Thread: Did I make a mistake by buying a 5/8 straight razor?

There is little difference between 5/8 and 6/8, about 3.2mm i notice more difference in the grinds, not that i have many razors, but i have been lucky enough to borrow, and or be given a variety of different types of razor.

Stropping between each pass shoudnt be necessary unless your razor is particularly terrible

I like my 3" strop over the 2.5" i was recently given, as the strop accomodates the whole blade, however i still use a windscreen wiper type stroke, this supposedly ensures the entire edge gets stropped, like doing an x stroke on a narrower strop, and i find it more natural feeling than straight up and down.

I am sure you will enjoy your new gear, and it sounds like your choices were good.

Jason,

I am a wee bit late to this thread, and you've been given solid advice. I add one more thing: have patience and embrace the whole ritual of straight razor shaving.

Here is an example of the difference between 5/8 and 6/8. The same make and model number but notice how much difference it makes.



I think 5/8" is probably the better choice for newcomers.

My comfort zone for a razor is 9/16" - 13/16", anything smaller I lose the angle and anything much bigger seems hard to maneuver around. 5/8" should be perfect to learn on. As others have said, practice stropping with a butter knife either on the strop or the pants leg.

Don't listen to these guys. You see when they first started they all used a 5/8s and now let me correct the bum dope and set you straight. They suffered all kinds of calamities using a 5/8s at first and like a club of sufferers they want you to suffer too.

Just box it up and send it to me. I'll know what to do with it.

Seriously though a 5/8s really is a great starter piece and a great size for everyone all the time.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Don't listen to these guys. You see when they first started they all used a 5/8s and now let me correct the bum dope and set you straight. They suffered all kinds of calamities using a 5/8s at first and like a club of sufferers they want you to suffer too.

Just box it up and send it to me. I'll know what to do with it.

Seriously though a 5/8s really is a great starter piece and a great size for everyone all the time.

+1 to thebigspendur

LOL - calamities would be correct!

Aside from holding the razor in the completely wrong manner, I also thought it was good to soak it in the spout part of my scuttle along with my brush. For some reason I thought soaking the razor in boiling hot water would be good for the shave.

The it got cloudy white spots, which I then tried various cleaners, including Brasso, lemon juice, sandpaper, and various other things. So in the space of two hours, from noticing a couple of cloudly white spots, I managed to turn the razor pretty much a uniform black.

The razor's all better now, aside from the etching was completely dissolved away. And the strop I shredded, I use that now as a pasted strop....but that is the fun of this, it's the journey, where we make mistakes, many that we were warned against, and as we go we learn...it's all good!

Yup, you are right phrank, i realized that when people said " no its not vaseline that you add to your lather, it is glycerin" that they were right, after I had done it a few times.
Though in my defence I did read it on a thread somewhere here, when I PM'd the poster he apologized and told me he had meant glycerin.

Originally Posted by Phrank

+1 to thebigspendur

LOL - calamities would be correct!

Aside from holding the razor in the completely wrong manner, I also thought it was good to soak it in the spout part of my scuttle along with my brush. For some reason I thought soaking the razor in boiling hot water would be good for the shave.

The it got cloudy white spots, which I then tried various cleaners, including Brasso, lemon juice, sandpaper, and various other things. So in the space of two hours, from noticing a couple of cloudly white spots, I managed to turn the razor pretty much a uniform black.

The razor's all better now, aside from the etching was completely dissolved away. And the strop I shredded, I use that now as a pasted strop....but that is the fun of this, it's the journey, where we make mistakes, many that we were warned against, and as we go we learn...it's all good!

******************

I love my DOVO Best Quaility 5/8

I learned on a 6/8 quarter hollow. I won't say I regretted anything because it forced me not to get sloppy and to take my time. However, I have a medium build and a medium sized face with angular jaw and neck lines. The 6/8 takes up a lot of real estate on my face and it was a pain to get a good shave on my neck unless I planed on spending some time doing it. Now it's no problem and I have three 6/8 razors from full to quarter hollow and two 5/8 razors full hollow. I do love my 6/8 blades now. Honestly though because of my face size and features I think a 5/8 would have reduced the time frame for my learning curve in the end. But no regrets. Certainly NOT a mistake to buy a 5/8 first, and depending of your facial features, may just be the right choice.