Thread: New Guy with Questions

Good Evening all,

My name is Anthony. I am currently shaving with DE razors. My main razor is a Muhle R41. I just purchased a Dubl Duck Dwarf from Ebay. It was in great shape. I will be sending it to a forum member in Staten Island to hone it for me. Is this a good first straight? I know it is substantially smaller than most razors. Is this going to be an issue? It will be my first to learn on primarily. I shave both my head and face. Thanks for any suggestions or input.

Anthony

Can't say much about the razor, but welcome and my only advice is go slow and easy! This forum is a wealth of knowledge and spending time flipping through the library and stickies is time well spent. Good luck!

Dubl Ducks are nice and dwarfs are shorter than most but as long as it shaves your good to go. You'll learn to use it just fine. I mean its not like you have any other straights that you are use to and thats when the difference in size affects people because they are use to something else.

Oh yeah, Pics or it didn't happen.

Welcome to the forum. I can't imagine that the length of the DD razor causing any issues. Some like them better. I think your technique will develop just fine.

Hi and welcome. Ducks are great razors and many prefer a smaller blade for the maneuverability.

Get the best steel you can..go from there. not cheap iron but steel. Steel holds a better edge than iron..

After it's honed you will have a good razor to start with , good choice, go slow read a lot and just remember it won't happen in a couple of shaves , Good luck. Tc

Anthony,

Welcome to Straight Razor Place. Yes, the Dubl Duck is a fine razor, and the size does not matter all that much. The important point is that you will send the razor to a professional to hone. You might as well start on the right note. Many double edge razor shaving rules also apply to the straight razor. Beyond that, we're all here to guide you so please post your questions.

thanks for the replies gentlemen. I ordered a paddle strop from star shaving. it has latigo on one side and english bridle on the other. I assume I will do about 20 passes on the latigo first and then finish with 40-60 on the bridle side?

Both sides being plain leather it will make no difference to the blade which side you choose to strop on. The two different leathers simply provide different draw. To define draw is tricky for me, it is how much drag and feel the leather has against the steel. The leather combined with the grind of the razor and the amount of pressure that is exerted will give you the draw, more or less. Draw is all about personal preference and does not effect the performance of the strop on the leather. A light draw is fast and smooth maybe ever slippery and a heavy draw is slower and has more friction.