Thread: Another First Timer

Oh I've definitely signed up lol. My parents grew up in the 50's, so I was raised with a lot of old school tendencies. Quality seemed to have been the standard back then, not like a lot of things today (ahem cartridges). I have no problem laying out some money for a quality straight and accessories, but paying threw the roof for junk was killing me.

Thanks for the info linacman, I was actually considering the Bismarck but decided to go cheaper for my first. I think I'm going to keep an eye out for a spike point in the classifieds. I'd like to build a small rotation and would love to have some diversity. I'm not to worried about a little blood here and there, it happens. Even with disposables.

And I've got a question similar to Shoki's, during my first shave I was putting the blade parallel to the line I was trying to make. My thinking was "The blade is straight so the line will be straight." Do you guy's go perpendicular?

Haha, just looked at the classifieds after posting this and a spike point bismarck just sold. My wallet is definitely going to get lighter since I already have a real strong impulse to get another razor.
-Andrew

Andrew & Shoki,

Firstly I must confess that I'm one of those guys without true "sideburns". I have relatively sparse facial hair on my cheeks & sideburns region. It's more like the hair on my head gets shorter as it progresses down in front of my ears. That being said, I do have to define a line at the inferior (towards the floor) end of the "sideburns".

Andrew, I'm not totally certain that I understand your question, but I try to maintain the inferior margin parallel to the floor. Shoki, this does take some gymnastics with regards to seeing what I'm doing. When shaving the right sideburns, I hold the razor with my right hand, turn my face to the left, put my left arm over my head to stretch the skin, and look out of the right corner of my eye. This is pretty hard for me because I'm blind without my glasses, and I'm having to look through the corner of my glasses. Yes, the spine and face of the blade covers up the inferior end of my sideburns making it hard to tell exactly where I am. With the blade hovering just above the inferior end of my sideburns I move in an inferior direction until the moment the hair disappears from view, then let the blade touch my face to begin the downward stroke. Does this make any sense - it sounds complicated, but really isn't.

Greg

Hi Andrew,

Welcome to SRP.

Stuart.

Oh man, second shave is in the books. This morning my brush came in, a king size Pure Badger (Parker or something I think, 38 bucks). I also got in some Taylor of Old Bond Street Lavender soap. So of course I took them both for a test drive with my two days of stubble.

I have to admit, I nicked myself a number of times. I've been stropping my blade every chance I get and I seriously feel that its even sharper than when I got it. That combined with my definitely lacking technique added up to some blood. That being said, this shave was truly pleasurable. I got a nice creamy lather going, it was standing out from the brush on its own. I used a bunch of the tips I've read here to make the lather. I think the one that was most useful was to put some hot water ontop of the soap and let it sit. I left it while I showered and it softened up the soap so it was good and ready when I put the brush to it. I used a little wooden bowl I have to whip it up, and sat it in a sink of hot water to keep it nice and warm. The TOBS soap smelled delicious, and I liked how the big brush made a ton of lather. Quick question, do you leave the leftover lather or do you rinse out your bowls everytime? I know to rinse the brush, but can you rehydrate the soap in the bowl later on?

And linacman, to clear up my earlier question: Do you use the toe of the blade running along your lines to touch up, or do you put the legnth of the blade along the line?

Thanks for the encouragement guys.

-Andrew

Don't worry about the nicks to much, that's common. My first two shaves were nick-less then over confidence kicked in and I got my self good on #3.
Respect the edge!!

Have fun, it only gets better!

Congrats on shave #2. Nothing wrong with letting the lather dry in your mug or bowl or whatever, but it likely to contribute very little to the next shaving session.

You're on the money rod, after such a great first shave I was definitely over confident (and I had a couple extra cups of coffee = bit of a jittery hand). But blood, sweat, and tears is what built this country right? Figure its a good foundation for my shaving! lol

Again, thanks for the advice Mark. Yesterday I noticed something that's bugging me a little. There are a couple of spots on my blade, and I've read how easily they rust. I've done everything I can to allow it to dry properly after shaving, so I'm wondering if these are normal? Maybe just water spots? They are dark in color though, and I don't really know if we have hard water or anything. I tried to snap a picture of it, but with my phone it was tough to get a good shot. Anyone have any thoughts?

Figured I'd throw in a shot of my setup too.

-Andrew

Hi, Yup, they look like water spots..Sometimes they can be buffed out, sometimes not...Depends...You can try something like MAAS, or Mother's mag and wheel polish. That may help clean it up. Make sure you keep a thin coat of oil on the blade when not in use, Camelia, Mineral, either is fine...Or, you can use one of those Silicone treated gun cloths...They're great if your blade is out a lot, just a few wipes, and it's protected..Wipe clean before shaving....Nice Gear. Welcome to the forum.

Rich

Beautiful pic of yours setup.

As to your question about water spots. They won't really damage the razor, but they do happen. As long as you dry your razor after each shave, and keep the pivot area dry, you shouldn't have to worry about rust. Storing the razor outside the bathroom also helps.

You should also strop after your shave to make sure the very edge of the razor is as dry and clean as possible. Many do 10-20 strokes on the linen side of the strop to achieve this (or regular strop, if you don't have a linen side).

andrew, now comes the part of the fun that about 90% of us members are in a program for, it is called RAD, and dont try to fight it, as the borg say, resistance is futile. welcome to the club, now you will find yourself looking forward to the days you shave, like a junkie needing a fix, soon you look at your head and go, yea i can shave that to, when that day comes dont fight it, just go for it. now i have to go and get a hot towel going for my head shave, i have been putting this off for a couple of days so its definatly about time.