What Did You Learn in the Last 12 Months?

[duke762]

It's been a good year! Excellent in fact as far as shaving goes. What did you learn this year that helped out your straight shaves?

I learned to strop properly, a skill that was late to arrive for me......embarrassingly so. Bought a Tony Miller horse hide strop. At my age it's kinda' awkward to profess my love for an inanimate object, but I do love this strop!
I bought a brush and use it every time I shave, long over due and pretty cool.
I bought, and learned to use an Escher in my progression, before my Arks. OMG, I want to yell it from mountain tops. Perfect edges are mine, mine I tell ya'
Oh..I also fell off the wagon, HAD kicked in again. God Lord I bought 6 more Arks.....and an Escher....Take me now Lord, there is no hope!

Of course the Escher and the stropping made the most difference for me. So if you consider that my stropping was ineffective for a long time, it required frequent resharpening. I got a lot of experience re-honing all the dang time and I think I'm a pretty good honer now. If you look at it like that...even though I was stropping ineffectively, I was learning the stropping technique. Now it comes easy to me.

I thought my very first, laughable straight razor edge was wonderful. I have never experienced a professionally honed blade. I still want to try one to check out different finishers, pure curiosity. My edges are exactly what I was striving for and I pulled it off.(pride cometh before the fall) My edges are what I want and what I need. I also thought I had this all squared away 3 or 4 years ago. Since I'm uber slow on the uptake, you most will likely pick it all up much quicker than me

This seemed to be my year when many things came together for me. Thanks to all for the information you Gentlemen shared here to make this happen for me. I hope you've also found nuggets of knowledge here that changed your shaves for the better. Please share your stories. What did you learn, master, understand in a eureka moment, in the last 12 months?

 

[Darth Scandalous]

Great write-up, @duke762 . Some of my experiences this year mirror yours. I'm still working on only my fourth cup of coffee so I'm going to do bullet points as I'm not capable of verbosity at this hour.

• I also bought an Escher and as nice as it is on it's own, as a setup to a translucent ark, it's amazing.
• I also bought another translucent ark. Thinner, so lighter and easier to hone in hand
• I bought (another) Tony Miller horsehide, smooth this time. It is such a nice strop...nothing else to say
• I somehow managed to start getting consistently good edges off my first coticule where I had struggled in the past
• My shave technique has gotten a lot better overall and I think a careful touch shaving carries over to technique on a finishing stone
• I figured out what size/shape/types of razors I like the best and have focused on looking for excellent examples of such...have weeded out several from my collection and am working on thinning it out even more
• I have managed, through patience, vigilance, and good luck, to find some pretty nice razors at decent prices.
• I settled on a couple (ok, three) soaps I like and quit chasing the next best thing there

Happy new year. Maybe we should check back in a year and see what we've learned.

 

[rhgg2]

I have been SR shaving since May, so strictly speaking... I learned everything this year. Nonetheless, a lesson and a thought:

The lesson: pressure is important, but what really matters is torque. And what really matters for torque, is having the blade in the right position before you start applying it.

The thought: people say that learning to hone and shave at the same time is a bad idea. To some degree I think it's a good idea, because your ability to produce a nice edge increases in step with your ability to recognise and use a nice edge. The result is that you are constantly happy with your results even if they are middling at best.

 

[silverlifter]

I learned that I can get good, consistent edges if I take my time and pay attention. I no longer feel that there is some magic involved; it's just patiently and attentively improving the edge with each step.

I also learned that none of this applies to coticules; these things are a complete friggin mystery!

 

[duke762]

The thought: people say that learning to hone and shave at the same time is a bad idea. To some degree I think it's a good idea, because your ability to produce a nice edge increases in step with your ability to recognise and use a nice edge. The result is that you are constantly happy with your results even if they are middling at best.

Very well said!

 

[beattie2000]

This year I learnt the importance of conditioning my strop to keep the draw high. My honing methods/edges seem to benefit from a high draw and me not being super delicate with the razor on the strop, as I was for the first 2/3 years. Good technique as always is important but i learned that if I be a bit more "agricultural" with the razor (haha) i got far more smoother edges off my horween strop. I use the Dovo conditioning paste and probably do it every 2 months to keep the draw high as I like it.

