Straight Razor and Shavette Guide for Newbies

8000k film? I don't see Chucky's posts anymore but I bet that was him.

 

Well....... I must say, your namesake made mighty quick work 'slashing' the way through that little riddle.

 

I did this one a few years ago.

 

I've seen that..... Not sure if I'm right, but you could be the father of the stunt shave.
Over in the 30 Day Crew threads they participate in stunt shaves in May. It is nicknamed MAYhem. Your vid inspired a bunch of guys to do the popsicle stick thing before I came on board on a July 5. You were recognized there.

I figured my skills had progressed enough to give it a whirl for myself.

I thought it would be fun to dress things up a little. It was a fun exercise.
No vid, but here was my report.......
............
Cinco de Julio

It appears as if the folks over at BowHunky Detention Engineering grew a little weary of my incessant whining about their use of an 'industrial blade' in my Friday Shaver. No need to even mention the cackling laugh of one Max Headroom in the background.



In the old fashioned spirit of customer service, they returned to their kickstarter deep pocket supply trough for an emergency bailout.

The rally and result is incredible. Ladies and Gentlemen, in the spirit of the TSD tradition of Fatboy Friday and the dearly loved iconic shaver of the same name, may I present to you The Fatboy Friday Shaver......



BowHunky Engineering pulled out all the stops to make delivery of this modern marvel in time for Cinco de Julio. Complete with the husky knurled handle and the shavette loving GSB blade. They even drew in their best artistic talent from the estrogen wing of the facility to make the beautifying finishing touches.

Now the questions, how does it shave? and does technique Trump tools?

I chose Stirling unscented Sheep (mutton tallow) because I've never used anything better in the rich, thick and cushiony department..... even when sloshed out in my..... yes, lather bowl. Maybe there is no scent added, but it is anything but a glorious stank.

Stirling synthetic brush because I was getting enough 'animal thing' from the Sheep.

Determined to maintain routine, I went 3 passes for as good of a shave as I usually get at this point using an edge forward shaving device.

Yes, technique still trumps tools but I clearly lack the skill to pull off the moves for the finish here. I did my final pass with the Focus R21 shavette. Alum was about normal, quiet, yet there. Finished with Stirling Glacial Satsuma AS for a surprisingly long experience with a unique citrus scent.

I have so loved the Focus R21 Evolution shavette with the recessed blade and edge guards that it almost felt like cheating. With this shave I wanted test myself against a greater challenge (didn't even mute the corners like I originally planned). It is little more work to get a decent shave from a popsicle stick razor, but as demonstrated by many before me, it can be done.

As for me, in the future I'm going to be taking the tools over the technique. Who would want to go to the hassle to shave with one of these disposable doodads that leave ink all over your face when you can buy a decent tool that is easier to use for $20.

I hope everyone had a great Holiday.

 

"Father of the Stunt Shave"... I like it. Sounds like a good title.

 

@Slash McCoy, thank you for your input to my thread. Your technique on honing is also very good.

 

Today, while getting after my boys to clean their room, I hear my 10 year old, feet sticking out from beneath the bed, say, "Hey! How'd my razor get down here?" That threw me for a bit, so I had him bring the thing out.

It was my cheap Utopia Care shavette that I used last summer to shave off three months worth of beard. It worked great, but the process was far dicier than I was expecting, so I pulled out and binned the blade, washed off the shavette, and left it on my dresser to dry. Then forgot about the thing for a while. When I finally got to thinking I should find a real place for it, it had disappeared.

But now it's back. Guess I'll try to start shaving with the thing in earnest come March--I need to finish my 30 Day Challenge for February. My next challenge will take me a quarter of a year: 100 consecutive shavette shaves. I've already got the bandages purchased

 

When I was just learning about shavettes, I was surprised to discover that a sabbatical of a few months while I worked on my straight shave helped me a lot when I took another stab at the shavette. You will get it this itme, I bet. Just watch that shave angle.

