave, being very gentle. At first I found the blade to be pulling at my whiskers, then I realised that needed to lay the blade almost flat to my skin. After that my shave was as smooth as silk.

My first pass was WTG followed by a pass ATG. I got two small nicks on the second pass. I thought "not bad for a first time SR shave".

I now have a BBS face. I never knew that shaving could be this enjoyable. Thanks to all here who have guided me to where I am today. I am now hooked on SR shaving!

Well done, and welcome to the Manly Way of Shaving. Now you can hold your head just a little higher than the common unsophisticated rabble with their blue plastic handles and canned goo. Your new vigor and confidence will show in everything you do or say. All men will want to be you. All women will want to be with you. At least that is the way it is for me. LOL!!! Seriously though, good job. If I could have stopped you and made any suggestion during your shave it would have been to just use two WTG passes the first few shaves and leave ATG for later.

 

[Tester28]

I still haven't used my new straight...Im currently using a shavette for a month
to get accustomed to the strokes and learn the basics. My first three shavette outings
were disastrous...lots of blood letting....but after paying more attention to angle, stretching
and making sure the blade was already moving when it contacted the face, I have been chugging along nicely.

My leather/linen strops are in place....the balsa strops have been mounted and prepped....in about 2-3 weeks
I will break out the Koraat to christen it.

FWIW. I started the shavette journey by shaving all over....funnily enough, the ATG neck part is the easiest as Ive found the right way to hold the razor and the angle.

 

[rbscebu]

SR shave No. 8 this morning. I improve with every shave.

Started with 50 round trips on my light Titan leather strop then lathered up. This time with Nivea Men shaving cream. Previously I used shave cream by Sanofi. The Nivea is not available in the Philippines so I brought some with me when I was last in Australia. I find it much easier to SR shave with the Nivea.

I know there is no race in shaving, however I am now down to a bit over 30 minutes for a decent shave with very few nicks. Only two small nicks this morning, each about the size of a pin head. The liquid bandage sorted those out quick smart.

My Titan 6/8 full hollow ACRM-2 blade is holding up well and I am starting to appreciate it more. It seems to be getting better with each shave.

I am now starting to realise why this SR saving can become addictive. The government here might include it in their "sin" tax.

 

[evnpar]

Congratulations on your shaves. A good slick soap makes all the difference in the world when using a straight. Slickness often has to do with hydration, but not all soaps can hold a large amount of lather, and some soaps are just slicker than others because of their ingredients. The slicker the better.

I don't coat my razors in oil after shaving. I dry them very well with a clean towel, then use tissue, making sure to dry the space between the scales. I then set my razor on a stand to air dry. I store my razors away from the bathroom and in a dry room relatively free from humidity. I do keep them in a silicon sleeve, but that probably isn't necessary. If you do use oil because you live in a humid climate, make sure the razor is very dry before using it so that you don't trap moisture left on the blade with the oil.

The goal with a straight is using very light, almost no pressure, and the proper angle. Imagine the blade floating over the top of the skin and cutting whiskers without touching the skin. If I need to do an extra pass because of a light touch, I'll do it, although that rarely is needed. I rarely get a weeper unless I'm sleep deprived or trying to rush out the door for an early morning meeting. I now know better, and will use an SE on those rare mornings, although I almost always plan enough time to start my day with an enjoyable shave with a straight.

Enjoy your shaves and have fun.

 

[rbscebu]

WOW - My First Tree Topping!

When I first got this razor, I just stropped it on denim with the stopping wax it came with followed by more stropping on clean leather. After that, I would give the edge about 50 rounds on the leather before each shave. The edge (or was it my shaving technique) appeared to be improving with each shave.

Today I decided to take a break from shaving to see what it is like tomorrow shaving with a two-day growth. Instead of shaving this morning, I thought that I would see if I could improve the edge. Using the burr method, I started lightly to water hone on the whetstone (of unknown grit) that came with the razor. This produced a barely noticeable burr on one side after 12 passes. That was followed by another 12 passes on the other side that also produced a barely noticeable burr. After that I did 10 passes on each side with no burr detected and then 8 passes the same with no burr. I then did another 20 round trip hones even lighter to finish off.

For me then, I considered the bevel set. The edge would slice through a hanging hair but not tree-top.

My next effort was to strop on my denim with the stropping paste that was left on the denim from the first use. Probably about 100 round trips. I thought that I would then finish off on the leather strop with 50 round trips just to polish things up a bit before testing again. This time the edge actually tree-topped a few hairs at about 6mm high on my arm!

I was so happy and excited with my first tree-topping.

Although I wanted to shave straight away with this edge, I used strong self control to resist the temptation knowing that I also wanted to see how the blade and I would be with a two-day growth.

Tomorrow morning is my last SR shave before I fly out to Korea for a couple of weeks. I am not yet prepared to try SR shaving while away.

 

[Slash McCoy]

You're getting there. Major milestone, the treetopping.