Thread: Please help with first shave!

Originally Posted by jkh0208

Then I attempted shaving. It didn't really pull the hair on the side of my face, but it barely took any off as I shaved it. When I got to my chin, it really started to pull the hair so I quit and reapplied the soap.

You've received some terrific advice but perhaps the most important item for you to follow up on is the article Lynn Abrams wrote that JimmyHAD mentions in his post above. Read that article and follow it to the letter to facilitate your success. Also, follow the barber's advice on how to hold a straight razor that you'll find in Jimmy's sig.
Namaste,
Morty -_-

Thanks for the replies, everyone! I'm going to keep at it for a few weeks and I'll let you know how it comes along.

Well, that's why Sir James is a mentor and I'm not. Well done Jimmy.

I don't have the tact gene. I'm way too blunt and always have been.

JKH0208, sorry if I was too blunt.

I've never purchased a new razor so I don't know the veracity of their claim that a new razor is shave ready. If you check out my thread titled "Help!!!!!" I went through exactly the same issues you did. After a month and thirty frustrating shave attempts, everything was solved when i sent my razors to Lynn for honing. When i got them back and did my first shave(unstropped) I was amazed what a difference...my razor effortlessly shaved my face for the first time. I seriously suggest you consider the possibility that your razor is simply not keen enough.

Rolling the blade's edge is easy to do. I did it on my first professionally honed razor I bought from SRD. I was fortunate enough to have been able to learn the way I did.

I had a straight razor that I bought 20 years ago from a cutlery shop that I didn't realize needed to be honed, tried to shave with it (which didn't go so well) and put it in a drawer for the next 20 years. About a year ago, I decided to try it again except this time I had a nice tool to get me started...The internet & SRP. After doing some research, I learned that it needed to be honed. I grabbed my old Smith tripple sided hone and went to town. Although I don't recommend this type of hone, I was able to get my razor shave ready. I started shaving a little at a time with it, then bought my Dovo Bismark from SRD and WOW... what a first shave. The second day, I stropped it and the shave was terrible. I learned right quick how easy it is to roll an edge. The reason I said I was fortunate to learn the way I did, was because I already had a little experience shaving with a fairly sharp razor. When I rolled the edge I knew right away that it wasn't my angle, etc.. and something else must have been wrong.

My best advice to you is try going a day without shaving, then try doing each cheek using both sides of the blade and see how it comes out. With two days stubble, you can easily see and feel how well the razor works. If the razor pulls a lot or shaves completely different when using both sides of the blade, you may have well rolled the edge and will need to get it re-honed. If it seems to shave OK then it may just be an angle or pressure problem. You made a comment about your shave being spotty. It's very possible this may have been from using too little pressure or blade angle (laying the blade almost flat on your skin). Make sure to have a good air gap between the spine and your skin.

As far as shaving your chin, until you get use to blade angle, you will experience a slight pulling sensation. I found my chin to be the most difficult area to learn how to shave. Use little, short strokes continually adjusting the blade angle as you progress around the curve of it. You can't expect to be able to shave this using a long stroke as you can with a disposable razor.

I hope this helps. Don't give up, keep at it and soon you will find yourself actually looking forward to shaving. Not to mention, it's a geat conversational piece anywhere you go. Be warned though, it's addictive and you may soon find yourself wanting to try different razors. I didn't have that problem and was able to stop at 30 different razors just yesterday! LOL! You're in the right place for all kinds of experience and advice and we hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks, that's very helpful info! I wish I could go a day without shaving, but unless I get more than one day off in a row I'm unable to. Being an ensign in the navy I'm expected to keep clean shaven at all times, which honestly I don't understand considering chiefs are allowed to have mustaches. I seem to grow facial hair extremely fast, so by night time it seems to be a little under 1/8" long.

People buy "shave ready" razors & sometimes they ain't, sometimes they are.
The same razors can be poorly stropped by the new owner & alongside with inexperience in use, first shaves can be disappointing, to say the least. You are actually in control of all these factors tho they are a challenge at first. So........
1. Utilise a "good" honemeister if the blade is a concern
2. The rest is research & ... Practice. Keep at it

Out of curiosity, what is the width of your blade? I happened to think of something after my last post. The first razor I ever used and stropped without any problem was a 5/8 and the Dovo Bismark I ordered after a couple of weeks and rolled the edge on was a 6/8. I don't know if this could be the case, but I'm wondering if the wider blade widths could be easier to roll. I'm asking to satisfy my own curiosity. It makes sense though.

Mine is a 5/8 king cutter. I gave it another shot today. I tried the hot tower after putting on a first lather, but it irritated my skin. I think I might be allergic to the west indie bay soap. I put another lather on afterwords and attempted to shave. I was able to shave both sides of my face with very little discomfort, but again I got to my chin and it started pulling no matter what angle I tried. I tried to brave through the pulling and ended up taking a small chunk out of my chin, so I gave up on the chin area and started on the neck. I couldn't get anywhere with my neck until I tried shaving upwards, then it went alright but missed lots of hairs. I eventually gave up and went to a double edge safety razor I picked up this weekend at an antique shop and a pack of cheap personna blades from walmart. My first shave with the safety razor gave me a very nice shave with one minor nick, and it felt smooth with no pulling at all. It didn't even feel like it was cutting hair, just felt like a small bar of metal was gently sliding over my wet face, yet it cut the hair so smooth. I think I jacked up my straight razor's edge by stopping due to my shakey hands, even though to the naked eye the edge looks great. Now I'm interested in a nice safety razor for SRD but I spent all my money on the straight razor set.

It just seems to me, that our biggest problem as beginners is that we just can't tell when the razor is sharp. Much of the advice is "well if it is sharp it shaves well", but we have to get over the learning curve of learning how to shave with it. I'll be learning the TPT thumb pad test before I scrape up my face with a dull straight again.....

I have been going over some honing vids, and he shows the thumb pad test for telling when a razor is sharp. He also says it would be good to compare to like a double edge blade for compare.

YouTube - Straight Razor Honing Demonstration Part 1