 

Ok, I have just read a summary of your shavette on Beardoholic.com/ best shavette
It states that this razor can't keep the blade in place. It makes me wonder if that was one of the main reasons for your dismal attempts with it. That's not to say you would not get cut as a newbie, but it may have been a contributing factor. If that's the case, then I would suggest the Parker or Dovo shavette.

 

Thank you, sir--will do

 

I only had trouble getting the blade to stay while loading it. Once loaded, it seems to stay in place just fine. All my cuts came from either tilting in that toe end, setting the blade down incorrectly, or accidentally moving the blade sideways (which sounds like a stupid thing to do until you try holding the thing in your non-dominant hand for a backhanded stroke while looking in a mirror--then it becomes the most natural thing in the world to do )

 

Aha! Don't do backhand strokes until you are at least 50 shavette shaves into your learning period. I would also keep a spreadsheet on date and shave number to keep track of your progress. That's only a suggestion.

 

That's actually a pretty good suggestion. Were you also logging results?

 

Well, as you know when I report my shaves with a straight or a shavette, I give the corresponding # to the type of razor. Presently, I have 146 straight razor and 136 shavette shaves totalling 282 open blade shaves. I didn't report my results for those shaves because I was getting good shaves from the very start and for most of the 282 shaves. If I had to guess, then I would say 5% or 15 shaves were average or below average. The rest were A- to A+ shaves. Since you would be starting out, date the shave, the consecutive number of the shave, but only provide the result and quality for the first 50 shaves. By that time, you will be pretty consistent with your shaves. That's how I got the Double Jedi Knight CT because I have at least 100 shaves for each type of open blade razor.

 

As far as I'm concerned, you've got double Jedi Knight status because you were getting good results from the very start--that's a pretty rare accomplishment.

 

Thank you for the kind words, Tim!

 

Hi, I'm new to this thread. I have been wet shaving for about 6 years now. I started out with DE razors and moved on to SE razors. I then took a turn to the Dark Side and started SR shaving. Yes like most I have quite a collection. I found myself attracted to Shavette razors and bought my first one online. A Dovo Shavette and purchased a Green Hair shaper blade insert and pressona blades, still waiting on them to arrive. Any recommendations for a newbie to shavette use and which blades are better to start out with, ie: the DE blades, the Dovo blades, or the hair shaper blades? Any other recommendations for a first time shavette user but a well experienced SR shaver.

 

I pretty much only use half DE blades in my occasional shavette shave. I hate paying premium price for long blades, only to throw them away after such a short lifespan. I bought 100 Feathers online probably 10 years or more ago, for less than $20 and I still have probably a lifetime supply because now that I am retired, I rarely have cause to use anything other than a straight razor.

A good DE blade definitely gives you more bang for the buck. Some guys just don't like the short edge, though. I have used the long blades in a Weck Sextoblade and similar setups, but to me they are just okay, no better than a good DE blade.

You can try a half DE shavette easily enough. Sallys Beauty Supply carries one that is okay, one that I used to use when I was on a ship. I always had two, so I could snap a blade and have a place for both halves. It is a slide-out type. If you buy one from fleabay, get the swing-back type because they are usually pretty good while many cheap slide-outs kinda suck. A decent swing back type can be had for under $4.

None of these cheapies will shave better than your Dovo and a Personna long blade, so maybe just stick with what you have coming, for now. Stay with it until you are quite comfortable and skilled with it, rather than moving around all the time, and you will learn faster and better.

Keep your shave angle low low low. The spine should practically drag on the face. (Go ahead, raise that spine up, if you want to see blood.) Stretch your skin good and tight. Stick with WTG-only for the first couple dozen shaves. Try a simple two pass WTG shave, and as your skill increases, either add an ATG pass, if you feel compelled to chase the BBS dragon, or reduce to a single WTG pass if you prefer comfort and if a simple SAS shave is good enough for you. Oh, and don't try a slicing stroke while you are still learning. It will probably slice YOU.

 

Wholeheartedly disagree about cheap DE based Shavettes. They provide the same BBS as anything else.

 

I agree with you, Chris! Although some blades are better than others, shavers need to find the right one that works well with their skin and beard type.