temjeito's shave journal (starting with very first SR shave!

[temjeito]

It works!

I feel a bit like someone who just walked on hot coals (not that I know first-hand what that feels like). Obviously, some people are able to shave with a large, naked, ridiculously sharp wedge of steel. I've seen pictures on the Internet, so I know it's true. But some people are able to chop through cinder blocks with their bare hands, run 23 miles without dying, and survive walking on the aforementioned coals. Not me, though.

It wasn't pretty, it wasn't quick, and it was far from perfect, but I managed to cut some of the hairs on my face with a straight razor without giving myself gills.

A few weeks ago I pulled a straight razor out of a traveling PIF box and decided it was a sign. I took it to a local cutlery/shaving store (Stoddard's) to be made shave ready. While I was waiting, I ordered a Poor Man's Strop kit from Larry at whippeddog.com and lurked in the Straights forum. The more I read the more I started to wish I had sent the razor to someone on this board -- indeed, several B&Bers volunteered their services. When the day the razor was supposed to be ready came and went, and Stoddard's was not returning my calls, I started to worry. Then Obiwan posted a nice-looking 5/8 "Kutezy SL" on B/S/T. I liked the look of the scales, the blade was much more wedge-shaped than the one I had (which looks like an extra-hollow, and I've read in a few places that a wedge may be easier for a newb and/or better for tough beards), and everyone seems to agree that Obiwan does an amazing job--plus, he was offering a discount for contributors so I jumped on it.



My plan was to wait for a weekend, shave a little on one or maybe two cheeks, and finish with a safety razor. A few more weekends of careful experimentation, and I might be ready to try a straight-only shave. Then I'd work my way up to daily straight shaving. It took me a few painful months to get the hang of shaving with a safety razor, and I still have a long way to go in terms of improving my technique, so I set my expectations for straights really, really low.

Perhaps it's not surprising, then, that I exceeded my expectations! This morning, the time was (mostly) right. I had just fulfilled my Item of the Week duties with the 40's SuperSpeed, but had not yet received the Cobra Classic on its way to me through the SE Tour. The only downside was that SWMBO and both kids are sick, so I got about 3 hours of sleep, in 1-hour installments, between coughing fits, child-soothing, medicine administration, temperature-taking, etc. With no small amount of trepidation, I assembled my kit: the Kutezy I got from Obiwan (which I now think of as my "reference razor"), my B&B red-handled boar, Mitchell's Wool Fat soap, an alum block, and a big sponge I bought after watching Chimensch's 30th anniversary video. I didn't shower (my usual prep) so I washed my face with MWF bath soap, then kept the soap on my beard while I got everything ready. Not sure how well that worked, or how that affected the shave.

After some fumbling attempts to find the right grip, and then a few more comical attempts at finding an angle of approach that didn't block my view of the contact point, I got down to business. I did one pass, WTG. When I realized I had done one cheek without incident, I did the other. Still intact, I powered forward, finishing the shave with the straight instead of switching to the safety as planned.

I did cut myself three times. Two nicks on the chin and neck where I used too much pressure and/or a bad angle, and one slice on my lower lip where I bungled the approach. Not surprisingly, this pass took longer than my typical shave and the lather dried up on me a couple of times, requiring me to reapply. Overall, the results were better than expected. A decent shave (especially for one pass WTG) on the cheeks, passable on the jawline and neck. I'd say overall SAS, except for a sort of "soul patch" on my chin that I decided not to go after too aggressively on my first time out. The razor often felt duller than a safety, but I was expecting that and I assume that's mostly down to blade angle, which was all over the place for me on this shave. Mild stinging from the alum all over, but nothing too intense. By comparison, with a safety after one pass I'd expect no sting, but after two or three I usually have some spots that burn a bit. This was mild but all over.

Comparing the results today to my usual results, it's kind of a crappy shave. But given that it was my first time with a straight, and I didn't slice off my cheek, I'm pleased as punch and excited to go at it again. I know I have a lot of work do do on my angle, and technique I general, but I'm starting much farther ahead than I could have hoped, and instead of weeks of painful frustration I'm looking forward to weeks of steady progress. Assuming I didn't already ruin the edge with my pathetic attempt at stropping.

