Trying not to live up to my forum name - a journal

[Weaselsrippedmyflesh]

I've been wet shaving for a couple of months now and only recently moved onto shaving with a straight. I've made a few posts about the various DE's I've used but nothing about the straight and since I'm shaving exclusively with the straight now I thought I'd start a journal here to document my efforts.

I'm a little behind, I've shaved 5 times with a straight razor thus far. The first two times just the "easy" parts - flat of my cheeks and neck and the next three full shaves. Shaves 3-4 were with a Dovo Forestal that I had professionally honed. I guess that's not completely true as I started shave 4 with a Giesen & Forsthoff that I bought to practice honing & stropping. After doing a bevel set on the G&H and pyramids through 8k I tried to shave with it and found it wasn't shave ready so I finished with the Dovo.

I kept working on the G&H and finally got a pretty good edge on it so shave 5 was with that exclusively. Not bad, pretty decent shave but I still think it could be a bit sharper. A little tugging and pulling and some razor burn. I finished with the Dovo.

Realistically, I'm pushing two learning curves simultaneously: learning to shave with a straight and learning to hone/strop. Were I smarter and less stubborn I'd probably learn to shave properly with the straight before worrying about honing but hey - it's my face and I'm willing to use it as a guinea pig.

Oh, and for those who read this, I know the G&H Timor Special isn't a great razor. From what I've read and from my experience so far it's a real bear to set a bevel and get an initial edge on but after this is done it actually shaves pretty well. It took a lot of work to get a decent bevel and even more to get an edge that was even close to being shave ready but I think I'm almost there.

So that's it so far, no serious cuts and some OK shaves. More on this story as it develops....

 

[Shave_Rat]

I've not yet ventured into honing, maybe someday. Sounds like you are doing pretty well on handling both curves at once. Awesome!

 

[Doc226]

Welcome and sounds like nice progress, keep it up.

It takes some time to get things going on both accounts (shaving and honing). I learned to do both at the same time as well.

I am guessing you are using the Nortons since you are doing pyramids. I dont understand the logic behind pyramids, I would recommend setting a bevel, then make sure the bevel is set, after that make really sure the bevel is set. DO NOT move forward until the bevel is set.

Yes the bevel is that important, it is the "edge" If you dont have a bevel you dont have an edge.

After you have a bevel, go to your 4k stone, stay there until all the scratches from the 1k stone are gone, I am not a lap counter, I look at the fluid wave ahead of the edge, feel the edge on the stone. If you have a loupe use it, do not move to the 8K stone until you have worked the 4K stone and removed all the 1k scratches. Going to the 8K and then back to the 4K and back to the 8K makes absolutely no sense.

When sanding wood does anyone go up and down on grits-No

The most important thing is to have fun

 

[Weaselsrippedmyflesh]

Thanks Doc. I'm at the point with the G&H where I feel like I've got a "good but not great" edge on it. I'm debating whether I can get that last little bit through stropping exclusively or if I should do a little work on my finisher (a Naniwa 12K). I've got a good bevel (I do have a loupe) and think I've generally got a good edge on the blade I just feel like it could be a little bit sharper. As I said in my initial post, the razor shaves and actually shaves pretty well but there is a little bit of drag and catching that I think I can eliminate with additional work. I'm just not 100% sure of what that additional work should be - strop or 12k.

Thanks again and I am having fun. The great thing at this point is that I learn something no matter what I do and every shave is a learning experience.

 

[cleanshaved]

Welcome and a big for diving into honing and learning to shave at the same time.
re the pyramid honing I also don't understand the logic, I have tried it but found it a pain flipping the stone and counting laps.

 

[Weaselsrippedmyflesh]

Shaved again today. I worked a bit on the G&F yesterday, taped the edge and did a 4k/8k/12k pass with about 5 laps on the 4k/8k and 10 on the 12k. It's sharp and cuts hair but not quite as easily as my professionally honed Dovo. I don't know whether to put this down to my honing technique (likely) or the quality of the steel on the G&F (also possible). At any rate, started with the G&F and after a few strokes decided it wasn't sharp enough and went to my Dovo to finish. The good news is that the shave went very well, one small nick where I was careless but probably the best shave with a straight so far in terms of confidence, moving to different grips, shaving different areas, etc.

