Problem with shaving the side burn areas using a shavette.

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3
Hello,
Having given up on the straight razor, because I couldn't get it sharp enough, I thought I'd try a shavette razor. I found that it seemed much sharper and I don't get razor burn like I did with the straight razor, so I don't think it was my technique that was the problem.

The only problem I have now is with shaving the side burn area, particularly where it meets my hairline. No matter what way I hold the razor, I can't see exactly where I'm starting the cut because either my hand or the blade is in the way of my sightline and I risk cutting my side burns too high. Does anyone have any tips?
 
Now I have a bit more time to reply, perhaps I can give you a more helpful answer.

You can often get away without skin stretching on the sideburns. In fact skin stretching can be counter productive because it can distort the line of the sideburn if you grab at an angle. That gives you more room below the glasses because you aren't pulling the skin upwards.

Worst case: once you have the razor positioned you don't even need to look for that stroke. (Just take it VERY lightly) Many a morning I've woken up bleary-eyed and not really looked whilst I was shaving... Until I got to my neck.

Secondly, if your second pass is across the face, as long as you have been maintaining the line of your sideburn consistently, you can keep it trimmed with this pass.

What type of shavette are you using? DE blade or Artists Club. If a DE blade, is it full or half blade type? If it is the full blade, I would strongly recommend the half instead - I like the Focus AL - they are nice and easy to handle in tricky areas like the side burn.

If it is an Artist Club or clone then you are in luck. A trick you can try with these is to straighten them out like a Japanese (kamisori) just for the side burns. That gives you more room to play. I wouldn't recommend that with a DE type shavette because you lose control and the blade skips. Trust me on this...

What's the deal with the straight razor you gave up on? Have you thought about sending it for honing? Can I help with any advice regarding that?
 
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Now I have a bit more time to reply, perhaps I can give you a more helpful answer.

You can often get away without skin stretching on the sideburns. In fact skin stretching can be counter productive because it can distort the line of the sideburn if you grab at an angle. That gives you more room below the glasses because you aren't pulling the skin upwards.

Worst case: once you have the razor positioned you don't even need to look for that stroke. (Just take it VERY lightly) Many a morning I've woken up bleary-eyed and not really looked whilst I was shaving... Until I got to my neck.

Secondly, if your second pass is across the face, as long as you have been maintaining the line of your sideburn consistently, you can keep it trimmed with this pass.

What type of shavette are you using? DE blade or Artists Club. If a DE blade, is it full or half blade type? If it is the full blade, I would strongly recommend the half instead - I like the Focus AL - they are nice and easy to handle in tricky areas like the side burn.

If it is an Artist Club or clone then you are in luck. A trick you can try with these is to straighten them out like a Japanese (kamisori) just for the side burns. That gives you more room to play. I wouldn't recommend that with a DE type shavette because you lose control and the blade skips. Trust me on this...

What's the deal with the straight razor you gave up on? Have you thought about sending it for honing? Can I help with any advice regarding that?

I think its the half blade type. It uses those little double edged blades, snapped in half.

I've developed a little workaround myself, which is to hold the blade upside down, that is, as if you were going to shave up, line it up that way and then flip the blade over while still in contact with the skin, and then shave down. I wonder what you think of that method, perhaps there's a danger you might accidently pull the blade in a slicing motion while flipping it over and cut yourself?

As for the straight razor, I actually did send it for honing, to a guy on a forum like this one (can't remember which one now) and it came back not any sharper than when I had sent it. I looked the guy up and he was a professional barber so I trusted him. To be fair it did pass the 'hanging hair test', but even I can get it that sharp. Is there a level of sharpness above that? I assume so, because it was just sharp enough to shave my cheeks and neck, but in the really tough growth areas each side of the mouth and down around the chin it really started to drag and gave me a rash the next day. When I was sharpening myself I was using a Belgian Blue whetstone, and then I tried the pasted strop method to try and get it a bit sharper, with not much success.
 
I think its the half blade type. It uses those little double edged blades, snapped in half.

I've developed a little workaround myself, which is to hold the blade upside down, that is, as if you were going to shave up, line it up that way and then flip the blade over while still in contact with the skin, and then shave down. I wonder what you think of that method, perhaps there's a danger you might accidently pull the blade in a slicing motion while flipping it over and cut yourself?