Here's a terrible video I made, in case anyone is interested. Tips, suggestions, observations and constructive criticism welcomed!

P.S., I did eventually get the original razor back from Stoddard's, and will be shaving with it soon.

 

[temjeito]

...and there's the shave I was expecting. Overconfident from yesterday's unexpectedly successful first shave, I managed to cut, burn, and generally abuse my face on the second time out.

I should have waited. It's hard to find a half hour to yourself on a Sunday when you've got two little kids, and I felt rushed--a bad way to start. I shaved after a shower this time, so my prep was better, but the razor felt duller (no doubt due to poor and/or insufficient stropping), and my approach was way too aggressive.

I did two passes this time. The first went well enough. I even tried a few different grips: left-handed on left side, right handed on left side. Left-handed on right side, etc. I was surprisingly not terrible with my left hand, but still more comfortable with my right. I suspect I'll come to use my left hand for certain specific angles, but otherwise use mostly my dominant right.

The cheeks got a nice close shave, but I used too much pressure and sliced myself a few times by not being slow/careful enough closer to the mouth. One time I rested the blade on my face and the slid it off in the direction of the blade. Dumb.

I was more cautious on my neck, though I still managed to nick myself pretty good in one spot, and the shave down there is barely passable. The toughest spots for me are on the chin, especially right below my lip and at the tip of my chin. As with all my razors, the blade tugs and gets caught on the coarser hairs of the chin. Does anyone strop between passes?

I did 40 passes on the strop and put her away frustrated and a bit angry at myself.

Here are some crime scene photos, if you're into that sort of thing:

Spoiler

 

[global_dev]

Nice job!

I read most of the text, watched some of the video. So if i passed over something... apologies.

Get you grip down , it'll come with practice. It might make passes more comfortable. So much stroke over the same area. I once posted a thread about what a pass was to people. With a straight i go over an area once, twice tops for a pass. Otherwise its ripe for burn and irritation imho.

Nice start.

Btw, the razor looks like a half hollow.

 

[temjeito]

OK, starting to dial it in just a little bit here.

Had my third shave in a row with the Kutezy (which I had been thinking of as pronounced "cutesy", but now realize is probably meant to be "cut easy", which is still dumb but way better for a straight razor).

Did one pass WTG, and got a pretty decent shave. Definitely SAS. Much closer than my first one-pass shave, and slightly less irritation than yesterday's 2-pass. The grip and angle are coming a bit easier, feeling a bit more natural. I experimented a bit more with using both hands, and having that flexibility definitely comes in handy. The edge felt sharper today than yesterday, which I attribute to my having done a better job stropping. I managed to do a MUCH better job under my lower lip and on my chin.

On the negative side, today's shave was marked (literally) by more cuts than the last two shaves combined. Most of these were the result of not being careful enough with the point/toe. Towards the second half of the shave I made a point to always lead with the heel, if that makes sense. I also gave myself another nice slice by resting the edge on my face while lining up the blade for a stroke. Dumb, dumb, dumb. And, a couple of times, I just got the angle wrong and sliced off a layer or two of skin.

In other words, I'm not being nearly careful enough. My goal for the next few shaves is giving the blade the respect it deserves.

 

[temjeito]

Nice job!

Thanks!

I read most of the text, watched some of the video. So if i passed over something... apologies.

Thanks for taking the time -- I guess I tend toward the verbose

So much stroke over the same area. I once posted a thread about what a pass was to people. With a straight i go over an area once, twice tops for a pass. Otherwise its ripe for burn and irritation imho.

^--This. Yes. When I watched the video I was amazed at how many times I went over the same area. Today's shave (the third) was better in that regard, but I still did a lot of it -- going over areas with no shaving cream on them. I'm not sure why I do this so much with the straight (I don't think I do it with DEs or SEs), but it may be that I'm subconsciously compensating for the blade being less efficient (due to my poor technique) by trying to get closer on the first pass with multiple strokes. Two R's for my next shave: Respect and Reduction.

...actually, make that 3 R's: Respect, Reduction and Relather. I guess I'm a lot slower with the straight, because the lather keeps drying out on me mid-pass.

