Ok just had my morning shave......and wow was it rediculous.....I usually use a safety razor but today I decided to pull out the ol Parker butterfly style straight razor......I usually use shark blades on it which seem to be dull for me usually so i switched it up today and snapped in half one of my walgreens brand de blades that I use in my safety razors and always work great......where I snapped the blade there was a bent edge and Im not sure if this caused my problem.....but once I finished shaving I splashed on my ogallalla bay rum.......and my god the fireworks began......it was so bad i was pacing up and down my hall in agony......now my face is red as a sunburn......is it poor form on my part possibly or the bend on that part of the blade or both? I have never used that style blade in my straight always shark blades....and my bay rum never burns like that so the irritation was from something and i cant pinpoint it.....im no pro so its probably my poor form but i dunno....everyother time iv shaved with the straight i have never had any problem with an aftershave setting my face on fire like that.....However a few slices are i evitable when i use it......i usually always walk away with a battle scar.......im sure that tells you im a poor straight shaver but just in case does anyone have any ideas on what it could be without being able to watch me shave? Any advice is appreciated and I fully welcome constrive critisizm!
And by the way i understand most of you wont consider the parker razor to be a traditional or dignified straight razor but When it comes to straight razors....im on a budget.....i find they are much harder to come by around here at a good price with a condition to match....so safety razors have been my main investment ....id love a good straight but its simply not obtainale right now due to their value.
Well, first thing is if you want to get started in straight shaving I suggest a visit to whippeddog, Larry has a great starter kit with everything you need for $48.00. As far as the shavette goes if you normally use shark blades and have no issues I say keep on using them. You thought you might have damaged the edge breaking the Walgreens blade in half and to me it sounds like you did. DE blades are to cheap to mess around with, if there is a hint of damage then bin it right away and use another one. I've never used a shavette, but I bought a Parker thinking that would be my entrance into straight shaving but I lost the nerve when I looked at it in my hand, so I traded it for a straight.
May have been a bum blade. I've never used Whippeddog, but I've heard nothing but good. Find an inexpensive vintage straight at an antique shop or flea market. Send it to Glen "gssixgun" (member here at TSD), and for about $20, he can get it shave ready for you. Glen's a straight up guy and will let you know if the razor will require more work than a standard $20 honing, or even if the blade is beyond help.
I highly recommend whippeddog. I just bought the sight unseen deal for $48 that Keith mentioned above. It's been a great investment and a great shave!
I would call it more of a poor man's hone. My understanding is that it is kind of in the middle of stropping and honing. When the strop seems to no longer give you a nice clean edge, you take it to the balsa wood. You do one color for X amount of swipes then do it on the other color for the same amount of swipes. Then you strop it on the leather strop like normal and it brings it back to a nice edge. Again, it's not the same as honing it, but rather somewhere in the middle of honing and stropping. Basically it buys you a little time between professional honing. At least this is how I understand it.
Was the Walgreen blade in a dispenser, without a wrapper, or was it in a wrapper? I have found that breaking a wrapped blade is okay, but an unwrapped blade ejected from a dispenser will booger up the edge. It sounds to me as though you either got a bum blade as Steve said, or boogered up the edge while breaking it. There is no shame in using a shavette. I have one. I have used it here and there. I also have enough straights to last me until the cows come home. I will also vouch for Larry over at Whippeddog, but since you are from Oklahoma, and my Baby Girl hails from Sand Springs, just outside Tulsa, send me a PM with your name and address and I will fire you off a proper shave ready straight.
Holy crap man.....thank you so much!!! Um but i dont have much dough though so if you want some cash and somethin else we could trade.....i am an artist who can do just about anything so if you want anything let me know and ill get somethin to you!
And the lade was not in a wrapper....it came from a dispenser.....they always do great in my safety razors tho so i guess it was either dull or because of the bent edge.
