Straight razor noob question

[shavetime]

I have been using a straight off and on but I have a question as the the sharpness.

I had my razor honed and then I stropped it and I don't know if I rolled the edge or not. If I let my hair grow for 4 days and it is not stubble but slightly longer and try to use my straight it pulls and doesn't cut it like a cartridge razor would.

Are straights suppose to flow like a cartridge razor, meaning cuts through hair like a hot knife through butter? I can use the straight well and get a great shave but I just don't know if this is how it is suppose to feel. I just have to cut the initial hair in small strokes and sometimes I miss hair in spots and the 2nd pass It is completely gone. It is just a little uncomfortable on first pass.

 

[holiday]

My 1st few shave's felt terrible, I think there are a few factors a work. I think technique has a lot to do with it and a bit of trepidation about shaving with a straight makes it more difficult to go for a confident stroke. It is also possible your stropping is letting you down or that you have rolled the edge.
Do you have a hone or a pasted strop?

 

[Luc]

How many laps are you doing on the strop?

Did you face map your whiskers to know which way it's growing?

 

[mdunn]

the straight will have a VERY different feel to a cartridge, dont worry.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Practice stroppign with a butter knife to help re-enforce the muscle memory. Also try to not use your wrist, take some practice; but worth the effort.

Check out the nice stropping video Bart did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyV6J4X0-2g


I think good stroppign will bring that edge back to happiness....

 

[professorchaos]

If you are sure you've got the angles correct, a shave ready shouldn't pull. So first check your angles - as a rule of thumb, what works for me is typically about 1.5 times the width of the spine. Once you are convinced you are using the razor correctly, if it still pulls then it isn't shave ready.

 

[shavetime]

thanks for the advice.

I have a hone and a strop. I have a norton 4000/8000.

I do about 30 laps on the strop..maybe I should increase it.

 

[LarryAndro]

Let's talk a little more about the "should not pull" statement, as I think it should be nuanced a little more fully.

I've shaved with straight razors honed by some of the top honemeisters, and shaved with the razors as received before stropping. I think this is as good as an edge can get. In all three instances, the razors pulled in some locations. For most of my face, the razor did not pull, and sliced nicely. But in the tougher areas, it was different. There was pull with the first pass.

With these as-received-from-honemeisters razors, I had to depress the angle of the blade a little more. (15 degrees?) This increased the angle of cut, meaning there was more whisker cross-section to cut. This resulted in some pull, and required a little more pressure to slice thru.

After this first reduce the length of beard pass, I immediately relather that swath, and repeat the the WTG pass in a more typical way. The rest of the shave also goes more as expected.

The main point is that with some whiskers, even with a sharp edge, in my opinion you might have some pull with the first pass.

 

[Luc]

thanks for the advice.

I have a hone and a strop. I have a norton 4000/8000.

I do about 30 laps on the strop..maybe I should increase it.

I usually do 60 laps myself... I would recommend doing more yes!

 

[Ru4scuba?]

Practice stroppign with a butter knife to help re-enforce the muscle memory. Also try to not use your wrist, take some practice; but worth the effort.

Check out the nice stropping video Bart did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyV6J4X0-2g


I think good stroppign will bring that edge back to happiness....

I really like that vid...best I've seen about stropping IMHO.

 

[treydampier]

A lot of it depends on your beard. A good wedge can almost cover me in one pass where as the full hollows actually require 2-3 passes for best results. All the advice about practicing your stropping is great. The statement about pro honers and pulling can also be true. I have shaved with razors honed by the "master honer" of the world, and the razor shaved about the same as when I hone. I say check your technique in all aspects (blade angle, stropping) because I get pulling with full hollows and a long beard, but really the pulling shouldn't be happening on a freshly honed razor despite the beard.