Buying a 1st razor from here?

Hi, its taken me years to get round to it but im making the switch to a straight razor.

I have been looking at this Dovo (43-585 Straight Dovo Razor
White Synthetic Handle) on this site -

http://www.uksmokers.com/shaving.html

is it a good razor to go for?

Was also thinking about buying a cheapo one from ebay to practice stroping/honing (and would I be best buying an additional strop/stone for my surley messy practicing?)

Anyone point me in a right direction for anything worth buying would be much appreciated

Cheers

charlie

Welcome aboard Charlie..
You won't go wrong with getting a DOVO, but it won't be shave ready right out of the box. You will have to send it to Joe or Lynn for honing before you can shave with it.
You won't be needing an additional hone but if you buy a new strop from Tony Miller at www.thewellshavedgentleman.com, he will send you a "second" with it to learn on before you switch over to the good piece.

Hi FiReSTaRT, thanks for the reply. I live in the UK. I have just seen one of tonys sets on his site, I would love to have it in hand now!

It has the paddle strop, am i right in thinking if i use a certain paste on one side this will replace the need for a seperate hone??

So many questions...I never thought i would be this excited about buying a razor!!

It's POSSIBLE to hone a blade with abrasive pastes but you'd end up needing another paddle and it's slow work, so you might as well start off with a real hone instead. Here are the essentials:
1) Shave-ready razor
2) Hanging strop to align the edge before each shave
3a) Paddle strop or a bench strop (bench hone) pasted with a fine abrasive like 0.5 micron chromium oxide to get your edge even sharper and to touch it up every 10 shaves or so
3b) A fine finishing hone like Escher or Shapton 15k (this is the more expensive option)
If you want to learn how to hone, you'd also need:
1) A project blade in decent shape
2) A hone (I recommend Norton 4k/8k)

would this be a good practice razor?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/A-4-8-Bengall-...QQcmdZViewItem

cheers

I'd be worried about that mark on the front edge. I guess Tony missed it (but I'm sure it's not on purpose because he's a very honest seller I've had great dealings with). I'd get this one if I were you:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/A-Joseph-Ellio...QQcmdZViewItem

I'd take Ilija's advice on that razor. I bet it could even turn into one of your favourite shavers. Nice eye Illy.

The 3" Norton 4k/8k combination stone is the work horse of razor hones and very easy to learn on as it cuts fast and well. Using abrasive pastes on paddle/bench strops can prolong the time between going to the hone, but you'll need to get back there eventually so learning to hone is a great way to have control over your own shaves.

X

The Bengall could become a great shaver but the blade will have to be honed down by a bit under a mm, which would be too ambitious for a newb's first project. At the same time, I knew that Tony had something good just waiting to be picked up :nj

thanks again for he replys, where is the best place to get the 3" Norton 4k/8k combination stone at a reasonable price??

cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

I'd be worried about that mark on the front edge. I guess Tony missed it (but I'm sure it's not on purpose because he's a very honest seller I've had great dealings with). I'd get this one if I were you:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/A-Joseph-Ellio...QQcmdZViewItem

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I would also choose this one. I have a Bengal that I had a very hard time honing in fact it's not in my shaving rotation because of that.