After months of first thinking there was no way I would do this, after months of thinking maybe I would, after a months of actually looking into it... I did it. I didn't do it well, but for my first time, it could have gone much worse! I received a nice modified Double Arrow from JimR that he had restored and but a new bevel on, honed, etc... I wasn't expecting it until next week. My wife and daughter went to visit family leaving me to get my final papers for a graduate course finished. I was lazy this morning and had a late shave. I should have waited a little longer. No sooner than I finished, there was a knock at the door, and the DA had arrived. It made for a good distraction today and was on my mind as I plodded through the last year's worth of coursework. Occasionally I picked it up opened it, practiced holding it in different angles, compared how I was holding it to charts I found at other websites... Finally, I had enough stubble to make an effort of trying. With the grain went well enough, but the longer blade caused a few issues... I didn't know I needed to shave my ear.... Oh well... nick #1... It was awkward around the nose; however, I had been practicing stretching my skin while DE shaving, so this pass went fairly well... other than the ear. Pass 2 was just awkward and wrong. I was able to achieve a E-W and W-E stroke over much of my face. nose to chin was odd again. When I got to my neck, I just couldn't get it. No matter how I manuevered or stretched I couldn't get one part of my neck without shaving off another to get it out of the way. Nick #2 at bottom of neck. I gave up on sideways pass and did another WTG and then went back to get that awkward area between mouth and chin. Oops... came in at an angle small cut... Pass 3... Do I really want to push my luck... Local DJ has signed off... Ozzy has now taken over and he starts off with the old Aerosmith Anthem... Dream On. OK... Dream on I shall. So I continue with pass 3, ATG. Not bad. Same awkward spots, but no more nicks or cuts. End result, two small nicks and a small cut. The shave is meh... some parts are very smooth, others are very rough. I wouldn't call it DFS by a long shot. However, good enough for tonight while I sit in solitude and continue writing a reflection paper and action plan. Tomorrow morning, I will give it another go...
Hey! I'm glad you got a chance to try it out! I'm sure it'll go better as you get used to it. And for your first time, "meh" is WAAAY better than "Oh God Stop the PAAAAIN!" which is close to what I had my first time.
:happy088 WTG Justin! I went slow and careful, even stopped and took a little break to consider some different approaches to tricky spots. It'll get better!
Congrats Justin! :happy096 For my first week or so of straight shaving, I only went WTG and finished up with a DE. Once I got to where I was getting decent WTG passes, I added in XTG. I think this really helped build a solid base before moving up....I'm still trying to figure out the best direction/hand position for some XTG and ATG strokes....But for the most part now, I'm getting DFS every time I shave with a straight. Also, I seem to get a better DFS with WTG/XTG on a straight than I do doing the same two passes with a DE.... Ask away, we're here to help! Congrats again!
Shave #2 Only one nick today.. I caught a mole on my neck. I have done that one once before with a Rolls Razor so I should really learn to watch out for that one. Still trying to come to grips with the arms and hand position needed to get different parts of the face/neck. I found that in some positions, my hand kept wanting to do a negative 30 instead of a positive 30 degrees. I also had also to pay real close attention to the strokes. I found that I have a tendency to want to slice instead of keeping a parallel movement. I almost had a couple of close calls doing that and stopped myself just as the blade started to dig in. I also have to be more careful setting the razor down. Twice the edge of the blade ended up touching a container after my hand was off the razor. heh... my hand is now cramping... Two questions: 1) I am thinking about going out and finding a dirt cheap straight and butterknifing it just so I have something to practice and figure out the various positions I need on my face/neck without slicing myself open. Why is this a bad idea? 2) How many of you shave with only one hand? I notice on the videos that people are using both hands and switch back and forth.
If your hand is cramping, you may be holding too tight of a grip. It may seem counterintuitive, but a light grip will help your shaves -- easier to make the shaving strokes, and less likely to cut yourself (the razor will roll over rather than dig in if it catches something). Remember that you don't have to use every part of the edge everywhere, or on every stroke. Use the tip or the heel of the razor as necessary to get into tighter areas; just keep track of the other end, so you don't cut yourself elsewhere (I've done that myself). You metioned slicing movements of the blade instead of parallel. If you can manage to get a pivot/rotating motion with that slicing motion, you'll have the scything technique that is actually beneficial in the repertoire. I shave with both hands. It should be a goal, as you have that many more angles of attack when capable of using both hands.
