December 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Glad you got a kick out of the package. Hold off if needed, you were shooting for tetanus, not dismemberment!

 

With my luck at times I'm sure I could probably get the double play.

 

Wanna go septic shock for the hat trick?

 

I am still on my straight focus. This is the start of my third straight month.

Things that I am learning.
Trying to force a stroke leads to blood.
I am now just taking what my razor offers me each day. I am sticking to strokes that are comfortable to do. Each few shaves I will try something different for a stroke or two.

My face and jaw line are getting wonderful DFS shaves. My neck is the trouble area. Funny thing is with safety razors, my trouble spot was my jaw line. Neck I could get.

More things I learned. I need a nice slick wet lather. This provides a combo for smooth strokes.

The main thing is, why did I wait so long to try straights.

To all the newer people on the Focus. Stick with what ever you are working on. One day you will wake up and the trouble you have been having will magically disappeared.


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I've wondered that myself, why did I wait?

For me, there was value in spending a year really getting a good understanding of the interplay between angle and pressure. While not minimizing the obvious hazard of a three inch open carbon steel blade, your observations are right on. Slow and deliberate works. Scared and tentative hurts. It's more tedious and awkward than hard. And yes, the lather means a lot more with a straight, as the margin for error with pressure is less than with safety razors.

Now, a question!

Do you agree that older Schicks with full skin stretches are a pretty good training ground? (And a fine, fine shave in their own right.)

 

I fully agree. Using my injectors proved to be a godsend. One cannot stress enough about getting ones skin taught. It does not take a bunch of stretching at this point. My skin is not that loose yet.

It only needs to be stretched to the point it does follow the blade. I find if I over stretch the blade does not make good contact. At that point you would need more pressure. Not a good thing. This I believe holds for all razors.

Tom


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Hey, a challenge is a challenge.

 

Thread Hijack:

To borrow (steal) a tactic from @Drygulch

I think I will just leave this here.

Now back to your regularly unhijackable thread.

 

It's funny how comments like this stake on a life of their own. What's the over/under on 30DC ER visits in 2017 in opening lines?

 

At some level, there must be a Fundamental Theorem of Shaving. All razors are just a different grip on a blade, to be dragged over the skin at low angle with appropriate pressure.

 

I'd think we could get at least 3 out of that. I'm hoping to avoid being one of those.

 

I'd like to wager a can of Barbasol original on the over, please.

 

Angle would be number one. Second would be being able to keep the blade stiff.

Using straights now. I am learning the fine art of feeling the blade truly cut. Just changing the angle ever so slightly, results in a smoother or rougher cut. You can really feel it with a straight.


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I'll have Boris hold the bets.

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I would've said vodka, but I knew you'd say Boris.

 

Yeah and that would be the end of that bet

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The rigidity of straights is indeed a key factor in their superior BBS abilities of the genre. It becomes shaving by touch and feel, and both the mass (inertia) and the inflexibility can be both blessing and curse while learning.

When the hundred shave reference comes up, I feel like the cutting sensation you're describing requires some repition to get a feel for how it works out. I think this is what makes shavette so hard for new guys. Shavettes are light (lower inertia) and require more pressure, and the this DE blade leaves little margin for over-pressure. But, when the shavette angle and pressure is optimal, I can almost feel each hair breaking on the bevel, just like a straight.

 

I have a Feather shavette. I used it once and put it away. I could tell after a few strokes I did not have the skill to use one yet.

I will give it another after a few more months on a straight.


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I tried a CJB after 75ish straight shaves, and it went fine. You'll have a totally different experience, even now!

 

4th Decadent day of December.

Drew Dick 6/8, Castle Forbes, tea kettle, scuttle and Kent BK8.

While the CF is holding up under the heat it is tricky keeping the lather the consistency I life for SR shaving. Still 4 passes of luxury and zero irritation, a relaxing Sunday shave and without blood.

Irritation A+ Closeness A Smoothness A Sharpness A+