Thread: Just starting out-need advice on my blade

Hi,

A while back I read that obsidian is the sharpest material there is, so naturally I went ahead and chipped off an obsidian from my boyhood rock collection and shaved with it a little. From there I got interested in wet shaving. I already had my granddad's brush, and then recently a friend of mine-a huge knife aficionado - was selling some straight razors and I thought why not. Long and anguish-filled story short, it was 12 dollars and made in China.

Then I bought the DOVO/Solingen 5/8 blade from AOS which they said was shave ready. It failed the HHT from the start (even rubbing the hair along the blade), but I knew that that test isn't definitive, and since I was comparing it to a Chinese knife I was easily impressed with how easily it shaved my arm hairs. Cheeks and back of neck shaved fine, I only made a half-hearted attempt at everything else and just went over it again with a disposable. I was waiting on my strop so I stropped on denim stretched over a piece of wood.

I'm pretty obsessed with my new razor, so much to my girlfriend's chagrin I've been shaving little bits of my body hair off here and there as I wait for my face to get ready again-I'm Middle Eastern so there's plenty to work with. I received my strop in the mail and stropped it today, and testing it on my arm/legs I think it definitely helped it improve from what it was. In fact, I still shit my pants with glee when I run it down an arm and see how perfectly it shaves. But just now I went for my third face shave and it didn't work out.

I'm stretching out hairs from my chest and letting the blade rest on them; only supporting the handle end for balance. Some of the hairs are able to support the razor's weight. Any slight movement will make it cut through, but otherwise some of the thicker single strands of hair are supporting the entire thing's weight by themselves. That means I need to have it honed, correct? And probably that it was never shave-ready (I can't imagine that anything I did so trivial that I can't even remember it-despite being obsessed with this damn thing over the past few days-would ruin my edge greatly).

I'll appreciate any advice! Thank you!

Dovo is renowned for saying shave ready from the factory. Very few actually are. Send it to a pro for honing and try again. Sure you will have more luck once honed. A knife can easily shave arm and leg hair but I wouldn't shave with it. You will probably find your razor is only maybe half way to shave ready atm. Good luck and any questions feel free to ask.

The only new Dovo I ever shaved with wouldn't slice Cool Whip off Jello. It wouldn't strop or refresh to shaveable so, on PSF majority advice, I put a new bevel on it; zip-zop, smooth as smooth could be. Send it out.

Yep send it out , it'll shave fine then , but don't expect miracles on your first shaves it takes time to learn , , also quit shaving the rest of your body with it , it's not a toy, you must take care of the edge , learn the strop and face prep and lather . All this is in the library ,lots of good advice , plus don't put much into the HHT a palor trick that has no controls to be consistent , shaving your face is the test, if you want see if it will pop hairs above the skin, if you must , but get it honed properly so you have a chance. Good luck. Tc

Like the others have aid, send it out or find someone who can hone it for you. