Had my first shave with my newly honed Hamburg Ring this morning, courtesy of Jamie Mahoney, who did a very nice job , even tightened the pivot pin and cleaned up the blade for me as well as getting rid of a nasty little chip that the blade had at no extra cost, thanks again Jamie, I stropped on my newly acquired Illinois 827, about 50 times , and had quite a good shave, I have been practicing for a while now with a shavette with good results, I shaved wTg, taking my time, but fell back on my R41 for the xtg pass, I'm not that confident just yet, I am quite surprised at how comfortable I feel with the stropping technique, again taking my time and making sure to keep both the back of the spine and the edge of the blade on the strop during the stroke, ( I haven't cut the strop yet). I will try another shave soon.
Congratulations on your successful first voyage. You won't cut the strop if you remember to go slow, speed will come with muscle memory.
Way to go! My first was only a few months ago and is still fresh enough in my mind to relate very well. The slow and deliberate is wise IMO; muscle memory will follow. Besides, I don't want my shave going too quickly, anyhow!
Congrats! I have a Whipped Dog on the way. Not sure how long I'm going to stare at it before I decide to give it a go. Still working on getting a consistent shave out of my DE as it's only been about a month and my skin seems to insist on being sensitive. Let us know how quickly you progress. I remember hearing Geo Fat Boy say it takes about 100 shaves to get the hang of shaving with a str8. That scared me enough to purchase a DE instead of a a str8 initially.
I agree, it took about 2 dozen shaves at most before I was feeling real comfy with the razor. I've been DFS or better since.
Way to go, it only gets better! BTW, I love your avatar...I have one of those straights, and it's one of my favorite razors.
being a Chef I have been around sharp edges and knives most of my adult life , and know a keen edge when I see one, I have Honed lots of knives for work collegues, next month I was planning on investing in a Norton 4000/8000 waterstone, I already have a Dragons Tongue Welsh Slate stone which is around 8-10000 grit, and honing my own razors( I know the blade angle between knives and straights are totally different, but the principles are the same!!!!
