First [Traditional] Straight Shave

Blue As A Jewel · Post by **Blue As A Jewel** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 7:17 pm

Due to the extreme generosity of one Dr. Christopher Moss, I received a lovely, expertly honed 5/8 Kropp razor. I got it on a Wednesday and wisely decided to shave with it on Saturday. I could hardly wait! I showed it to my wife, I showed it to my son, I showed to my other son... I showed it to the cat, I showed it to the other cat... I was smitten! Them?... not so much...

FINALLY, Saturday rolled around. I showered late Saturday afternoon and lathered up with some Mitchells Woolfat... and then... I started the shave...

The key thing I noticed was the significant difference in feedback when compared to my Feather. The greater feedback on the Kropp allowed for better control of the blade. The Feather slices so effortlessly that sometimes you can easily end up with irritation without realizing.

I also followed Chris' advice and maintained a shallower edge angle (I'm guessing between 18-20 degrees). The shave was easy (easier than the Feather), no issues and I was able to do 3-passes - while it wasn't BBS, it was comfortable. I did clean up with a DE and all was good! As an aside - the application of the lower angle also did wonders for the Feather...

I have a strop coming and we'll see where this will take me (I'm pretty sure I can guess!), but I'm pretty stoked about the straight.

Thank you again for everything Chris - its very much appreciated!

matt321 · Post by **matt321** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:12 pm

Wow, very nice deal there!

I've never tried a Feather but if you can handle that I bet a straight razor would be a piece of cake.

loueedacat1 · Post by **loueedacat1** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:51 pm

The learning curve is fast if you are smitten, and it sounds like you are. It's good stuff - you are in for some fun.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 9:40 pm

Matt, It all depends on one's frame of reference. I found the Feather AC to be easy enough but the traditional straights 'pulled' too much and I couldn't get comfortable with that. You're used to a straight, and I'm used to a DE and that's what made the difference in how we perceived the AC I suspect. Glad it seems to be working out for you, Ravi.
Regards,
Gordon

Post by **drmoss_ca** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 1:33 am

Congratulations. That little razor won't shave as close as a Feather, but at least there won't be any tenderness at the end of the week, which was what finally turned me off Feathers.

Chris

Post by **Sam** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 5:47 am

I also had an issue with some pulling on tradtional straights, but they did not nick me nearly as much as the Feather straight razor did. I have wanted to try the Japanese Feather straight (shorter handle, no tang, etc). to see if that would help with my neck area. Glad to see that you enjoyed it Ravi.

Blue As A Jewel · Post by **Blue As A Jewel** » Sat Jul 17, 2010 6:06 pm

2nd shave with the Kropp this afternoon and even better than the first! I better get my strop soon though - not sure if I want to try and squeeze another shave out of this little guy!

When do I need to move beyond the strop?

SiR-ed8 · Post by **SiR-ed8** » Sat Jul 17, 2010 7:07 pm

Ravi,

Congratulations and welcome to the club! When I first started I did so with my sideburns. Also picked up couple of pre-owned from Mike ( Retrogrouch ) nice gent indeed. Anyway, apart from couple new ones I didn't want to risk damaging it do to incompence if not inexperience. I was relieved in that I did neither. The pre-owned razors were well honed by Mike IIRC and I have positive experience on that account.

Before even thinking of honing, I reckon stropping was one I needed to master before anything else apart from angle techniques. Even perfectly honed edge can be ruined with the quickness under inexperienced hands and many times you find people claiming "first SR shave great but second not so great..." because they may have rolled the edge on the strop among other things.

May you have many great shaves Rav.

Post by **drmoss_ca** » Sun Jul 18, 2010 3:21 am

Provided you don't do any harm to the edge when stropping, you should be good for a minimum of a month of daily shaves. Nothing happens suddenly; it just gradually pulls a bit, requires more pressure to get smooth, and then the penny drops and you realise you need to touch up. At this point, a pasted strop could do the job, perhaps for two or three cycles, and then it won't and you need hones.

Chris
Or Canada Post.

desertbadger · Post by **desertbadger** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 7:37 pm

The Doc has demonstrated his generosity many times. Glad that it worked out for you....keep it up!

Regards,
David

Tye · Post by **Tye** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 8:11 pm

Very nice. Well done, Chris.

-Tye

loueedacat1 · Post by **loueedacat1** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 6:16 am

drmoss_ca wrote:Provided you don't do any harm to the edge when stropping, you should be good for a minimum of a month of daily shaves. Nothing happens suddenly; it just gradually pulls a bit, requires more pressure to get smooth, and then the penny drops and you realise you need to touch up. At this point, a pasted strop could do the job, perhaps for two or three cycles, and then it won't and you need hones.

Chris
Or Canada Post.

This depends on a lot of things and is different for different people. I have to go to touch ups a lot more often than that (probably more like every week - I rotate too much to keep count so I'm not sure actually) - and I can't get more than 2 or 3 used out of a DE blade or mach 3 cartridge either. I have tough beard hair.