Starting the journey with Straights tomorrow with a 11/16 Joseph Allen NON XLL that has been professionally honed. From there, with a bit of practice and advice I hope to frequent the straight razor shave of the day thread. Y’all have some incredible razors in there. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Go slow Mind the angle Pay attention Go slow Little to no pressure Pay attention Go slow Use you slickest soap or cream. Make it a bit slicker by adding just tad more water. Don't hesitate in the middle of a stroke. Don't stop and start with the blade still on your face. If you do hesitate or stop, take the blade away from your face and prepare for the next stroke. Go slow Pay attention You'll do fine! We're here for ya and pullin' for ya!
That’s good advice on not hesitating in a stroke. Haven’t heard it put that way. Plan on easing in and finishing with the DE on day 1 unless everything just goes stellar. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Geez, and we really haven’t been heavily recruiting, and another joins the dark side Nice old Sheffield straight to boot!
Nice razor. Take your time and just concentrate on simple WTG passes at first. No pressure and watch the angle. It look me a lot of shaves to get consistently good shaves. You can do it Have fun!
Just do your cheeks to start .Finish with a DE.It will take several weeks plus to develop muscle memory and learn the nuance of straight shaving .
Welcome to The Dark Side. I am relative new here myself. I have not come completely over, but I have devoted my Saturday shaves to straights. I have 14 now, and I use a different one every week. I really enjoy my straight shaves. I haven't cut or nicked myself in many months now. I won a nice straight back in June of 2014. I gave it a go, but I was not ready for the commitment. I couldn't get the angle right and kept cutting myself. So, I piffed it along with my strop. Then last January, @Drygulch sent me his loaner starter kit. It had a Cattaragus Straight, a Genco Straight, and a Drygulch 3 inch strop. I started using them, alternating between the straights. Then a friend of mine gave me an H. Böker 5/8 straight that I sent to @HolyRollah for a restoration and honing. He does great work. That is where my journey took off. So for almost a year, I have been shaving with straights on Saturday.
@B Wade , be sure to let us know how the shave went and ask lots of questions. I successfully learned the art of straight razor shaves two years ago through this forum. We can help you through the learning curve, so ask lots of questions.
Go slow, turn the water fan off , go until your feeling uncomfortable. No shame in finishing with a de. But know, it'll take a month or two to get proficient. Good luck, let us know how it goes.
Go slow and dont rush for perfection. A nasty cut early in my straight shaving career left me scarred and scared
Update. Didn’t die! Raise your hand if you were positive the first time you picked up a straight you were going to cut your face open, hope thats not just me haha. I did not cut myself, also not sure I cut any hair. Think my lather was too dry and the razor just felt weird in my hand. Ended up basically doing the whole shave with the DE but the process didn’t discourage me. I’ll be back at it next shave with at least the knowledge of what it felt like the first time.
I cut hair my first shave. I also put a nice 2” line in the side of my face. I don’t know if you’ve seen this vid: It was very helpful to me.
I did watch that video and I think that it gave me a good starting point. Now that I know what the razor feels like in my hand I think it will be more helpful watching it a second time. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Gotta call that a win!!! Congrats on putting steel to face that first time. It is a scary but cool feeling. Tom.
Sounds like me start. The first shave you are nervous so there are small tremors in your hands. No blood so it is a success. I went in steps going a little further each shave and finishing with a DE. After a month I was able to do the whole shave with a straight. It took me about 90 shaves before I became very consistent and almost automatic. Keep with you will find the progress is fast and the accomplishment is very rewarding.
I agree with Keith on the 90 shaves. You will become adequate well before that, but it seems like it takes about 90 shaves for it to become automatic and the shaves consistently bbs.