One thing I discovered by accident was that the lather I've been making has been too dry for shaving with a straight. I accidentally dunked my lather bowl in the hot water I let it float in to keep the lather hot (I've got a scuttle on the way) and rather than make new lather I just whipped up what was there. It was a lot wetter and shaved a lot better.

I'm in a bit of a quandary with the G&F, I just can't seem to get that last 10/10ths of an edge. It's sharp, cuts hair but not as effortlessly as my professionally honed razors. The bevel looks really good under both a loupe and a microscope so I'm convinced that's not the problem. Rather than hone it down to a nub, I've been doing a lot of stropping with it. If that doesn't work I'm going to give it a bunch of laps with a 12k and see if I can bring up the edge. Advice welcomed.

 

[Doc226]

Remeber now that you have tape that blade always need tape unless you go back and completely kill and reset the bevel.

 

[Weaselsrippedmyflesh]

Remeber now that you have tape that blade always need tape unless you go back and completely kill and reset the bevel.

Yes, I know that but thanks for the reminder. I don't know whether or not I'll tape my other razors once they need honing but since this one is basically for honing practice I figure I'm going to be rubbing it an awful lot so I'd like to preserve the spine a bit.

 

[Weaselsrippedmyflesh]

Shaved again with the G&F. Did a full shave with it and got a decent shave, not a lot of pulling but some areas of stubble remain mostly in the "trouble spots" of my chin. I'm reasonably happy with how the G&F shaves now so I'm going to put it in my regular rotation and move on to my other razors - including some new ones I want to try!

Another lesson learned is to shave my chin sooner in the process. I've been going under the theory that leaving lather on my most troublesome area (chin) would soften the whiskers so I've been shaving there last and given that I'm not all that fast yet with the straight the lather has started to dry by the time I get there. Tonight I did my cheeks then my chin and the shave on my chin was a lot smoother though as noted above I still missed a few spots.

 

[Shave_Rat]

Shaved again with the G&F. Did a full shave with it and got a decent shave, not a lot of pulling but some areas of stubble remain mostly in the "trouble spots" of my chin. I'm reasonably happy with how the G&F shaves now so I'm going to put it in my regular rotation and move on to my other razors - including some new ones I want to try!

Another lesson learned is to shave my chin sooner in the process. I've been going under the theory that leaving lather on my most troublesome area (chin) would soften the whiskers so I've been shaving there last and given that I'm not all that fast yet with the straight the lather has started to dry by the time I get there. Tonight I did my cheeks then my chin and the shave on my chin was a lot smoother though as noted above I still missed a few spots.

Do not hesitate to re-wet or reapply lather if it's starting to feel dry/thick on a spot, either, especially when using the straight. The extra few seconds and bit of product are well worth it.

 

[Weaselsrippedmyflesh]

Do not hesitate to re-wet or reapply lather if it's starting to feel dry/thick on a spot, either, especially when using the straight. The extra few seconds and bit of product are well worth it.

I hear 'ya! I've got this really bad personal trait of not wanting to stop once I've started. As an example, I'm a long time cyclist. If I set out to do a 40 mile ride, once I start riding and realize at the end of my driveway that I've forgotten something, I'll keep going rather than turn around and get it. I do this with everything so it's no surprise that it carries over to wet shaving. As I said, bad personal trait.

Like you said, it'd take all of a few seconds to stop, reapply lather and restart. I just don't. I'm trying to break myself of it since I know I'll get a better shave but having little success so far - tough to break those 50 year habits!

 

[Shave_Rat]

I hear 'ya! I've got this really bad personal trait of not wanting to stop once I've started. As an example, I'm a long time cyclist. If I set out to do a 40 mile ride, once I start riding and realize at the end of my driveway that I've forgotten something, I'll keep going rather than turn around and get it. I do this with everything so it's no surprise that it carries over to wet shaving. As I said, bad personal trait.

Like you said, it'd take all of a few seconds to stop, reapply lather and restart. I just don't. I'm trying to break myself of it since I know I'll get a better shave but having little success so far - tough to break those 50 year habits!