I've had to force myself to use both hands....it just naturally seems to be easier to use my dominant hand for everything. Stick with it though, I've seen much improvement with my non-dominant hand. I used one of my duller not-shave-ready blades to practice hand positions and stretching with before I sent them out to be honed. It's not as kookie as it sounds, really....
I am secretly hoping to see a shave journal here in this thread like olafurson has done! Congrats and good luck on your new adventure
Shave #3... As suggested, I tried using my left hand today. My left hand did better than trying to be awkward with my right. My first WTG pass went great. No nicks and less awkwardness now that I am using my left hand. So I did another WTG pass. Because XTG is what my big problem has been, I skipped that and went to ATG after the 2nd WTG pass. A few awkward places such as the middle of my right side of my neck. I got a tiny weeper in the moustache area. However for my 3rd try at straight shaving I am quite impressed. Overall most of my face and neck is at least DFS. There are some BBS places. The only place not at least making that DFS grade is the middle of the right side of the neck. I have a feeling that I need to shave that with my left hand but have not worked out the angles yet for either hand. In regards to keeping the shave journal going... We will see. The razor arrived in time for me to work on this during a three day weekend. I may set it aside during the work week and wait until next weekend to give it a 4th run.
I don't think question #1 is a bad idea in any way at all! The only way to be good at something is to PRACTICE. Sounds like you are definately making progress!
Just got myself a padle strop to go along with my Stainless Dovo Inox which I will bring to a lesson with a teacher who is showing me how to shave with a straight. Hopefully I will be up and running with a straight in short order. I think that the straight has a corner on shaving coolness.:bounce015
Hey, fellow hoosier! Good for you, giving it a go! Well, you know just about everything I have to say about straight razor shaving already, but, I guess I would add this in hindsight: 1. Once I gave in and accepted that two hands were going to be required, things went a lot smoother. 2. I have only had two nick-free shaves so far. 3. Styptic sticks suck. Get a roll-on if anything. Alum blocks are goooooood. 4. Put down the razor in between passes. 5. Here's the order I have been using for passes (sorry if it's hard to read): Right cheek WTG: Right hand with left hand over head holding ear. Left cheek WTG: Left hand with right hand over head holding ear. Right underneck WTG: Right hand with left hand stretching from below. Left underneck WTG: Left hand with right hand stretching from below. Nose WTG and "soul patch/chin" WTG: mouth open "o" shape, freehand - don't bother stretching anything. (it won't help) <put razor down. Deep breath. Warm water rinse, relather, dry hands well, pick razor up> Left cheek XTG: Right hand with left hand pulling ear sideways. Right cheek XTG: Left hand with right hand pulling ear sideways. Left jawline XTG: Right hand with left hand stretching cheek upwards. Right jawline XTG: Left hand with right hand stretching cheek upwards. Chin XTG: Right hand with left hand streching skin all over the place! Left underneck XTG (which is really a modified WTG): Left hand with right stretching from above if possible. Right underneck XTG/modified WTG: Right hand with left stretching wherever you can! <put razor down. Deep breath. Warm water rinse, relather, dry hands well, pick razor up> LEFT underneck and under chin ATG: Hold razor with your right hand fingers like a Japanese straight (keeping the scales out of your way) and gently pull upwards with the spine of the razor as flat against your skin as you can manage. Right hand with left stretching from below. If you can, continue up to the left cheek ATG as well, focusing on the jawline a bit as you do. RIGHT underneck ATG: left hand, with right stretching from below. If you're right handed like me, do NOT try to go up to your RIGHT cheek yet - too many angles for left hand to navigate! Chin, soul patch, under nose ATG - under the nose feels more like PUSHING the razor up instead of pulling it up. Or, put another way, pull the undernose skin down over the stationary razor. RIGHT cheek ATG: Nice and slow to enjoy the final bits of your shave... left hand, scrape off last bits of lather. <put razor down. Warm water rinse, LOTS of cool water, alum block, make face like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone. Keep doing alum block til it doesn't hurt anymore. Dry off and store alum block. Clean off shave brush and razor while drip-drying from the alum. Rinse off alum, then apply aftershave du jour, make Home Alone face one more time. Done!> Or something like that. Whew! I'm going to cross-post this in my own thread for safekeeping.
