Shaviing with a straight razor

Flashpoint

Flashpoint

Joined
Apr 3, 2004
Messages
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I order a strop the other day and it came with a straight razor so I thought I'd give it a try. There most be some secret to this because the only thing I can accomplish is a bad skin burn. If I change the angle to where it feel like a might shave a hair or two the blade digs into my skin like I'm going to fillet my face.:eek: What am I missing?
 
Might be missing a decent straight razor, I wouldn't use one that came with a strop.
 
There was a detailed and very well done article in Blade mag about this a few months back--I will try to dig it up and report back. (I'm not sure whether old Blade articles are available on line.)
 
Flashpoint,
There is so much more to wetshaving than just the razor and strop. The razor though is pretty important . They have to he honed before shaving than stropped. Another important element to wet shaving and one you can't overlook is prep. A nice hot shower, followed by applying a good shave soap/cream with a brush is a must. Proraso and van der hagen for a brush would be a good start and cheap. Then you can move up to a badger brush and super premium soaps and creams if you get into wet shaving. You might also want to check out the shave den and badger and blade for some wet shaving specific sites. Bladeforums also has a subforum, just doesn't get as much traffic, but when I have postedthere my questions have been answered promptly.
 
Make sure the razor can pass a hanging hair test before you shave with it. The minimum would be that when you run it into your arm hair (without touching the skin) you see multiple hairs being cut.

Once the razor is sharp,face prep is essential. Start with a hot shower, then go with the hot moist towel before you apply shaving cream. If you just want to try it out, go for your regular shaving cream from a aerosol but keep the face very moist.

Make sure you hold the razor properly. The handle goes in between your ring finger and your middle finger. That help keep blade angle constant.

Good luck,

Éric
 
Virtually no razor comes suitably sharp. You should have it professionally honed before attempting to shave with it.
 
Moved from General Knife Discussion to Razors, Scissors, & Personal Grooming.

I should be the last one to give advice on any kind of shaving. My beard is older than most people on Bladeforums. :)

There are a few basics you need to know before you start, and everyone so far has added pieces of that puzzle. Keep in mind that a razor is not a knife. Generally speaking, we look for a reasonably strong cutting edge on a knife.

On a razor, we need a shaving edge, which will be polished rather than toothy, and very thin. So thin that using it as a knife would bend it -- a razor edge is essentially a wire edge. That's one reason you have to shave with the blade parallel to your face, not angled into it.

The sharper the razor, the cleaner and easier the shave, of course. But that edge won't last. It needs to be stropped to keep it aligned and polished, and resharpened -- honed -- periodically. How often depends on the quality of the razor, your technique, and your beard. It's something experience will refine.

There's good reading available out there. Check out the Shavecenter at Knife Center and their Razor Sharpening And Using Tips. Here are a few other websites:

Classic Shaving
http://www.classicshaving.com/Home.html

Razor Central
http://www.en.nassrasur.com/razorcentral/index.html

Shave My Face forum
http://www.shavemyface.com/forum/

Straight Razor Place
http://www.straightrazorplace.com/

Badger & Blade
http://www.badgerandblade.com

Don't be discouraged by the seemingly endless reading. A lot of it will fall in place quickly as each site duplicates and reinforces what you've read before, with different context: instructions as opposed to discussions.
 
Thanks for the help everyone. I knew I was missing something, I just didn't know how much.:eek:
 
i use a cheap master razor , an ebay canvas/leather strop,and an aconite (sp) stone...

i dry shave , with no problems other than when i fist started ,my skin would flake...

one thing no one said thats the most important imo, is taught skin. i mean really taught....

-jay hov
 
I'm glad I came across this thread.I've been contemplating shaving with a strait edge for awhile now.

What do you think of those shaving creme heaters that you plug in & attach to the can?
 
I bought a DOVO razor, canvas/leather strop, badger brush and mug, special shaving soaps, and some type of stypic? pencil to stop the bleeding. I spent hours reading online on the do's and don'ts and my hand still shook the first time. My razor was really pretty sharp when I bought it, so the strop has been all I've needed. I will have to buy a hone eventually. I would like some advise about which stone produces the best results.
 
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