First Time Out... Won't Cut

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174
I received my Edwin Jagger DE89 this morning and attempted my first DE shave.

I was extremely wary about this "new" technology and the possibility of slashing my face up, but I didn't have this problem - I had a situation where no matter what I did I could not get it to cut. Before anyone asks, I did remember to put the blade in first, an Astra SP, which looks lined up properly and it will shave hair from my arm.

I tried a variety of angles with no joy but didn't want to start applying pressure to try and force it into the skin to cut.

I had to give up and shave using my regular cartridge razor.

My face hair is course, though I can't say I've anything to compare it to what with me not fondling other men's faces so it may be standard. With cartridge razors I had to stick to those with 4 blades or under because the higher blade count carts wouldn't cut at all and glided over my face doing nothing like the safety razor seems to be doing.

Any tips?
 
Just to check have you got the razor assembled correctly it sounds like you may have put the base plate the wrong way round when you put the blade in..
make sure it looks like the pic when assembled..View attachment 37438

Thanks. Have definitely got the baseplate on the right way... It will shave my arm hair (fine hair). Maybe I applied too much shave cream as it didn't lather like the canned gel I've used all these years.
 
I received my Edwin Jagger DE89 this morning and attempted my first DE shave.

I was extremely wary about this "new" technology and the possibility of slashing my face up, but I didn't have this problem - I had a situation where no matter what I did I could not get it to cut. Before anyone asks, I did remember to put the blade in first, an Astra SP, which looks lined up properly and it will shave hair from my arm.

I tried a variety of angles with no joy but didn't want to start applying pressure to try and force it into the skin to cut.

I had to give up and shave using my regular cartridge razor.

My face hair is course, though I can't say I've anything to compare it to what with me not fondling other men's faces so it may be standard. With cartridge razors I had to stick to those with 4 blades or under because the higher blade count carts wouldn't cut at all and glided over my face doing nothing like the safety razor seems to be doing.

Any tips?
Something of interest.
I can't understand why it's not cutting your stubble, i maybe wrong but it sounds like you've either got a dud blade or your using the wrong shaving angle.. it's probably the blade, it does happen with anything that is mass produced..Try a new blade..thenWatch the video to see if your doing the same, if its still the same then it' could be you need to change your angle..Give it try, and give us the verdict on your next shave..It might be a good idea to miss a day before your shave again too. Regards.B
 
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Thanks. Have definitely got the baseplate on the right way... It will shave my arm hair (fine hair). Maybe I applied too much shave cream as it didn't lather like the canned gel I've used all these years.

Making a good lather takes practice. Looking back, my first attempt with Arko cream in a tube was crap. It was watery and thin and I'm surprised I was able to shave with it at all. You say you might have applied "too much" cream. You only need a very small amount to make a good lather. I presume you used a shaving brush to place the cream on your face?

I found this video very helpful. Easy to follow and concise. His advise is that the lather “Should be dense and heavy, with few or no visible bubbles. Large bubbles indicate too much water, or water added too quickly. It should be like a head on a good Guinness or Latte.”


Give lathering another try after watching that. As per other comments, perhaps you need to open up the razor angle a bit, I probably had times early on when I had too shallow an angle as I was scared of cutting myself. Take your time, let the razor do the work, no pressure. If you have a decent prep & lather, (that's) half (some would say more than) the battle won. Don't give up !
 
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I'm stumped. I've watched my younger son take no hair off but he really had the angle wrong - no contact with the blade, and my eldest chewed up his face with the same razor as you by repeatedly putting the baseplate on the wrong way round despite me showing him otherwise. It doesn't sound like you are having either problem.

Do remember, the safety razor reduces the hair rather than removes it, which means you with need more than one pass in different directions.

Here's another great video :

 
I received my Edwin Jagger DE89 this morning and attempted my first DE shave.

I was extremely wary about this "new" technology and the possibility of slashing my face up, but I didn't have this problem - I had a situation where no matter what I did I could not get it to cut. Before anyone asks, I did remember to put the blade in first, an Astra SP, which looks lined up properly and it will shave hair from my arm.

I tried a variety of angles with no joy but didn't want to start applying pressure to try and force it into the skin to cut.

I had to give up and shave using my regular cartridge razor.

My face hair is course, though I can't say I've anything to compare it to what with me not fondling other men's faces so it may be standard. With cartridge razors I had to stick to those with 4 blades or under because the higher blade count carts wouldn't cut at all and glided over my face doing nothing like the safety razor seems to be doing.

Any tips?
Doesn't sound like you need tips.

If you have a blade and you've tested it, and it's sharp....

And you didn't put the razor together wrong...

You are using the wrong angle. Or you didn't actually touch the razor to your face?
 
You are using the wrong angle. Or you didn't actually touch the razor to your face?

Definitely something along these lines. With all the talk of 'no pressure' maybe I've gone too far and need to try some pressure.

I will see how I get on. Thanks all.
 
Here's another great video :
That is shaving at a steep angle. Mantic59 demonstrates shaving at a neutral angle and I feel his videos are better. The blade angle to the skin needs to be nearer 30 degrees for maximum blade exposure with the DE89.
Switching from a cartridge to the DE needs careful consideration as the razor head does not pivot.
blade-angle.jpg
 
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Day 2 and we have contact!

I have managed to remove some hair from my face. I should mention I've shaved in the shower with no mirror using cartridge razors and canned gel for the last 20 years so my habits are no doubt quite unhelpful for moving to DE. When using a cartridge razor I've got into this technique where I hold the back of the cartridge upright to stop it pivoting about and press it more into my face as it doesn't cut otherwise, so I'm quite dysfunctional across the board.

Today I was able to set the time aside to shower first and shave over the sink. I worked up some reasonable lather using about 10% of the cream I used yesterday (I also have a brush today whereas yesterday I was trying to just apply using my hands - I know, I know) and took a lot more time. I used a bit more pressure and could hear things cutting in some areas. Razor angle is quite tricky and a lot of the time I was just pushing lather around rather than cutting, so ended up relathering maybe 8 times to get some areas.

I haven't done a particularly acceptable shave, and there is a patch under my jaw on one side that's basically unshaved, but I have made progress. There's a couple of areas which are a little bit sensitive feeling now, but overall not in any pain compared to a decent shave with a cart.

I will persevere, though my initial impressions are my razor is a lot milder than I was expecting - maybe this will change as I get the technique and angle down.

Thanks to everyone who replied.
 
just a quick comment.

1st and second pass is about reduction only. I often think that without a ATG pass i would be no better off if i hadn't bothered at all lol.
For me, The first two passes are in fact preparation for the final ATG pass which does the heavy lifting with regards to getting BBS.

Don't be thinking that you should be DFS after pass two! (Although some may actually achieve that)
 
just a quick comment.

1st and second pass is about reduction only. I often think that without a ATG pass i would be no better off if i hadn't bothered at all lol.
For me, The first two passes are in fact preparation for the final ATG pass which does the heavy lifting with regards to getting BBS.

Don't be thinking that you should be DFS after pass two! (Although some may actually achieve that)

Thanks for the advice.. With carts I would always need to do at least 2 passes including an ATG but I thought mainly that was just to lift the hair up as those carts sure seemed to want to skim over the skin and not cut.
 
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