Thread: First Post, First Shave, Lots of Questions.

Hello all, love the forum. Been reading for awhile and finally tried my first shave tonight with not so great results. I purchased a honed and stropped shave ready geneva razor from fleabay lathered up and went to town. Ouch. First question, how do you know if a razor is really shave ready? It felt like I was grinding my face with sandpaper, very uncomfortable, lots of pulling, I did manage to get a couple smooth spots going ATG. Can your technique be so bad that even a shave ready razor will have this effect? I tried a few different angles thinking maybe my face is different, lots of lather, water.. I know there is a big learning curve and it takes practice but is this horrible of a first time normal? Does beard lenght make a difference? I had just shaved the day before so I only had very short stubble.

Some go by the hanging hair test. If the razor cuts the hair all along the edge they say it is shave ready. I suggest check the edge with a magnifyer to see if it is rough or stroped smooth. Also it could be the angle you are holding the razor at. The razor should almost be flat against the face. Not a heavy pressure. Be patient you will get a lot of good advice on this site.

Shave ready and eBay don't necessarily go together. Look in the SRP classifieds for honing services, usually done by one of the SRP members. Lynn, our founder, hones thru SRD. Also, is you state where you are at and ask if there are any mentors near you that you can meet with, they usually are very happy to do some honing for you at no charger and answer many, many questions for you at the same time. I have had one meeting with my local mentor (45 minutes from me!) and came away with two eBay finds beautifully honed that shave like a dream. And enough answers to keep my brain occupied for days. Another meeting lining up and I'm going into it to pick his brain clean on many topics. Write your questions down. One thing that i have gleaned from the many posts here on many topics was one that sticks with me every morning. With a straight razor shave the cream, not the beard. Meaning low blade angle and as light a pressure as you can cultivate. It did wonders for my shave.

Good luck and shave safely, Razorfeld

There are many variables as to why one does not get a good shave. The first shave is usually not so great, so don't worry. Mine was scratchy and uneven. It took a year to get what I would call an ideal shave. And one is always improving with daily practice. To have a standard on a shave ready razor I would recommend you send it to a person who is a master in honing, a honemaster. There is a section in this forum of services and there are honemasters who can get that razor to a very sharp standard. Because other than that, it's subjective. If the razor is very sharp and your technique is ok, the razor will not pull. Never force it, it is a subtle touch you need to develop, always very conscious For honing services, from my personal experience I can recommend Straight Razor Designs, (I bought my first razor there) and Whipped Dog Straights (I have bought shave ready vintage razors from Larry) but also look in the member services. The other factors are your technique with the razor, beard preparation and stropping technique. There's a lot of info in this forum, videos, and many friendly people who will help.

Originally Posted by LionFishSlayer

Hello all, love the forum. Been reading for awhile and finally tried my first shave tonight with not so great results. I purchased a honed and stropped shave ready geneva razor from fleabay lathered up and went to town. Ouch. First question, how do you know if a razor is really shave ready? It felt like I was grinding my face with sandpaper, very uncomfortable, lots of pulling, I did manage to get a couple smooth spots going ATG. Can your technique be so bad that even a shave ready razor will have this effect? I tried a few different angles thinking maybe my face is different, lots of lather, water.. I know there is a big learning curve and it takes practice but is this horrible of a first time normal? Does beard lenght make a difference? I had just shaved the day before so I only had very short stubble.

A day's growth should be no problem; that's what I have every day. You said "ATG". If you really meant against the grain, then that's a big problem right there. To start you only should be going with the grain; it's MUCH easier.

Since your probably unsure of most sharpness tests try this. Holding the razor near you elbow moving toward the wrist try to take the very tops of your arm hairs. They should come away easily with no pulling. If not get it honed. Good luck.

Wow! Thanks for all the replies! I did try the HHT and it failed but I also read that the test is very subjective and a razor could shave fine that fails the test. The seller stated the razor was honed and stropped then checked under magnification for any flaws. I'm a microscope guru myself so I also checked it out but I dont really know what I'm looking for so it was not much use. I did expect the edge to be very polished and chrome like. It did have a nice edge but there were tiny scratches in it.. again, dont know if this is normal. I would love to meet with someone experienced in person! Do I find someone from on here? Where would I ask? Yes, I know I was only supposed to go WTG but I was getting nowhere with that so I tried it just on the flat cheek part of my face.

Hard to take a phone pic through a scope but here is what the edge looks like at 40x maybe someone can tell from this.

LionFishSlayer, I'll say it again. Change your info to show where you are and ask, on this thread, if there are any mentors in your area and can you meet with one of them. They will have answers to questions you haven't thought of yet and will show you what a good edge should look like and hone the razor for you so you can have a fruitful experience on your next shave.

Originally Posted by LionFishSlayer

Hard to take a phone pic through a scope but here is what the edge looks like at 40x maybe someone can tell from this.

LionFishSlayer, that is a great image and you might get more feedback if you post this in the "Honing" section since your new I don't think a double post will be an issue.

As far as this edge is concerned, I have one question and one comment.

Question, is the edge uniform like what is shown in your image across the entire edge on both sides?
Comment, the edge does not look properly honed to me. The striations or "cut marks from the hone itself" are not tightly packed and uniform. This is my opinion and someone with much greater knowledge may answer to this as well. But the edge on this image looks as if there was no consistent honing stroke. Even if circular strokes were used, the final polishing stroke should show an X-stroke pattern or something similar. Also the polish on this edge looks more hazy and less refined.

Again these are my opinions and what I see wrong as a student to shaving and honing straight razors. Im sure others will enjoy looking at this image and using it as a learning tool as well.

Good luck and don't lose hope. One you experience just a good straight razor shave, you'll understand all the fuss. Then the search and exercise for a great shave begins!