Advise needed on ATG on Neck

M

Mhdmad

Messages
20
Hey

I am relativley new to using a straight razor, been doing a wtg and xtg in parts for the past 15 or so shaves. Tonight I had ago at atg. I stropped the razor again before the atg pass, and proceeded on the cheeks when skin pulled tight it went well, no skips or digs. But I have a real problem area, it is at the base of the neck for the atg, no matter how much I pull the skin in the opposite direction it does not feel like it is enough to get the razor to glide smoothly (getting skips and the occassional dig in). Angling the razor spine closer to the skin helped a little with this. I just wondered if there was any tips or tricks regarding stretching the skin in the area of the neck. I might try and dry off a bit of the lather to get a good hold for the strecth. not sure if this is entirley the problem though.

Razor I believe is sharp enough to perform the atg, was provided sharp & shave ready by martin at rasurpur.de. It slices through hair on a wtg pass very smoothly. All advise welcome.

Thanks

Rob
 
ATG under the chin and on the neck is usually the hardest part of straight shaving to master, so don't despair if it takes some time! Some people dispense with it altogether - if your skin is very sensitive then the discomfort might not be worth it. Might be worth practising on your cheek for a bit rather than getting your neck irritated.

A lot of the problem can be solved by finding which way the grain actually lies - in these areas the grain is more prone to lie randomly, some small areas pointing one way and areas right by them pointing another way. You can feel this with your fingertips - when you encounter most resistance you are against the grain. Remembering what grows in which direction can be a bit of a memory feat, though. It isn't automatically down-up - it could be at any of a number of angles, unless you have very well-behaved whiskers!

You can also help yourself by knowing what happens when you stretch the skin - if you stretch the skin with the grain the hairs will lie down, stretch it against the grain and they will stand up, so you could find yourself stretching the skin immediately in front of the blade to get it to stand up a bit and easier to cut.

Next is the angle. A steeper angle is called for with the grain, say between 15 and 30 degrees. This is because you want the blade to bite straight away - if the angle is too shallow it will skip. If too much it will be very uncomfortable and/or you will dig a nice line in your face. Reduce the angle to around 15 degrees XTG and reduce it again to around 5 degrees for ATG. Start by laying the blade flat and lifting it slightly until it begins to cut. If you have to push - DON'T! - somethings not quite right. You may need more stropping, more experience or re-honing. Generally though, if the razor cuts well WTg and XTG it is a matter of technique.

Other factors that help some people are prep (use a hot towel to soften the whiskers); the way you hold the razor; the type of blade (full-hollow/half-hollow/quarter hollow/wedge); and whether the razor has a "smile" (ie a curved edge, widest at the belly, thinner at either end) or not - smiling razors are often said to me more comfortable to use; the type of stroke (try short scything or buffing motions for instance); stretching the skin past obstacles - eg pulling the skin on your chin lower so it is flatter and pulling the skin off the adams apple to one side or another to get a flatter surface.

Good luck!
 
Neil if you have time and fancy having a go at writing some sort of newbie's guide to straights I would love to see it and sticky it up here for the guys to reference?
 
Thanks for the advise Neil.


You can also help yourself by knowing what happens when you stretch the skin - if you stretch the skin with the grain the hairs will lie down, stretch it against the grain and they will stand up, so you could find yourself stretching the skin immediately in front of the blade to get it to stand up a bit and easier to cut.
Click to expand...

Taking a look at the beard growth (few days worth) looks like I was stretching the skin the wrong way. Will have to try an atg skin stretch on the next shave, see how that turns out.

Other factors that help some people are prep (use a hot towel to soften the whiskers); the way you hold the razor; the type of blade (full-hollow/half-hollow/quarter hollow/wedge); and whether the razor has a "smile" (ie a curved edge, widest at the belly, thinner at either end) or not - smiling razors are often said to me more comfortable to use;
Click to expand...

Using a 1/4 grind TI at the mo', seems a bit easier for me than the full hollow I have got. Usually go at it after a shower so I usually find my beard is failry soft, well at least for a DE, maybe not enough for a Straight. I have some proraso pre shave, that I have not used for a while I might splash some of that on as well see if I can increase the effect.

Audiolab wrote:

Beats me man I can only go in straight lines, never mind this reverse thingy
Click to expand...

That sounds like something my wife would say about driving!! :lol:

Rob
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom