Starting the straight

[sallhands]

Hello fellow B&B members.

I’m new to B&B and fairly new to wet shaving.
I spent 30 years hating to shave with the foam and disposable razor. Six months ago a purchased a badger brush, Merkur Futur, and an assortment of blades. As you probably already know I was hooked in a few shaves. Now my assortment of soaps, creams, vintage Gillettes, aftershaves, etc just seems to keep growing.
I decided that I needed to try a straight razor. After some research I ordered a Dovo Best Quality and a strop. I paid the little extra to have it honed. My first shave went well. Only used the straight for the first downward pass, and then used the Futur as usual to get a good shave. I practiced stropping. Second shave went the same. On the third I made the stupid mistake of a slight downward movement while preparing for cross grain pass on my upper lip. Ouch! Only cut through the skin, but a lesson learned. I’m fairly sure that the razor is shave ready. I have no frame of reference but I have several little bald patches on my arm from testing. If only my face were this easy!

I realize that this is a skill that takes time. I just hope that I’m heading in the right direction?

Thanks for listening

 

[natchez]

If you bough the razor from a respected dealer, it should be shave ready. Try the hanging hair test on the edge. You can find a good description here: http://coticule.be/hanging-hair-test.html

It also sounds like you are approaching things the right way- slowly. Relax and enjoy! You will get there- for me it was an 6-week learning period and I learned to shave with a DE. So, I knew about angles to start with. No floating head nonsense when I was young

 

[dakotaev]

Welcome!

If you paid to have it honed it should be good. Just carefully experiment with angles until you find that sweet spot. From there it's just practice.

 

[hmbbone]

Good luck and welcome! I started about 2 weeks ago and have my third straight on its way to me now so I'm sure you will also be adding a new ad to your collection.

 

[ouch]

Some of the required angles of attack will seem impossible at first, but will become second nature with time. Start off nice and easy, gradually adding to the portions you're comfortable shaving with the straight and you'll get there.

Concentrate on proper stropping- it cannot be overestimated how important it is. During the course of a year, you may strop upwards of 100,000 strokes, and a single bad one can harm your delicate edge

 

[Luc]

Welcome to B&B!

Practice is the key and it seems that you are keeping the straight so yes, you are going in the right direction. The learning curve could be tough for some but if you keep at it, it will get better!

 

[sallhands]

It is possible that my stopping has made the razor worse than it was originally. I think I have been applying too much pressure. Maybe I have rounded off the edge. Is it possible it needs to be re-honed because of my stropping?

 

[sallhands]

I pluck a hair from my head and try to follow the HHT referenced above, But my razor does not seem to want to cut through the hair. Remember, I'm to to the test too.

 

[mdunn]

It is possible that my stopping has made the razor worse than it was originally. I think I have been applying too much pressure. Maybe I have rounded off the edge. Is it possible it needs to be re-honed because of my stropping?

its possible. If the edge seems a little worse now than it did at first try really stropping the hell out of it, 100 laps or so, and see how that goes.

I pluck a hair from my head and try to follow the HHT referenced above, But my razor does not seem to want to cut through the hair. Remember, I'm to to the test too.

The HHT is a parlor trick, and really not a great indicator of the quality of the edge. I would call it more a test of your shampoo, than of the razor.

 

[sallhands]

Thanks for the idea of stropping the hell out of it. With 50 power magnification I can see the stone marks in the bevel disappearing. I will focus on a soft touch.

 

[natchez]

The HHT is a parlor trick, and really not a great indicator of the quality of the edge. I would call it more a test of your shampoo, than of the razor.

Although opinions should differ, I use it to see if a razor's edge is sharp. Have not had a problem and get truly fine shaves, so it works for me. Since I usually yank a chest hair, not enough on top, shampoo is not an issue. After reading Bart's coticule tutorials and and seeing some of Serephim's 400x pictures, I began to see its use. The thumb pad test requires real feel from experience and I did not think a new fellow should be trying that. Using the root end towards the blade a sharp razor should at least catch the hair when it drawn down and across the edge. Razors I have had honed by pros pass the test, and now mine do too. But, of course, YMMV.

I agree, however, that a good stropping is critical to finishing and maintaining an edge and I strop both before and after use.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

Welcome to the boards and to str8 shaving sall!!

Good stuff that you've got a couple of str8 shaves under your belt. Keep it up and hang in there on the rough days!

 

[Gustav]

Congratulations on your first shaves. It sounds like you are doing just fine. Just keep on practicing and with time will come great shaves.