Thanks for the info! My wife wasn't planning on taking a shower this morning, so I had the extra time needed for a straight shave so.... Shave #4: I relied on my left hand even more and there were fewer awkward angles. I did the same as last time with two WTG and one ATG passes. Again, most of my face ended up BBS but that same patch on right side of the neck is rough. Also today, there are visible patches of rough spots in several places. So overall, I feel like I took a step backwards in shave quality. I did get one tiny nick in mustache area, but otherwise no nicks or scrapes. Also, when I put on A/S there was MUCH less burning. It felt close to what it would normally feel after a DE shave. So I am not irritating my skin as much. The good: 1) getting better at left hand control 2) fewer awkward angles where I couldn't figure out what to do 3) I have come to conclusion the conclusion that for upward strokes on my neck (at least on bottom half of neck) left hand for right side and right hand for left side 4) I didn't irritate my skin as much The bad: I didn't even attempt shaving E-W or W-E and I need to do that to improve my right side of the neck. Otherwise it is only getting XTG and XTG while the rest of my shave is WTG or ATG. The ugly: Visibly this isn't the best shave Thoughts: Looking at the drop in shave quality as opposed to gain in technique and I am thinking that I am doing a cruddy job with stropping. This little auto-strop strop isn't going to keep me going like I hoped while I wait on a real strop.
Did not get to get into the shave den last night as the mrs was in there. We have seperate bathrooms but she still uses the shower in mine and as any married man will tell you when she goes into the bathroom the best thing to do is to stay way away becuase she will generally be in there for a few hours. Sometimes I feel like I should bring her diner and a matress in there. Now not all women are like this but mine is. I have given up on the phrase all women becuase I find that most anything I put behind that is bound to be false and gets me into trouble. I hope to get back into the shave den tonight so I can do another practice session.
Oh crap! I messed up my rights and lefts under the neck. Sorry, dude, I hope I didn't cause you trouble. I corrected my giant post, CORRECTIONS IN RED. Thoughts on stropping: Use a leather belt, or even denim jeans should work better than nothing. Sorry again! -greg
No problem.. I just figured you were hinged differently enough that your method was more comfortable. I would think I would get a better stropping off of the auto-strop strop than I would a belt. However, I might use some denim and see how that works. I have noticed when stopping I sometimes leave a scratch with the tip as I make my X pattern. I can see my self folding over that part of the edge if I am not careful. I am hoping going to a wider stropping surface may alleviate that to some degree.
I've found the best thing to do is jump in the shower with her. From married man with young kids, sometimes that's the only time! Sorry, I just could not resist. happy102happy102
Shave 5: I did run the blade over some denim to strop as well as increase the number of strops on the small autostrop strop. When I shaved this morning, the blade was a little bit smoother and the results are more uniform. It is overall a closer shave than yesterday. However, I am still not pleased with the right side of my neck. I would say BBS over everything else and just about DFS on the right side of my neck. I gave myself another small nick in the mustache area. Passes: I am still doing two mostly WTG and one mostly ATG and am avoiding sideways strokes except for under my nose. Pass 1: right hand while left stretches: right side of face (sideburns, then cheek, then all of chin area and mustache) right upper neck left hand while right stretches: left side of face (sideburns, then cheek) then upper left neck, then lower right neck with up stroke right hand: lower left neck with up stroke Pass 2: repeat pass 1 Pass 3: Left hand with right stretching: upstroke on right face and then upper neck right hand with left stretching: upstroke on left face and upper neck, chin area, then down stroke on lower right neck left hand: down stroke on lower left right hand: E-W and W-E stroke across each half under nose I am getting through the first two passes pretty easy now. Still have some spots where I have issues getting the angles right on pass 3. I realized today to move the scales so that they were open at 135 degrees instead of 90 degrees helped with the upstrokes. When I get pass 3 down, I will start trying to add a side-stroke into the passes.
