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Thee Shaves In... Need Advice!

So I've done my first three straight shaves. The first one went pretty good and I was excited at how smoothly it went. The second did not go so well. I got ahead of myself. I had huge amounts of razor burn that literally lasted two days. And the shave wasn't even that close. Today, for my third shave, I focused on my pressure, stretching and blade angle, I did two WTG passes, and since it looked like I basically hadn't shaved, I did an XTG pass. But I ended up with more of the same. A fair amount of razor burn, though nowhere near as bad as shave two, and it pretty much looks like I didn't shave.

Am I worrying too soon? Do you have any advice for me? I have no idea if I'm stropping correctly or not, I have no idea how to tell if I've damaged the edge.

I'm using a DOVO Bismarck, which was honed by SRD before being sent, and SRD strop with linen.

Thanks, Ryan
 
Sounds like par for the course, actually. You'd really have to do something drastic to damage the edge in three shaves.

Many people suggest only doing N-S passes on the cheeks for the first several shaves, until you get used to the proper angle, pressure, skin stretching, etc.

Some people, like me, jump in and try to go as far as they are comfortable with for each shave. The only way you will get better at it is with time, so three shaves is really a miniscule drop in the bucket of all the shaves to come. No need to stress at all.

One thing that helps many (and helped me a lot) is to post a shave journal. You can keep track of all the variables for each shave, and you will get feedback and advice from all the great folks here as well along the way.

Keep up the good work. There are great resources here, so you are already in the right place to get all the help you could need.
 
Sounds like your angle is a little off
+1
I would open up the angle a bit. I would stick to WTG passes for a while. You can do a second WTG pass. I get CCS WTG and way less ingrowns.
However as always YMMV. Main thing take your time enjoy yourself and keep at it!
 
A lot of what you're going through is normal. SR shaving is usually a lengthy learning process. There may be too many things going on for us to figure out on the forum but if you don't have one I would recommend a scuttle for building hot lather. A shaving bowl and a scuttle are 2 different things. A scuttle looks like a bowl but it has an inner chamber to add hot water and this keeps the lather warm for a good while. However you may already be aware of this but I think they help promote a much better lather...
 
What are you doing for prep? What soap or cream are you using?

Try sticking with the same routine day in day out, only ever changing one variable at a time.

Example - try adjusting your blade angle one day. Next day, if things didn't improve, try adjusting your pressure.

I've been at this for a few months and by approaching my shaves with a semi-scientific bent I have been able to get consistently good shaves for a while now. I still try out new things all the time but at this point I have a stable routine to work from so I'm not guessing what went wrong anymore.

Good luck and welcome to the dark side :D
 
If your second shave is much worse than the first something must have changed.


Lather was not good.

You messed up the edge with poor stropping or a bad strop.

The razor edge had a burr that fall of, not likely as this would given you irritation the first shave and then the razor would not be sharp.

My advice:

Check out stropping tutorials at YouTube.

Check the strop, is it convex side vises? Or do the bevel contact the strop also in middle?

Check sharpness of razor before and after stropping, HHT or tree topping.

After shave, test razor sharpness.
Then strop and test razor again.
Any differense?

Get another shave ready straight, a rather cheap one.
Test it without stropping.
 
I had another shave yesterday. It was actually pretty decent and passable. Only 1 small weeper in a spot I am prone to getting them any way. I adjusted my angle, and actually moved the spine of the razor closer to my face. This made it more comfortable and caused less burn. I also adjusted my stropping. I stopped holding the strop so tight. I also changed my body position/stance when stropping and choked up on the razor. Overall, not a bad shave.

As far as prep, I shave after and a shower. And I use all the soap/creams I've been using for years. I think I may stick with 1 soap until I get consistent shaves, just so as not to have too many variables.

I did try a hanging hair test, which did not cut the hair. So I then attempted to saw the hair along the edge, and it still didn't cut it. It did however make a pinging sound similar to a DuPont lighter as it moved along the edge. This was before I changed my stopping and shaved, so I will have to try it again.

Thanks for the advice gents!
 
I had another shave yesterday. It was actually pretty decent and passable. Only 1 small weeper in a spot I am prone to getting them any way. I adjusted my angle, and actually moved the spine of the razor closer to my face. This made it more comfortable and caused less burn. I also adjusted my stropping. I stopped holding the strop so tight. I also changed my body position/stance when stropping and choked up on the razor. Overall, not a bad shave.

As far as prep, I shave after and a shower. And I use all the soap/creams I've been using for years. I think I may stick with 1 soap until I get consistent shaves, just so as not to have too many variables.

I did try a hanging hair test, which did not cut the hair. So I then attempted to saw the hair along the edge, and it still didn't cut it. It did however make a pinging sound similar to a DuPont lighter as it moved along the edge. This was before I changed my stopping and shaved, so I will have to try it again.

Thanks for the advice gents!
Keep at it...youll have great shaves and not so great ones as its just the nature of the beast.

I wouldnt worry so much about the hair test as youll know when its not right....just because its a straight doesnt mean it wont feel like any other dull razor.

Just keep at it....one thing at a time and one shave at a time....biggest thing i like to remind folks sbout is just take your time and enjoy.
 
Ryan!, I see you are using the Uof F Gator for your Avater...any chance you live in the Gainesville area?


Best,

Jake
Reddick Fla.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
 
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