I have much the same trait, but a few really really rough patches due to not having enough/proper lather on it and I learned. Who ever said pain wasn't a good teaching motivator? lol

 

[Weaselsrippedmyflesh]

This is turning more into a honing thread than a shaving thread! At any rate, I decided to use one of my razors that had been professional honed as a benchmark against my honing efforts on the G&F. I have to admit it was better but the difference wasn't really all that great so I'm encouraged. I know the G&F is a crappy razor and if I can get a decent edge on it I don't think I'll have any problems when it's time to start freshening up my other razors.

I shaved tonight even though I'd shaved yesterday and I have to say I have an every other day face. I get a good enough shave off a straight that there's really no reason for me to shave every day as I'm retired and not really that heavily bearded. My shaving technique still isn't perfected so I had some spots that were still a little sore from yesterday and I made a couple of them a bit worse today. I also put a "proto-cut" on my neck when I put the blade against my neck at a really steep angle and started it moving before I came to my senses and realized I was really going to cut myself. Reflexes kicked in and I pulled the blade away but not before I got a nice red spot but no blood.

The end result was a pretty good shave and I'm also encouraged by the fact that it took something less than geologic time to accomplish. I didn't fiddle with grips and angles so much and pretty much kept the blade moving.

Every shave a learning experience!

 

[ladykate]

I dont understand the logic behind pyramids

I don't either. I usually progress down to the finest grits and make it work just fine. If I missed it, then back to the progression but that isn't a pyramid. I agree that setting the bevel is the most important. After that, it is just polishing.

 

[Weaselsrippedmyflesh]

Started my shave yesterday with a new razor. I wasn't sure whether or not it was honed and shave ready or was a "factory edge" - only took two strokes to answer the question and I switched to another razor. My technique is definitely improving, 3 passes in a reasonable amount of time and a good result. The only spot I'm still having trouble with is right on the curve of my chin below my lips. I've finally learned to restrict myself to the 3 passes and not keep sawing at it until it's raw. I'm experimenting with different ways of stretching my skin there and doing it right or left handed.

After shaving I honed the new razor. It had a nice bevel, just needed to be finished so I did about 5 laps on an 8k followed by 8 on a 12k followed by 40 laps on linen, 80 on leather. Haven't shaved with it yet but it seems as sharp as my other professionally honed razors. Looking forward to trying it.

 

[Doc226]

It had a nice bevel, just needed to be finished so I did about 5 laps on an 8k followed by 8 on a 12k followed by 40 laps on linen, 80 on leather. Haven't shaved with it yet but it seems as sharp as my other professionally honed razors. Looking forward to trying it.

Not nearly enough on each of those stones IMO

 

[Weaselsrippedmyflesh]

Not nearly enough on each of those stones IMO

I debated doing more and starting lower (4K) but thought I'd try a minimalist approach with this one.

You've got tons more experience than me, what would you recommend?

 

[Doc226]

I debated doing more and starting lower (4K) but thought I'd try a minimalist approach with this one.

You've got tons more experience than me, what would you recommend?

I'm not a lap counter. I stay on the stone until the scratches for the previous stone are gone. I have a loupe to check. I also keep an eye on the water just in front of the edge. It should be undercutting it evenly on the stroke. I would say it takes 40-50 laps on each grit before moving to a finer one.

 

[Weaselsrippedmyflesh]

A bit of a breakthrough today, well maybe two breakthroughs.

For those who've been following this thread (and I can't imagine why anyone but me would be ) I've been working on honing a couple of razors - a Giesen & Forsthoff Timor Special and a Thiers Issard Grelot. After a lot of work (G&F) and a little rework (TI) I've finally go them both to where they'll pass the HHT.

I shaved with the TI tonight and realized (second breakthrough) that I'd been compensating for a not quite sharp enough razor by using a steeper angle to shave. I've been using the TI exclusively as I worked on the edge out of pure stubbornness and it was 90% of the way there - it'd shave hair but it wasn't comfortable. As noted, I finally got it the last 9% (I still think it could be a little sharper) and was able to shave at a much shallower angle. Got a very good shave limited only by my rapidly improving technique.

A couple of minor victories!

 

[Shave_Rat]

Nice revelations. Makes me really look forward to tomorrow and breaking out one of my straights.