I also experimented with lighter oils on my Dans black Arkansas, to stop the razor getting sucked in as much, that seemed to add a slight harshness when sucked in. On a light oil (hawk best honing oil) - my edges started to mimic Dr Mats edge he sent me. Unbelievably.smooth and sharp. And while I'm at it , AMEN to the doctor and the coticule series!!!

 

[duke762]

Good technique as always is important but i learned that if I be a bit more "agricultural" with the razor (haha) i got far more smoother edges off my horween strop.

Not stropping properly really held me back. Good job on figuring it out! I'm a big WD40 fan on Arks, I use it a bunch around the house also. Love the term "agricultural".

I think I made my biggest stropping breakthrough when I was in a state of frustration with the nasty draw, of a generic 3" strop I scored for $10. The draw freaked me out, so I applied more pressure on it, more than I normally would and stropped away......
I looked at the apex with my $10 Carson scope. I was expecting some kind of edge damage. Very much to my surprise, it was the best apex I had ever seen, produced by me. The room got brighter as the light came on.....Yep, I got a little more "agricultural" with my stropping, paid me big benefits.

I bought a Tony Miller horsehide shortly after that. It all came together for me in 23......

 

[beattie2000]

Not stropping properly really held me back. Good job on figuring it out! I'm a big WD40 fan on Arks, I use it a bunch around the house also. Love the term "agricultural".

I think I made my biggest stropping breakthrough when I was in a state of frustration with the nasty draw, of a generic 3" strop I scored for $10. The draw freaked me out, so I applied more pressure on it, more than I normally would and stropped away......
I looked at the apex with my $10 Carson scope. I was expecting some kind of edge damage. Very much to my surprise, it was the best apex I had ever seen, produced by me. The room got brighter as the light came on.....Yep, I got a little more "agricultural" with my stropping, paid me big benefits.

I bought a Tony Miller horsehide shortly after that. It all came together for me in 23......

Yea, definitely, maximising the stropping is what most can get caught out on, i certainly did. I then relied more on pasted strops as a result as it worked for me to get around the problem, but I blamed my honing incorrectly. So I always har to re hone. I have heard so many replicate this situation. One of my razors is on a good 30 shaves now and still going strong, I used to only get 4-5 shaves before the edge was done. But all it was was poor stropping and maybe some poor shaving technique.

I got really frustrated one day with poor HHT and just went quite hard with the razor in the strop, but still with good technique, hard to explain but "u get what I mean" haha and then HHT and the shave was incredible. A massive breakthrough. So ppl i get into straight razors around me, its all about teaching them to strop now. I even seen Gary Haywood mention giving a razor a real good hard stropping to get the edge where he wanted it. At that point I understood what he meant. Stropping is king for sure!! My horween strop with the dovo strop paste is lethal. I conditioned it before my Christmas shave day as a ritual to maximize the shave haha, it puts an extra 10% on the edge easy.

 

[beattie2000]

Not stropping properly really held me back. Good job on figuring it out! I'm a big WD40 fan on Arks, I use it a bunch around the house also. Love the term "agricultural".

I think I made my biggest stropping breakthrough when I was in a state of frustration with the nasty draw, of a generic 3" strop I scored for $10. The draw freaked me out, so I applied more pressure on it, more than I normally would and stropped away......
I looked at the apex with my $10 Carson scope. I was expecting some kind of edge damage. Very much to my surprise, it was the best apex I had ever seen, produced by me. The room got brighter as the light came on.....Yep, I got a little more "agricultural" with my stropping, paid me big benefits.

I bought a Tony Miller horsehide shortly after that. It all came together for me in 23......

I haven't tried the wd-40 yet, that was recommended also, I tried the hawks stuff due to no smell. But I will try wd-40 next as you've mentioned it. It is great experimenting once you've a "confirmed method" down for the perfect edge hahaha. Can really see the differences for and against then! I can imagine wd-40 being better as it is even lighter

 

[Frank Shaves]

I haven't tried the wd-40 yet, that was recommended also, I tried the hawks stuff due to no smell. But I will try wd-40 next as you've mentioned it. It is great experimenting once you've a "confirmed method" down for the perfect edge hahaha. Can really see the differences for and against then! I can imagine wd-40 being better as it is even lighter

WD-40 on an Ark is good. Santa brought me a container of Norton Sharpening Stone Oil for Christmas - also, very nice!

 

[Frank Shaves]

Good thread! I also shared some of the same experiences in 2023.

1. Just keeping at it with intentional focus does pay off - like hone, shave, repeat.
2. Less pressure, less irritation.
3. I don't have to use everything that I own. It's OK to use the gear that gives me joy.
4. When honing, rolling with the shape of the edge works - whether the edge is intentionally shaped like a smile or unintentionally not even.
5. Initially performing short rolling x-strokes on portions of the edge helps me understand the edge and understanding the edge helps me feel the edge on the stone and feeling the edge on the stone helps be produce better edges and better edges produce better shaves and better shaves brings me joy.

 

[beattie2000]

WD-40 on an Ark is good. Santa brought me a container of Norton Sharpening Stone Oil for Christmas - also, very nice!

Good job Santa! haha. Yea, santa knew best and brought me this lovely torrey razor, it def is a perfect shaver! haha. Will def try the wd40 next time!

 

[Kyle89]

Got bitten by the Ark bug this year, which helped me learn that it's not a bad bug to be bitten by.

Also had one of my razors professionally honed, and it was very validating.

 

[duke762]

Also had one of my razors professionally honed, and it was very validating.

How did it compare to your edges? Validating. That sounds encouraging. I've never done this. Maybe I should have done it a long time ago but not doing it made everyone of my straight shaves wonderful while learning.(thank you rhgg2) Some times ignorance really is bliss. But it always blew me away to see my skills progress. For years now, I've shown progress about every 6 months. I can't imagine this trend will keep up much longer. I'm going to miss the feeling of accomplishment and pride my hard won progress gave me.....

 

[Kyle89]

How did it compare to your edges? Validating.

I knew my edges work well for me and my face but it was validating in a sense as to where I didn't think the edge was multitudes better than mine, and that they are in a good place. Always trying to get better and improve and it's been paying off.

 

[Bosh Hog]

I learned that I have quite a few razors to sell. Still haven’t learned to stop buying soaps…

 

[Stapelfeld]

I'm new to straight razor shaving... I think soon it will be my first year of SR shaving so this thread came in perfectly.

Honing lessons:

1. Be patient, don't rush the process or skip stones.
2. Get a good bevel, a nice bevel is everything.
3. Tape or no tape doesn't really matter both of them work and have minor differences.
4. Natural whetstones do actually give a "nicer feeling" edge... I used to think that was a lie.
5. Pressure is important, slowly you learn to evaluate the razor at each stage of the progression but it takes time.
6. Lastly and most important for me, there will always be something new to learn, we don't know it all but can help each other progress while making new friends.

Shaving lessons:

1. WTG is the least irritating on my face.
2. Hair growth direction matters and is different for everybody.
3. Pressure is important but thankfully with time your brain muscle connection sinks in and you get less and less nicks.
4. Slowly learning how to get slicker lathers, these help me out a ton.
5. Face prep is very important.
6. My WTG pass isn't the greatest in the neck area, currently doing a 30 day challenge WTG to get more experience.
7. Most important lesson: My future wife doesn't say it but the amount of soap and razors i've been buying bugs her, she might be right tho, I need to stop.

 

[ButterfaceX]

That I getting close to 67 and still do not want to retire..

BFX

 

[duke762]

That I getting close to 67 and still do not want to retire..

Me too. I'm shooting for 70. That will give me 50 years in the Pleasure Palace....or is it the bowels of hell......

 

[Frank Shaves]

My WTG pass isn't the greatest in the neck area, currently doing a 30 day challenge WTG to get more experience.

I hear you! Took me forever to realize that I was simply applying too much pressure on my neck. I just needed to keep reminding myself to use less pressure before, during and after shaving my neck.