 

[global_dev]

wetter lather, more soap loading

i know chimensch's video gets a lot of kudos, but i think Martin from rasupur.de has the clearest video with some fine technique. check it out

http://www.rasurpur.de/media/rasurpu...rpurshave.html

i don't know what he is saying, but it looks okay. I am sure everyine does a bit differently, but he handles the blade 95% similar to how i handle it.

just do one "pass" per pass. you'll be amazed how much each pass cleans up as you improve. otherwise each pass will not improve.

clean up with a DE or SE or whatever. your face will thanks you and your shaves WILL improve.

 

[temjeito]

No (new) cuts today!!

I watched Martin's video, and made sure I had a really thick lather, and I think both helped a lot. I usually face lather, but today I bowl-lathered the MWF using Recluse's method, and it definitely made a difference. The lather was thicker than I usually make it, and I didn't have a problem with it drying out. The shave was quicker, too. I took fewer strokes, but longer ones.

Two passes, both WTG. The first pass felt almost like I wasn't cutting off much hair (I was, it was there in the lather when I wiped off the blade), but I just kept telling myself, "beard reduction". The second pass cleaned things up nicely. I'm still getting a lot of tugging and catching on the whiskers under my chin, and the shave is generally less close on my neck, but this was a good outing, and I'm pleased with my progress so far. I can't wait for these nicks and cuts to heal!

Also, I think I've already wrecked my strop. I noticed yesterday that I'd scored the far end of it with some grooves from what I assume is my dragging the toe on the upward stroke, and there are a bunch of nicks near the bottom where I must have hesitated before beginning the upward stroke. There's still about 8 inches of smooth leather, so I've been shortening my stroke. Should I get a new strop, or is this one OK to keep using? I'd rather use this one as long as I can, since I'm likely to be just as harsh on the next one and I can't afford to get a new strop every week.

 

[temjeito]

There's a bit of greasy gunk at the pivot point and some hard-to-reach grime inside the scales. Would soaking this razor in Scrubbing Bubbles for about 10 minutes (my standard MO with safety razors) be a bad idea?

 

[global_dev]

Sand the strop issue areas with fine paper. You should be okay.

Scrubbing bubbles...? Never really tried it. Some use floss.be careful, often people cleaning inside of scales tend to break them

 

[temjeito]

5/8 Kutezy
MWF
Bosch Silvertip brush
The Veg

From a purely "how-much-hair-did-I-remove" standpoint, this was easily my worst shave in decades . . . maybe ever. I count it in the "win" column, though, because I mostly managed to avoid harming myself. I did give myself one new nick above my lip when I was focused on the tip of the blade near my ear and failed to notice how close the heel was to my face until it bit me.

The lather was good bordering on great, especially after I added a bit of water before the second pass. The blade felt dull. It barely scraped through my cheek hair, and got stopped dead by my chin hair. I stropped 40 or so times after the first pass, and it felt a bit sharper/smoother but still left a ton of hair on my face. I'm so new to this I have no idea if it's my shaving technique, my stropping technique, my beat up strop, or the blade itself.

I have an important meeting tomorrow, so I'm going to use a safety razor to avoid any further bloodshed. Then on Friday I'm either going to:

1) try again with this blade after sanding the leather strop and then stropping
2) try again with this blade after some passes on the treated balsa from whippeddog and then the leather strop
3) try again with my other straight, a Krusius Brothers KB Extra honed by David at Stoddard's.

I don't really think it's the strop, but (1) would be the best way to rule that out. If it's my stropping technique, (2) will probably just make things worse. (3) is tempting, but I feel like I should stick with one razor for the time being.

 

[temjeito]

I had to look presentable today so I shaved with a DE (1968 black beauty with SuperMax). Then tonight, after my wife and kids were asleep, I grabbed the razor and strop from the bathroom and headed downstairs to sand the strop and do a few passes on the balsa.

I keep the razor in a little cloth drawstring pouch. It was dark, and I must have been holding it upside down by mistake because just as I got to the top of the stairs, the razor fell out of the bag. And down the stairs. I swear it hit every single step, opened up about halfway down, and made enough noise to wake the neighbors. I did not feel great about that.

After making sure I hadn't woken anyone, I proceeded to inspect the blade. I couldn't see any dings or chips, but that didn't make me feel much better (I don't have a loupe or anything). I went ahead and gave it 20 passes each on the green and red sides of the balsa, and then realized I didn't have any fine grit sandpaper. Not my night.

