More help needed

The Crab Maestro

The Crab Maestro

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6
Hi again,
I'm not sure which is failing me, my technique or my razor. I spent about half an hour working on my face (I'm not very fast yet) and it barely cut any hair off.
Razor came from a £20 shaving set off amazon with a strop and brush, very sharp but I'm not sure quite how sharp it needs to be.
Technique feels correct, I hold it at a good angle and then move in short cuts across, against and with the grain. I don't use oil, but my hair feels quite soft anyway (does that make any difference?), I use foam and hot water.
If anyone has any pointers as to what could be going wrong here it would be very appreciated.
 
Hi Crabster,
Just to confirm, if this is a straight razor, then assuming it has a decent edge, when you say you're holding it at a good angle, the heel (blunt edge) of the blade should be almost touching your cheek as you hold the skin taut and slowly move the cutting edge along the cheek.
i only mention this as on many of the film depictions of using a straight razor, which are shot using a blunted blade, the razor sometimes appears to be approaching a right angle perpendicular to the cheek.

JohnnyO. o/.
 
JohnnyO said:
Hi Crabster,
Just to confirm, if this is a straight razor, then assuming it has a decent edge, when you say you're holding it at a good angle, the heel (blunt edge) of the blade should be almost touching your cheek as you hold the skin taut and slowly move the cutting edge along the cheek.
i only mention this as on many of the film depictions of using a straight razor, which are shot using a blunted blade, the razor sometimes appears to be approaching a right angle perpendicular to the cheek.

JohnnyO. o/.
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Holding it at about a 30ish degree angle, maybe I'll try a lower angle.
 
I'm sure I'll be joined by other, far more knowledgeable members soon. I have any
about 2 years of straight shaving under my belt and get consistent excellent quality shaves.

I can say with about 98% certainty that a £20 straight razor from amazon will not be "shave ready", no matter if it was advertised as such.

Even very reputable shaving companies (looking at you, Dovo) have poor reputation for sending out "shave ready" razors which have not had a bevel set and won't remove hair.

You will at least need to send your razor to one of the guys here that can put a good edge on it for you - @Fergiebilly or @pugh-the-special-one will do it perfectly.

There is a chance the razor you have purchased will be so poor even they can't get it usable for you. You would be best off buying a shave ready vintage one from one of those guys, or one from someone else on our BST here, then sending it out to be honed. There are some good and reliable ebay sellers (billyji1) where you will get a shave ready, vintage razor for £30-50.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news
 
P.s.
If you have one that's truly shave ready, the problem won't be that you finish the shave without being smooth... it'll be that in trying to get your face smooth you keep cutting yourself (and leaving little lines everywhere - you look like you lost a fight with a kitten).

Start slow, don't even aim for "smooth" - aim to end up with a reasonable shave, maybe some hair missed her and there, but without hurting yourself, and aim for very little irritation by keeping your pressure minimal (as in absolutely feather light)
 
Dansco said:
I'm sure I'll be joined by other, far more knowledgeable members soon. I have any
about 2 years of straight shaving under my belt and get consistent excellent quality shaves.

I can say with about 98% certainty that a £20 straight razor from amazon will not be "shave ready", no matter if it was advertised as such.

Even very reputable shaving companies (looking at you, Dovo) have poor reputation for sending out "shave ready" razors which have not had a bevel set and won't remove hair.

You will at least need to send your razor to one of the guys here that can put a good edge on it for you - @Fergiebilly or @pugh-the-special-one will do it perfectly.

There is a chance the razor you have purchased will be so poor even they can't get it usable for you. You would be best off buying a shave ready vintage one from one of those guys, or one from someone else on our BST here, then sending it out to be honed. There are some good and reliable ebay sellers (billyji1) where you will get a shave ready, vintage razor for £30-50.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news
Click to expand...
No problem, I was expecting that when I bought it but was hoping that I wouldn't have to replace it. At least I got a decent box, strop and brush.
I'm presuming there would be a charge for sending it off to be sharpened, I'll have to ask one of those two about it; or maybe even get a proper whetstone.
I've only cut myself twice with it, once on the finger and once on the chin, so it might be duller than I need it to be.
Anyway, thanks!
 
The Crab Maestro said:
No problem, I was expecting that when I bought it but was hoping that I wouldn't have to replace it. At least I got a decent box, strop and brush.
I'm presuming there would be a charge for sending it off to be sharpened, I'll have to ask one of those two about it; or maybe even get a proper whetstone.
I've only cut myself twice with it, once on the finger and once on the chin, so it might be duller than I need it to be.
Anyway, thanks!
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong, I can't say for certain. Maybe it is indeed ready to go, but if they didn't say shave ready then it's not. And if they did, it might not be!

Don't try and learn to hone on a whetstone yet - you'll never know if the problem is your technique or the razor. Let someone who knows what they're doing remove that variable and provide you with a superb edge, then if it's not working you know it's you!

Both Billy and Jamie have honed my razors in the past - without suggesting a preference for one or the other, they'll both discuss with you over PM on here and provide you a sharpening service by post for around £15.

What you could probably do is send it to them, they'll take a look, and if it isn't usable they might even send you a different one back ready to use, discounting what you've already paid. I know Billy often has some ready to sell. They're both nice guys.
 
These are mine (I actually have 6 now) and all have been to Billy or Jamie for honing - I now own a Naniwa 8k and 12k for keeping them sharp, but I don't trust myself to set a good bevel yet. I now only need to send them back to those guys if I dink them on a sink or something, or if my own poor stropping/ stone work leaves them dull.

20190218_101959.jpg
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The Crab Maestro said:
Damn I can't wait until I can afford a really nice one, those are beautiful. How much were those?
Click to expand...

Range of prices there. You can get a good quality vintage straight razor, sometimes shave ready, from members here on our BST for about £40-50. Sometimes cheaper, obviously second hand people sell at their own price. The Herder 77 with the light cream scales was NOS from Japan on Ebay and was just more than £100. You can find one in your price range for sure
 
The Crab Maestro said:
I'm not sure which is failing me, my technique or my razor. I spent about half an hour working on my face (I'm not very fast yet) and it barely cut any hair off.
Razor came from a £20 shaving set off amazon with a strop and brush, very sharp but I'm not sure quite how sharp it needs to be.
Click to expand...
I am almost certain that razor will not be shave ready. You either learn to hone and strop or send it away for honing.
Technique also takes time to learn, especially with a straight razor which means shaving with both hands {right for right hand cheek and left for left hand cheek}.
You may wish to consider using a shavette to improve your technique then you won't have to worry about the edge being sharp enough. Trying to resolve too many variables can be frustrating and slows progress.
 
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