Thanks to all of you.

[craig94yj]

Tonight I had my first straight razor shave. A successful DFS on my face and head. I only did a WTG and XTG on my face. I can feel pretty good stubble ATG, but all and all no blood so I am very happy. I was a little more nervous on my head. I am definitely not used to some of the grips, although I was able to use both hands for shaving, I had a hard time getting behind my ears. Any tips from head shavers would be appreciated. I can't believe I have no irritation. Beginner's luck I guess. The biggest problem I have right now is getting a shave ready edge. Thanks to a generous member here I was given some lapping film and I was able to shave with a vintage straight I scored for $15.00 on the bay. It is stamped with "Ajax Klipper" only. Does anyone have any information on these razors. The bid said it was around 70 years old. Nice to finally get the old girl mowing down three days of stubble. I will admit that tonight was the first time I thought about a pre-shave oil. I used an uberlather of glycerine, VDH and Prorasso Blue, but I found myself constantly adding water to my face with my fingers to keep things slick. It must have worked because I emerged unscathed. "Victory is mine!" Thank you everyone for providing the education here to make the transition to straight razor shaving possible.

 

[ch2700]

Well done Graig. Is the razor shave ready or not? Most of them are not although they say they are. The price you paid seems to be on the very low side. IMO and judging from the picture you should send it somewhere for restoring and honing so that you will be sure that its really shave ready. Also you do not mention any details of your preperation which is very very important. Have you done any stroping? In anycase if you liked your first with the right preperation you will fly. Bare in mind that for someone to really really enjoy straight shaving needs arround 90 to 100 shaves.

 

[craig94yj]

Well done Graig. Is the razor shave ready or not? Most of them are not although they say they are. The price you paid seems to be on the very low side. IMO and judging from the picture you should send it somewhere for restoring and honing so that you will be sure that its really shave ready. Also you do not mention any details of your preperation which is very very important. Have you done any stroping? In anycase if you liked your first with the right preperation you will fly. Bare in mind that for someone to really really enjoy straight shaving needs arround 90 to 100 shaves.

Well first of all the razor was not shave ready. I have an antique sharpening stone, not sure of the grit, that was used for my Grandfather's cutlery. I was trying to get it ready with this and one of our very generous members sent me a trial of lapping film. I had bought a cheap strop and "shave ready" razor from ebay. The razor was NOT shave ready and the strop is only 14" total. (live and learn) Anyway, through PM's and emails I was told that a cheaper alternative to buying 3 or 4 different honing stones (which I determined would be my biggest obstacle) is lapping film. Long story short, I was able to get a shave ready edge on both the razors. I don't know if this was me or not, but it seemed like the "cheap" razor became dull while shaving the coarser hairs on my head. It started out ok, but then I noticed it wasn't cutting hair anymore. I used the square point on my face to detail around my goatee, but I was nervous about the point cutting the back of my head so I switched to the cheapo round blade for the head. Well I ended up finishing with the vintage. I had taken the small strop apart so I could get the most out of it on a flat surface. I have a nice piece closed cell foam I put the glass and lapping film on, so I just laid the strop on that. I used it before and after and it seemed to work ok, but after Christmas I will be searching . Prep was nothing more than making my "uberlather" and then a face cloth soaked in hot water applied to my face. After the initial round, I lathered with just a VDH loaded brush and did the hot face cloth again. I broke my face down into sections so the lather would not dry out just sitting on my face. So first I did my chin with detail in and around the goatee. The square point did a nice job. Then one cheek, neck on same side etc.. Next thing I know my face is done and it is still there. I was going to play it safe and switch to my DE for my head, but figured I was on a roll so I continued. My technique was pretty good. I was able to navigate the curves of the head and maintain a good angle after the blade was out of site. This was when I noticed that the round blade razor had stopped cutting well, so I switched back to the square and finished. I was having a hard time with the grips doing my head and I noticed I was comfortable many times holding it like a kamisori. Getting in back of my ears was very difficult. I settled for WTG only here for now. I still have both ears attached and that is more important for now. The whole process start to finish took me about an hour and ten minutes. No speed records, but I was very pleased with my performance. I owe that to my education here and the visual aids on youtube. I also will tell you I had three days growth and I have very coarse hair. I think I could still benefit from a sharper edge. I hope my honing skill will get better with time. I have been eying the Feather Artist Club SS. I think I will invest in a more varied lapping film kit first though. Even though this was only my first shave, the experience was a good one and I did enjoy it very much. A very satisfying accomplishment thanks to this forum and It's members.

 

[ch2700]

Well all that sounds very tiring. I beleive you should leave the honinh for later untill you know (i do not even know myself) what shave ready is. Send the razors somewhere for honing. Now regarding the Feather AC SS. I have this too. It is fantastic and very close to staright razor. Nice quality nice bce. However needs extra attention. It doesnt forgive. The good thing is that there are some starters blades the pro guard blades which are good and maybe a bit more forgivable. Get it its good value although a bit expensive. It worths though. But do not give up on straights. Hone them properly and get a good strop. Stroping is very important. I use a paddle strop which is good for beginers. I strop arround 80 -90 times before shave. Its a routine that once you have it you will not want to go back.

 

[mycarver]

All in all considering where you started I'm glad to hear it worked out for you. As time goes on and you get the stones etc. that you need and get some practice under your belt both shaving , honing, stropping you'll be fine.
Just keep at it.

 

[Krodor]

Tonight I had my first straight razor shave. A successful DFS on my face and head. I only did a WTG and XTG on my face. I can feel pretty good stubble ATG, but all and all no blood so I am very happy. I was a little more nervous on my head. I am definitely not used to some of the grips, although I was able to use both hands for shaving, I had a hard time getting behind my ears. Any tips from head shavers would be appreciated. I can't believe I have no irritation. Beginner's luck I guess. The biggest problem I have right now is getting a shave ready edge. Thanks to a generous member here I was given some lapping film and I was able to shave with a vintage straight I scored for $15.00 on the bay. It is stamped with "Ajax Klipper" only. Does anyone have any information on these razors. The bid said it was around 70 years old. Nice to finally get the old girl mowing down three days of stubble. I will admit that tonight was the first time I thought about a pre-shave oil. I used an uberlather of glycerine, VDH and Prorasso Blue, but I found myself constantly adding water to my face with my fingers to keep things slick. It must have worked because I emerged unscathed. "Victory is mine!" Thank you everyone for providing the education here to make the transition to straight razor shaving possible.

<double take>
whaaa???? You've never done a straight shave before, and you DFS'ed your face AND head, with a non-shave-ready, spike point razor and you only had trouble behind your ears??? And no irritation nor blood? Dude, you're a natural. keep it up!

 

[oc_in_fw]

Your first sounds much better than mine- I got really clumbsy on the first few strokes. Once I am healed up a bit, I am jumping back on that horse. Welcome to the fun.

 

[oc_in_fw]

<double take>
whaaa???? You've never done a straight shave before, and you DFS'ed your face AND head, with a non-shave-ready, spike point razor and you only had trouble behind your ears??? And no irritation nor blood? Dude, you're a natural. keep it up!

For sure- he should buy a lottery ticket

 

[sychodelix]

:nodnod: I was expecting more blood. Very nice.

 

[craig94yj]

with a non-shave-ready, spike point razor

For the record; I didn't shave with it until it was shave ready!!!!! I have to say it went WAY better than I expected. I attribute my good experience to all the information I have read here since I joined.