The one lucky thing is I got a second strop from Larry at Whippeddog, so I pulled that one out and did 40 passes. I keep my hair cropped really close, so I don't have any hair to do a HHT test, but I tried it on the hairs of my badger brush and it popped them, so I'm optimistic for tomorrow.

I really hope the edge somehow survived that fall intact!!!!!

 

[temjeito]

5/8 Kutezy
B&B Boar (red handle)
MWF (bowl lathered)
Captain's Choice Lime


Well, the razor seems to have survived that fall.

First pass WTG was fine, though the razor felt like it was really struggling to cut the courser hairs on my chin.
I did another 30 or so passes on the strop after the first pass, and it felt sharper on the second WTG pass (not sure how much of that is honing and how much of that is beard reduction?).
Third pass was XTG on the cheeks and neck, WTG on the chin and around the lips.

Result was SAS with a couple of little nicks in the trouble spots (under the nose & chin). Overall I think things are progressing reasonably well, if slowly and somewhat bloodily. I really miss the close, comfortable shaves I get with a safety razor, and find myself feeling the stubble on my face constantly. Still, I find the straight itself a more satisfying tool to use, despite the frustratingly poor results.

I'm so relieved I didn't wreck my razor!

 

[temjeito]

5/8 Kutezy
B&B Boar
MWF
Captain's Choice Bay Rum

Today was a mixed bag, but I think another baby step in the right direction. First pass felt dull (I'm noticing a pattern). Stropped after first pass, second and third passes much better. I really need to work on my stopping technique. I think I have been dragging the spine but not necessarily bringing the edge in full contact with the strop on every pass. I also have been switching from face to bowl lathering after the first pass, because my face lather is just not as thick.

I also think I may be bending the edge ever so slightly by putting more or different pressure on the upward pass than oh the downward pass or vice versa. I say this because I think one side of the blade may be giving me a closer shave than the other. I noticed that the left side of my chin gets a much closer shave than the right. Meanwhile, the right side of my neck is closer than the left. I'll have to think about which hand, and which side of the blade, I use on those spots to see if there's some correlation.

Overall, SAS with CCS on the cheeks, but lots of burn on my neck. I also added to the collection of weepers under my nose. Upper lip and chin remain a challenge.

 

[temjeito]

5/8 Kutezy
B&B Boar
MWF
Captain's Choice Bay Rum

3 passes: WTG, WTG/ATG, ATG/WTG.

Notwithstanding the fact that the blade still feels rather dull and unable to handle the tougher whiskers in my "Van Dyke Zone", today was my closest shave with a straight so far. It also gave me the most irritation of any shave ever. My skin felt raw, especially on the neck, even before the shave was over. Alum stung like crazy, and bay rum almost made me cry out like a bald McCauley Culkin (for all I now, that guy is bald now, too).

I don't think it is just blade angle, because I haven't been tearing myself up like this the whole time. I think it is a combination of the blade edge being compromised by my bad stropping technique, and my technique being compromised by the dullness of the blade (making me use more pressure, etc.). A very, very unpleasant feedback loop.

I'm giving the face a rest tomorrow, and the straight a rest for a week (I'm traveling). In the meantime, I'm thinking about ordering a loupe, and maybe some lapping film. When I return, I will probably break out the other razor and see if I can get a decent shave out of it without tearing my face apart.

Crime scene photo:

Spoiler

 

[Obiwan]

Seems like your progressing. If you're concerned about the edge being lost, you can send it to me to re-hone if you'd like. Glad to take care of it.

 

[temjeito]

Seems like your progressing. If you're concerned about the edge being lost, you can send it to me to re-hone if you'd like. Glad to take care of it.

Well, I'll tell you what: Progress ain't pretty.

Seriously, though, that's a very generous offer, and I will take you up on it. I was just thinking how I wish I had a loupe when you first sent it to me, so I could have seen what it looked like and had a visual comparison. That would at least give me some sense of what I'm doing to the edge when I'm stropping or shaving, and what I'm aiming for when stropping/honing.

 

[Obiwan]

Send it back, I'll re-hone. Pm if you need my address.

 

[temjeito]

Since I took a week off of straights, I suppose it makes more sense to number these posts by the number of shaves than the number of days. So, it's nine for the second time.

