Second Straight Shave

antdad

antdad

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10,991
I now know why I struggled with my Peerless 5/8, thought I'd stropped it when I hadn't. Do'h. :shock:

After stropping I had a fair two pass shave, admittedly not much to shave compared to yesterday but no D.E required. Skin is a bit sore after pressing too hard but I'm enjoying it very much.

I'm looking a bit silly with much of my arm hair gone and I'm getting the look as I approach the longer haired members of the clan, are there any other ways of testing a razor?
 
Hmm not really, i do the arm hair test as well fortunately im bit of a silverback there so always have plenty to shave off.

Rather than pressing try working on your angle just enough so you hear the hair being cut off, too much and it winds up being aggressive so will either catch or not cut at all and risk damaging the edge.

Just don't wind up expecting too much or you end up frustrated.
 
I didn't think you could damage the edge on your own hair.

I've enjoyed the couple of shaves so hopefully it isn't a false start.
 
Technically you do each time you use the razor albeit microscopically i was more on about the possibility of you rolling the edge much the same way as stropping the wrong way.

Well good to know your shaves are going well mine were a bit hit and miss a lot of it was just tiredness mixed with inexperience.

Honing however is great i really advise you to learn how to once you really get into it, not just because you'll be self sufficient with time you'll learn how to get that edge exactly how you want it rather than having to send it off.
 
I just nicked myself three times on my straight shave, first time in a while I've done that. I think I got over cocky. You absolutely cannot stop showing these razors respect. The instant you get familiar with them, bam, they show you who's the daddy.

Stropping - your first strop, it's full of nicks, right? Everyone's is. Isn't it? Mine is. I'm gonna buy a proper one off Neil Miller one day, but I just don't want to buy one of his beauts a nick it to death.

Good on you antsy if you're up to two pass straight shaves already. I still quiver with fear at the ATG straight pass.
 
The bevel edge under a microscope is an incredibly fragile thing. Photographs taken before and after a shave show what looks like colossal damage - the thin bevel is bent and distorted by our whiskers. Stropping helps to realign the bent 'microfin' at the leading edge of the bevel. But all this is at electron microscope level - does it really matter in the real world?

If the microfin is going to be deflected, bent, ravaged, lied to and left heartbroken then it is going to happen as soon as you start shaving. How could it possibly retain the integrety to last to the end of the shave? In poor steels it doesn't. With really tough beards it doesn't and you have to restrop part way through the shave, but in most situations it does survive, and the shave is completed to our satisfaction. What then is the effect of a few soft armhairs? To me it would be like making one shave on your cheek and then giving up, the reason being that the hairs had buggered up the edge.

Huxley is right about the pressure - you absolutely should not apply pressure, rather you should vary your angle of attack and/or rethink your skin pulling approach. I cannot emphasise how important skin pulling is (I hope Rev-O isn't reading this) - if it isn't taut and the hairs lined in the right direction you will not achieve a really smooth shave.

To clarify that a bit, you have to study your whisker growth and get familiar with the pattern. The chin and under the chin especially is hard to deal with - here the whiskers obey no known law of man, but run amok and grow in any direction that pleases them most. To rain ruin on these rebels you have to pull in different ways. If you pull behind the direction of growth they will stand up and be decimated. If you pull in front of them they will lie down and evade persecution. Get to know thy whiskers.

From what I remember, your gorgeous Peerless is a thinner ground blade. These take a bit of getting used to, so I suggest you persevere with the lather shovel for now. The more hollow ground a blade is, the more it will distort - so less pressure is required, both in shaving, stropping and honing. It is a really good steel though and you will appreciate it more and more as your skills progress.

All the Best,
Neil
 
Arrowhead said:
I reckon you're doing well Tony, it's all that DE experience and knowing your beard growth probably.
Click to expand...

One side of me face looks like I've gone back to the cartridge...not pretty.
 
antdad said:
Arrowhead said:
I reckon you're doing well Tony, it's all that DE experience and knowing your beard growth probably.
Click to expand...

One side of me face looks like I've gone back to the cartridge...not pretty.
Click to expand...
Mine's a bit like that today, strangely enough on the side I shave holding the razor with the fingers I slammed in my car door last week, I suspect the two things are related.
 
antdad said:
Arrowhead said:
I reckon you're doing well Tony, it's all that DE experience and knowing your beard growth probably.
Click to expand...

One side of me face looks like I've gone back to the cartridge...not pretty.
Click to expand...


Remember you don't have to go xtg atg etc, try using different angles of attack so instead of going straight down the sideburns i will try and perform a sort of gillette slide which i find works great.
 
It's early days. You haven't given yourself a proper cut, and have removed whiskers successfully: not bad at all. If your face is protesting that's unfortunate, but not unexpected given the sudden change in your routine, and besides I'm sure you'll know what to do about it.

What's a Gillette slide? I suspect that's what I did tonight when I nicked myself - with a safety razor, dammit.
 
Well it's kind of when you bring the razor down but go across at the same time you have to be careful doing this with a straight of course, im learning that if i attack my hairs head on i end up with a rough shave, with a de i can shave how i want but with a straight no chance but im slowly getting there.

I do have some balsa and fixcut gold crayon to give touchups a try, i've always responded well to super sharp edges so hopefully this will give me what im after, but that's another subject. ;)
 
antdad said:
I now know why I struggled with my Peerless 5/8, thought I'd stropped it when I hadn't. Do'h. :shock:

After stropping I had a fair two pass shave, admittedly not much to shave compared to yesterday but no D.E required. Skin is a bit sore after pressing too hard but I'm enjoying it very much.

I'm looking a bit silly with much of my arm hair gone and I'm getting the look as I approach the longer haired members of the clan, are there any other ways of testing a razor?
Click to expand...

It's ok we all have to start somewhere my friend. Just remember the blade is supposed to glide smoothly. If you have to press hard to shave that's not ideal. In some cases it's not sharp enough or if it tugs it needs more hone work but this varies. Everyone's hair growth vary from one person to the next. I just shaved my bro this past weekend and his hair grows completely different from mine and have to take that into account. Anyway keep up the good work. I'm a two-pass shaver myself.
 
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