Thread: On the edge

Hi everyone.

Just finish another amazing shave. I currenly use a Henckel.

After finishing, i dried it and went for the

Before i started, i felt the edge and it felt not as sharp as when i started.

I have a strong beard. My one day regrow is quite hard. I use pre-shave oil, hot towel,.....

I do 3 passes.

I am relatively new to this. Is this normal under normal use?

Cheers!

Oh, also, would you consider stropping between passes?

.i have an extremely tough beard and shave everyday, have not had to strop between passes, how many shaves are on the blade? If you don't have many shave and are not really experienced, your technique can dull a blade and the stropping may not be improving it either, but having to strop between passes is not a good sign of how well the blade holds an edge.. Give us more details, like what razor is it, who honed it. And pictures.

Put your location in your profile and maybe someone close to you could assess your blade or technique to help you out. Tc

Thx for the advice tcrideshd.

i updated my profile.

if I shave everyday, and I strop after shave, dont I strop after every pass?

I have another razor and I will try and see if the edge is not as sharp as when I started.

Cheers.

Well if your stropping is spot on it can't hurt, but if your stropping isn't, the more you do the more it affects it. I only strop a few laps after shaving to clean the edge for the night then give it a good stropping before my shave. I just haven't run into an edge that won't last, all of my razors are quality products, and some of the ones on the do not buy list had some metal issues. Maybe that's the problem,, but in your neck of the woods, look up members close to you, or one will come along we got guys up there. Tc

Test result. I shaved with a wade & butcher for barber only shave ready from reputable seller.

Same soap, brush, water temp,.... and after 3 pass the edge being still sharp has less if a "bite" then before use. Same result as with the henckel.

So the Henckel blade is fine.

Just like with the henckel, went to strop a few pass and the edge is back.

Could this be the shaving technique (pressure on skin)?

My beard to hard?

Or is this is fine and i should not pay to much attention to this.

Excuse the picture, i just wanted to show. Blade was oiled and iphone doesnt do justice.

I will ask the wife for her digital :-)

Cheers

There are a few members in Quebec, however that is a very large are. Badgister is in Montreal and knows a lot of people, so a quick PM to him would be a good start. A Henckels is a quality razor and should hold a great edge. I'm curious as to how good it was to start and not only does poor stropping effect an edge but so will shaving with a high angle. Technique is everything.

The razor in the picture appears to have a dent in the edge on the toe.

It does look like it but the toe is fine.

I guess its a combination of camelia oil, light and iphone!

I will get a better picture and post it over the week-end.

Originally Posted by RezDog

There are a few members in Quebec, however that is a very large are. Badgister is in Montreal and knows a lot of people, so a quick PM to him would be a good start. A Henckels is a quality razor and should hold a great edge. I'm curious as to how good it was to start and not only does poor stropping effect an edge but so will shaving with a high angle. Technique is everything.

Concur with RezDog - technique is everything! I also have a tough beard and it's pretty hard on my razors. I hone them myself because I can't keep paying someone to hone them for me. I get a good 7-10 shaves out of a blade before I need to refresh on a chromium oxide pasted strop - and then I can get maybe 3 more shaves out of it and then it's back to the hones. I shave everyday, maybe take one day off on a weekend. I strop on linen and leather prior to every shave.

I found, over time, that the higher the angle I use on my wedges, the fewer good shaves I get before the need to refresh. I've consciously eased up on the pressure and brought the spine closer to my face to decrease the angle and I get just as good shaves and the blades last longer for me. When I started I used way to much pressure on my face - made for close shaves but when I made a mistake it also made deeper nicks! You may try easing up on the pressure and lowering your angle - so bring the spine of the razor closer to your face - maybe just a single spine width away. Be careful because the lower the angle the easier it is to nick yourself. Go slow. In terms of pressure - you don't need much, way less than you think. Your best shaves will come from very little pressure - just wiping off the shaving cream with low controlled angles. I do three passes, nice and easy, rather than a bunch of pressure on one pass.

Adam