On my 9th shave so far with a straight. Thought I would post my results. The good: I have not given myself a real dueling scar yet. I am comfortable with most of my face. The chin area on the right side is still awkward. My neck was pretty rough at first but getting better. My wife likes to watch me shave now. The challenges: I am slow. If I lather up my whole face I have to re-lather about 3 times by the end The area around my chin is still tough. I am still not 100% sure I am stropping correctly. I have a few cuts on my strop. Overall I really like the SR. It has changed shaving from a chore to a puzzle/hobby.
I'm not sure, but I think cuts in your strop are a sign that you are not always stropping correctly. I tried str8s once upon a time. I'm a safety man now.
Speed is not a challenge. Slow is ok when holding razor sharp anything to your neck. Stretching the skin on your face makes tough spots easier, that said it is difficult to stretch chins. Try using your jaw and neck to pull the skin tight before you shave the chin area. I like to make funny faces while I shave to get skin as flat and tight as possible.
I am not an expert by any means, I have yet to acquire a SR but I've been reading everything I can on the subject. @Norcalnewb can speak intelligently on this because it was his creation but I guess it helps to lather one section at a time:
It takes patience and practice. I've been SR shaving for just around 2 months now and I'm just getting the hang of it. Only one gusher so far, but I won't talk about that. Besides, it's healing. I mostly SR shave on the weekends and one weekday each week and I'm about 20 shaves into it. Take it slowly with the strop. I cut up mine a few times. Turn it on its spine when honing. Wet lather is key. I find myself relathering on my first pass as it dries due to my slowness and grabbing my face to stretch the skin. Oh, that's key... Stretch your skin so it's tight while you shave. Also, my first pass is usually poor. I do two more passes and that does the trick. Wet your face, relather and shave again! The chin at the jaw line is always a challenge for me. I take it slowly and make very short strokes. That's key too! Angle is very important. Keep the razor at a 30 degree angle to your face for best results. I'm just getting to a point where I can go across the grain and a little bit against the grain. Today I feel that I had a very good DFS. It was a very satisfying experience. Make sure your razor has been honed properly. Glenn at Gemstar Customs can help you out with that if sharpness is an issue. These are just some tips from a novice. I'm sure the pros on this forum can give a lot more advice. Keep practicing and you will get the hang of it.
You are correct, I watched Lynn Abrams video and realized I was being too soft and a couple of times I turned the razor on the edge instead of the spine. It definitely takes a little practice.
Don't rush, it takes time to learn to shave with a SR, you will get faster naturally. Wet lather, skin stretching and paractice will get you there. Welcome to the dark side.
Speed comes with time and practice. It is not required either. Why rush through shaving zen? As for the stropping it is key to keeping your blade going and going. I have no idea where you are but it should be easy to find someone close to touch it up as needed, at least for the first while. Once you get everything dialed in on the shaving and stropping you will need much less hone time. Basically the keys to remember are slick lather, low angle, skin tight, shave the lather not the whiskers and you will continue to be improving all the time. Eventually it will all be very second nature.
