The result of a moment of insanity

Well I did it... Kind of.

I stropped before the shave, 20 on the linen side then 80 on the leather side of the stropp taking care to keep the spine on the strop and making contact with the blade as the razor starts to move. Held the strop taught but still had some give and used virtually no pressure. Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be actually it could be quite therapeutic lol.

My prep was the usual, hot thorough was with dove soap and a thin application of Proraso Pre shave massaged into the whiskers. loaded up the brush with Professor blighty's Hyperion soap then after rinsing off the pre-shave I face lathered (first time), I do think that the lather was a little dry so I added a little more water. I held the razor in my right hand and after a few false starts began to shave concentration on no pressure and angle. There was a lot of tugging and whilst there was some hair being removed it just felt as though it wasn't cutting cleanly.I am certain the angle was correct but i did find myself using a little more pressure.

Time to swap to my non dominant hand, I took up the razor and began to shave, again concentrating on the angle tugging was about the same with similar results.

Anyhow I managed to shave my cheeks but not as close as I thought, so I finished up with my 1966 Adjustable and after drying everything I stropped the razor again before putting it away.

It was a good experience, one which I look forward to repeating, however, I need to have a reference point in order to learn. So I will try this again on Sunday morning and I may take up the offer of a kind TSR member and have the razor looked at and made shave ready so that I have a reference point.

Thanks for all of the advice to you guys have given me I am always happy and grateful for all help. I don't know if this thread needs to be moved to the help forum or not but mods feel free to do that.

Jim
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The description on Ebay said 'Shave ready, only needs stropping' I honestly have no way of verifying this though. With me being a total noob its more likely to be something I am doing wrong.

Jim
 
Try the hanging hair test or shaving hair off your arm that will soon tell you if it's shave ready. If it's tugging it probably needs sharpening. Again I may be totally wrong but I started with the razor pretty flat against my skin, with two fingers in front and two on the tang. Now I shave at a bit of an angle and sometimes hold the razor completely straight similar to a shavette! I would definitely start as many suggest having the razor flat against the face.

Another tip I now use is only shaving my neck from Adams apple to chin (an upwards stroke) this removes most hair and reduces scraping the skin, hey works for me anyway. I would also re- apply the pre shave I find with a straight it's good to have a nice slick layer under the foam.

With regards to the HHT it takes time to do, correct hair/angle etc on another thread it's further defined as having several categories. However, this is how I confirm whether or not the razor is shave ready. Hairs should just pop off the arm as well.

Finally a good jewellers loupe will allow you to magnify the blade edge to see scratch patterns and blade condition for yourself (only costs around £2 delivered from amazon).
 
Thanks Nishy, just tried to shave my arm lol, the hairs are not popping off without some effort. Maybe I stropped it incorrectly and it has had the opposite effect on the blade.

The HHT didn't work either, but again that could be me. I wont worry about it for now and see how things go with my next shave, then decide from then.

Thanks again guys.

Jim
 
"Shave ready" Doesn't actually mean anything if the seller doesn't have a reputation. In some cases it can cause problems as they mess the edge up sharpening it with electric knife sharpeners ect.

Send it out. When it comes back you will know sharp. The razor should shave without any great resistance and you did the correct thing in not persisting with the shave. Using pressure on a sharp but not shave ready blade is asking for a deep cut.
 
Thanks Iceni I think for my own peace of mind I will send it out, at least I will have an idea of what to aim for.

jim
 
Thought I would post an update of how me and Kropp are getting along.

After getting the razor back from UKRob, all honed and ready to go, I tried shaving just from my sideburns, It felt much better but because we had the builders in doing some major adaptions to the bathroom I had to shave in the kitchen. I finally put the kropp down after nicking my ear, a combo of sudden loud noises and my shaking hand were not a good combination. So finished with my trusty slim adj.

This morning I decided to go again, the builders were gone, mum was still sleeping so perfect for a nice quiet shower and shave.

Stropped the razor 60 - 80 ish times then gatherd the following into the bathroom.

Ingrams Cream, Vie long Brush, ceramic bowl, a face cloth for wiping the razor on, my Gillette Slim Adj with Astra SP blade loaded.

Started by hot water wash with dove soap. I then applied Proraso Preshave and massaged into my whiskers. Squeezed some Ingrams (actually it ran out of the tube like the morning afters vin da loo). Whipped up a lather in the bowl and after washing my face again applied the lather to cheeks/sideburn area first.

I am taking things slow, so the sideburns were going to be the only area I shaved, however after a slow but successful start, I moved onto my cheeks, checking the angle and trying to use as little pressure as possible with short strokes.

Since getting the razor back from Rob, I noticed a huge difference, no tugging and a nice satisfying sound of mowing whiskers. I managed 2 WTG passes of both cheeks and side burn areas before I called it a day and finished with my adjustable.

It wasn't until I started using my DE that I realized I had still been a little tense with the Kropp but i think this will ease as time goes bye.

Although I have nice smooth area where I used the Kropp, it had a wee bit feedback from the alum but no irritation at all.

I finished the shave and applied Proraso green splash.

Jim
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Thanks guys, it will be a while before I attempt the curves but I have no doubt I will get there. One question though, due to my slow beard growth I shave every other day, keeping this in mind, Do I still stropp the razor every day or just before and after the shave?

Jim
 
Re: RE: The result of a moment of insanity

The Mackem Shaver said:
No need to strop the razor when you're not using it, just make sure you store it somewhere dry.
Click to expand...
+1 I often throw in a few silica packets in the straight razor stands.
 
In my second moment of madness and the inevitable result of bay browsing, I purchased a vintage H. BOKER KING CUTTER straight razor - Solingen Germany 5/8 for just under £20 delivered. Needs a good clean and its not shave ready so I will be sending it out soon to get sorted. Gold wash is not good but for the money its ok. It probably wont survive the cleanup and polish but as I want this as a second shaver so that I will still have a straight to shave with whilst the other is getting honed, I don't mind at all.

Also an update on how I am doing with my Kropp, I have progressed from 2 wtg passes of cheeks and sideburns to include 1 wtg pass of neck either side of my Adams apple. Its a slow but progressive learning curve and so far I haven't had an major gashes and very few minor nicks. I am still finishing the haves with a DE.

I seam to be getting the hang of stropping as my Kropp still shaves the hair off my arm without any real effort. I know that in the near future it will need to be sent out for touching up/honing so I needed to purchase a second straight to use whilst the Kropp is away.

The other day after 2 pass on my cheeks, I went over it again with my flairtip, but there was no sound from the DE. My skin was so smooth that I couldn't help but stroke it all day getting some strange looks on the bus.

Jim
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My King Cutter
 
Sounds like you're in exactly the same place as me on the learning curve & was I right about UKRob's honing, or was I right?

Personally, still going WTG only, stropping beforehand & whilst not exactly shaving quickly, the speed/confidence is increasing (ie, no longer scared of the Kropp, just respectful) - I am lucky though in that I have a moustache/goatee combo, so all the awkward angles are in a shave-free zone anyway...

This particular product is not for everyone (it has a somewhat individual fragrance), but I find using Noxzema cream on a wet face prior to lathering really gives a slick base to the lather - if you'd like to try some, drop me a PM and I'll decant some off & send it to you.
 
Thanks Leslie, I do have some noxema but it dosent do much for me. The prorasso pre is similar. They both seam to kill my lather.
I am finding that I do enjoy using straights for now but this could change once I start on the curves.

Jim
 
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