I flew to CA for business last week, and tried to mail some DE blades ahead to my hotel, but they never arrived so I spent the week shaving with a Gillette Guard. Not a terrible shave, but not comparable to a safety razor in terms of closeness, and constantly getting clogged with lather. It has quite a bit of a gap for a disposable, and I actually managed to cut my lip the first day using it. I didn't shave over the weekend, and I didn't want to jump back into straight shaving with a few days' growth, so I used my Super Adjustable and got a 3-pass BBS.

That didn't leave me much growth to work with this morning, my first time using the razor that got this whole thing started: A Krusius Brothers "KB Extra" that is at about 4/8 from what was at least 5/8 originally. I face-lathered MWF using my B&B Boar, and did two passes (WTG and XTG). I finished with Floid Black. I do not care for Floid Black. At all. PM me if you would like what's left of my sample (probably 2 shave's worth).

This is obviously a smaller blade than the Kutezy I've been using, and has a slight "smile" to it. I found it a bit more maneuverable than the Kutezy, but did not enjoy the feel of it in my hand as much. This thing is full hollow (almost T-shaped--maybe faux frameback?), and especially with the very different spine-blade width ratio, I struggled a bit to find the right angle. The shave was smoother than I was getting with the Kutezy, but not as close. This is probably a function of angle more than anything else. I did find this razor tugged less on the chin, and gave me a more uniform shave. I wonder whether this is due to sharpness, angle, grind, or just that there was less growth there due to my previous BBS shave with the Super. I suppose tomorrow's shave will provide some clues.

Overall I like this razor, and am looking forward to trying it tomorrow (and hoping I can get a bit of a closer shave). I did notice when stropping after the shave that I had a tendency to lift the edge off the strop and drag the spine. I tried to compensate for this by tilting a bit more, but am worried that that might result in too much pressure? I guess we'll see tomorrow.

As predicted, this foray into straight shaving has kickstarted some new ADs. I've been focusing a lot more on lather since I started this, and have purchased two new brushes: a Da Vinci 293 and a Semogue 1305, bringing my total to 5 (I have an Omega Il Bambino boar brush that I use for travel, a Bock Silvertip, and the B&B). I also bought a couple of Gold Dollar 66's, though I haven't got the time or money just yet to dive into that particular bramble bush. I'll probably by another straight soon, with a wider blade and/or wedgier grind, just to see how that suits me.

 

[Shave_Rat]

Just found this journal, but all caught up now.

Looks like you are progressing about the same pace as many of us do, so keep kicking it, it does really start to click and get easier. lol

If you run into any issue with those spike points on the toe, you can ever so lightly drag just the point across a piece of glass to lightly dull/mute it. Will give you a little more margin for error on the point before it really slices.

Stropping is really just work on keeping the blade flat, both spine and edge in contact without pushing the blade into them, and the strop itself mostly taught.

Both the shaves and the stropping have a learning curve that only practice will really get you to toe top of.

Good luck, looking forward to reading the progress!

 

[temjeito]

I was very pleased with today's shave. I used the same kit (B&B boar brush, face-lathered MWF) for my second shave with the KB Extra. I'm dialing in the angle for this blade, and definitely got a much closer shave today. Things were just a bit rougher under the chin, which I attribute to the whiskers being a bit longer down there than they were yesterday. After two passes I had a socially acceptable shave, with CCS above the jawline. No visible nicks or cuts, and not too much irritation (what there was was clearly from using too much pressure at certain points).

Here's the thing. When I applied alum I did not feel much sting, but did notice a few very fine cuts that I hadn't felt or noticed while shaving. Did I say a few? I mean about a dozen vertical cuts, all on the left side of my face.

I looked like I'd been attacked by a swarm of angry sheets of paper:

Spoiler

It would appear I have a tendency to drag the point on the left side of my face. I will mute the tip before my next shave, and try to be more mindful of where that tip is going.

I also found a long scratch on the right side of my neck, and immediately recalled a moment when I had paused with the blade in that spot.

Spoiler

So, not quite as good a shave as I thought, but I'm feeling more comfortable with the basics and am confident that I will see steady improvement. At least, I hope so, because I can't be walking around like this every day. I don't even have a cat.