As for the straight razor, I actually did send it for honing, to a guy on a forum like this one (can't remember which one now) and it came back not any sharper than when I had sent it. I looked the guy up and he was a professional barber so I trusted him. To be fair it did pass the 'hanging hair test', but even I can get it that sharp. Is there a level of sharpness above that? I assume so, because it was just sharp enough to shave my cheeks and neck, but in the really tough growth areas each side of the mouth and down around the chin it really started to drag and gave me a rash the next day. When I was sharpening myself I was using a Belgian Blue whetstone, and then I tried the pasted strop method to try and get it a bit sharper, with not much success.

Just be careful when you flip the blade that you don't catch yourself. I would still experiment careful with positioning from the side.

I don't really trust the HHT as the final measure. There are a couple of problems with it. The blade might not be even all the way down the edge, for one. Therfore it might appear to cut hair but as soon as you start shaving it would drag from the sections that aren't consistent. Then there are degree by which it cuts the hanging hair and really you should be able to just touch the tops of your hairs. Not all HHTs are equal, at minimum the hairs should ping, at best they should fall off even from the top. Of course, if the blade doesn't treetop at all, then you know you have a problem. As a result I prefer to go by the feel and sound of the razor on the strop s the final test.

My father taught me to listen to the sound of the razor on a canvas strop. You can hear the pitch change when it's ready to go to the leather. If you don't hear that pitch change then the edge isn't right. I use a leather paddle strop maintained with strop balm. This creates a heavy draw. If the razor is ready to shave it will strop without too much pressure to keep it moving smoothly. If it isn't ready it will skip and jump on the strop of you don't apply pressure.

It's hard to quantify levels of Sharpness scientifically and I wouldn't want to mislead you. I have bought a fair few shave ready razors and they haven't been. Except from a couple of sources. Even then they have been improved through pasted stropping. YMMV
 
Just be careful when you flip the blade that you don't catch yourself. I would still experiment careful with positioning from the side.

I don't really trust the HHT as the final measure. There are a couple of problems with it. The blade might not be even all the way down the edge, for one. Therfore it might appear to cut hair but as soon as you start shaving it would drag from the sections that aren't consistent. Then there are degree by which it cuts the hanging hair and really you should be able to just touch the tops of your hairs. Not all HHTs are equal, at minimum the hairs should ping, at best they should fall off even from the top. Of course, if the blade doesn't treetop at all, then you know you have a problem. As a result I prefer to go by the feel and sound of the razor on the strop s the final test.

My father taught me to listen to the sound of the razor on a canvas strop. You can hear the pitch change when it's ready to go to the leather. If you don't hear that pitch change then the edge isn't right. I use a leather paddle strop maintained with strop balm. This creates a heavy draw. If the razor is ready to shave it will strop without too much pressure to keep it moving smoothly. If it isn't ready it will skip and jump on the strop of you don't apply pressure.

It's hard to quantify levels of Sharpness scientifically and I wouldn't want to mislead you. I have bought a fair few shave ready razors and they haven't been. Except from a couple of sources. Even then they have been improved through pasted stropping. YMMV

Is there a YouTube video or anything where I could hear this change in pitch?

What about the stone? Is the Belgian Blue sufficient or should I go to another stone?
 
Is there a YouTube video or anything where I could hear this change in pitch?

What about the stone? Is the Belgian Blue sufficient or should I go to another stone?

I can't say for certain, when someone else is stropping, because I'm not getting the tactile feedback and can't guarantee a change in their stropping motion, but his stropping motion is consistent and even.
Listen to how the sound changes part way though on each strop in this video (not the the different pitch between steps), especially on strops 3 and 4:



Once you have a working blade, pay attention to the sound and feel on the strop and I think you'll pick it up.

Regarding honing and stones : I'm no honing expert. Straight shaving for 30 years, only started honing this January.

Personally, after some false starts I have been using Naniwa synthetic stones. I have found them consistent and easy. 12k for refreshing razors that were previously shaving well. A full progression starting at 1K to set the bevel for razors that never have shaved properly. The full set is expensive though.

I believe other people bevel set with the Naniwa Pro/Chosera 1K and then switch to naturals. This can be a cheaper option.

Another cost effective solution is to use lapping film mounted on glass plates or acrylic blocks. I struggled with this at first but it now works pretty well for me. I still prefer the stones. Search this forum for lapping film and inexpensive stones and you will find some good options.
 
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