Crossed over to the Dark Side!

I'm a day late, but I have learned that I didn't hurt the edge on my 5/8 Ralf Aust stropping it. I actually helped it. I shaved this evening with my 5/8 Dovo for the first time. I did not strop it any prior to the shave. I needed a reference to gauge my stropping. This shave was worse. The razor tugged on my cheeks and neck. When I tried to shave my chin, the blade struggled, skipped, and tugged. I had to put it down. Finished up with my 1912 ER SE w/CVS carbon blade on its forth shave. The ER was way smoother.

Now, how to proceed? Do I (A) Strop on leather till its better.
(B) Strop on CrOx, then linen and leather.
(C) 5-8 light laps on my Norton 8k, CrOx, then strop as usual.

One more option is I have a 3 line Swaty and a Nox-All hone that will be here in a day or two. I could lap and finish out one of the two with 1K W/D and try a few laps on one of these.

I am not sure what hones my 2 SR's were finished on. I did request that info at purchase, but that information was not included with the razors. As a newb to SR's, I leaning towards option B. What does everyone think would be the best option to get the edge to where it needs to be for me. Thanks.

 

B should work.

But I'm still leaning towards having one sent to a trusted honer.

Trying to learn how to shave with a straight while trying to identify and cultivate a shaving edge is difficult.

I'd slay one dragon at a time.

 

Anyone close the North Mississippi that can hone a good edge? I would love to see it done in person. A few hours drive would be time well spent to me.

 

If I were close, I'd meet up with you.

 

Its Easy in the Early Days to Pick Up a Shave Ready SR & Not be Able to get a Shave Out of it & think Something is Wrong with It..If You Start to Mess Around Too Early with Pastes & Hones it Can Just Serve to Confuse the Matter..Better to Get a Shave Ready SR from Someone who knows what they are Doing then You have a Base to Learn From..At 1st..Learning to Shave & Strop with an SR is enough to take on Board in My Humble Experience..
Catch the Monkey Slowly..

Billy..

 

Didn't you say you got that razor from SRD? If so then it should have been honed by Lynn, and my perception is he knows what he is doing. My Aust from there was definitely shave ready. I would agree with Billy that you should keep working on technique before messing with the blade too much. I definitely had some issues when I was learning, and it was mostly my fault. When I have a bad shave, I still tend to think it me rather than the razor, as I am still a newbie in this world.

 

I see your point. This just my fourth SR shave. Man that Dovo tonight tugged like Derby stropped on a brick. I've been trying to maintain my angle at about a spine width. I only shave after a hot shower. Been making the lather wetter than I did for DE shaves. I've got two sample bottles of Stirling preshave oil. I never did like it's affect on my lather though. I may use it next time. I had been stropping 50/50 pre and post shave, but not tonight just the see if my stropping was dulling the edge. Man if I a missing something, I am all ears. Thanks for your comments.

 

What I found had the most impact was my grip. I was so cautious when I started and didn't want to use too much pressure. What I ended up doing was holding the razor like a delicate piece of valuable porcelain and using very timid strokes. This made the razor skip something fierce which led to more cuts and little reduction. Once I firmed up my grip and got confidence in my strokes, all of my razors suddenly gave me close shaves.

 

I can see that. I have already modified my grip to scales up between the middle and ring finger. Felt like choking up on a ball bat to me, a little stiffer hold. I probably not using that much pressure either. Seems like every form of shaving ( DE, SE, SR), everyone says light pressure. I know when I shave with DE's and SE's I don't use very light pressure. Whether it is redtip, farboy on 9, or a G type. I will shave with a little more confidence, and less fear of the blade. I can hone my pocket knife up and shave a 2 inch pass clean on my hand in one stoke without fear. I should be able to wacky some wiskers with a SR too.

 

I've been SR shaving for 2 yrs now and all I can say is it's a learning curve thats long and wide! I have 2 balsa strops ( crox and irox) they help but stroping wrong can make things worse. I would recomend having it honed again and try again. You should get 3 -4 good shaves before needing a stroping.

 

Do you do skin stretching? For me, I wasn't doing this, and my skin moved just enough for the blade to rip instead of cut. When I started doing skin stretching, and the blade was actually able to cut it was awesome. I also run my finger tips over an alum block, so I can get a better grip on a soapy face.

 

I do some. Sideburns, jaw line, and each side of the adam's apple.

 

I vote for C or at least B. My beard destroys edges pretty fast. Either way C can't hurt and will probably help.

 

Thanks for the advice. Shave number five. Went back to the Aust. This time, firmer grip, spine barely off of my face, and a little pressure. No blade skipping this time. Whole lot better shave. Two weepers. One from the toe near my right nostril trimming my stash, one under my chin from hitting and old scar. I guess it is safe to say it has been operator error, not equipment malfunction. I'm still kicking around the idea of a pasted paddle in the future though. I guess curiosity is getting to me. Darn rabbit hole.

 

Glad you had a better shave. You're actually doing better than I did in my fith shave. It took me a couple of weeks to get a decent shave out of the straight. I do use a pasted balsa strop about every 4th or 5th shave on a razor. It definitely smooths the blade out for me.

 

Shave number 6 was the best yet! I did about 10 laps on a piece of pasted cereal box. Then stropped 50/50. What a difference that made! The edge was smoother and keen. The first pass WTG was smooth. For the first time, I decided to do a second pass. I played it really safe on this one. I applied some Corn Husker as a preshave, lathered up, and stayed WTG for the second pass as well. I finally had that "squeegee the lather" moment. Just little cleanup on the chin with a SE. I'm still not brave enough to try a XTG yet. I need to though, as my beard on the lower right of my neck grows from front to back, and very flat. Any tips for doing a XTG pass?

 

Well done you are progressing very quickly. Do the XTG the same way as ATG. You may need to change the grip to make sure you keep the angle correct. Just start the XTG and go as far as you are comfortable, each day you will be able to go a little farther.

 

Well I've managed 9 shaves with a SR now. Last night I decided to use some Stirling PO. I do believe it helped. I'm still just doing one pass WTG and finishing up my Ever Ready. First blood free SR shave. Yeah! It doesn't feal strange using a 3 inch long blade now. I'm getting a whole lot better with my off hand. Not having to think about it as much now, starting to feel natural. I did strop the Dovo on CrOx paste just like the Aust. Made a big difference not only in keenness, but in smoothness too. If I could just get better at shaving my chin, I would leave the Ever Ready on its stand.

There is one thing I have noticed about my 2 SR's, the scales. I can't remember if it was a post or video of Glen's that talked about scale shape and size at the tang. The Dovo's scales are the same width as the tang at the pivot. The edges are rounded and comfortable to hold while stropping. It is a real joy to use.

The Ralf Aust's scales are wider than the tang at the pivot. The edges have a less rounded edge, and the scales are not as comfortable to hold while stropping. With the scales being wider at the tang, it is harder for me to strop this razor. I can not flip the razor as easily as the Dovo. The scales tend to move one way or another, and I have to stop and correct their position. The few micro nicks on my strop all came from this razor, and it's movement while stropping. The Dovo is easy compared to the Aust. I do pinch right behind the shoulder with thumb and forefinger on each.

I'm not going to throw the Aust under the bus, it shaves very well. I just think the scales could be shaped a little different.

I'll keep yall updated!

 

Doing great for just 9 shaves.

 

Thanks for keeping us updated. It sounds like you are making great progress.