I have only been using a straight razor for about 2 weeks+ and coming along great. Last night I tried 3 different razors on my face with 3 lathers, and no nicks, no cuts either. One of the things I did off hand was realize that my whiskers grow only so fast. There is something about doing something over and over to get down hand skills. So, I bought a cheap ebay razor for 1 penny. Yep, only 1 cent. Came from Pakistan. What I did was dull down the cutting edge with a medium grit stone going front to back (heel to toe) and giving it slight tilts and always ending straight on rubbing. NEVER go side to side as that will flake off the edge and cause a jagged nick out of the razor edge. Once I have felt that it is not sharp any more, won't cut me won't cut string, etc. I then "Practice" the whole deal. I put on lather on my face. I practice holding the razor in the proper way, keeping the handle sticking up and try different positions. And I shave the lather off my face. Of course I don't get any whiskers, but the idea gets me practice, hand-to-eye co-ordination, different techniques, and lay of the way my whiskers are on my face. All without danger of cuts and nicks. BTW you will find out which way your whiskers lie as you can actually feel them with a dulled razor. When you are going WTG (with the grain) it will be smooth, but if you go the opposite way ATG (against the grain) you will even fell a roughness with the practice razor. I can, and did, practice shave several times a day, always using lather and always imagining the blade was sharp and always respectful of the angle of the blade against my skin and how I was doing it, making sure to not "slice" diagonally on my face with the blade edge. I have a Gold Bug razor I bought for $7.00 with a 2-fer at a local antique store. I very carefully dulled it down and used it as such until I got my Pakistani "Practice" razor from ebay. Afterward, I honed the Gold Bug back to sharp and used it last night to shave with....for real. Pic of my old Practice razor after I changed the handle (scales) on it: Again, I repeat, it has to be dulled down right, it has to be done exactly like you were shaving, lather, face prep, all the rest. Only thing is you don't get razor burn from repeating with lather a 2nd 3rd, or 5th time. Just a clean face! It's mental form. It's subconscious getting "feel" down in your mind. It's a lot like dry firing at a target countless times, before actually pulling a trigger. It's like the basketball player standing there and mentally 'imagining' throwing a ball and hitting the hoop. There is, as they say, nothing like real shaving and getting feedback on how the blades edge is doing, but for those times in-between, it's a great way to get in some practice time without the dangers of nicks or skin irritation. I've shaved only for my 6th time last night, and used longer strokes that I have ever done, neck, sideburns, chin, upper lip and not one nick in the last 3 sessions of REAL shaving. I did actually lather up 3 times and shave last night (real) so it's kind of like 6, 7, 8th time, but only one shave session.
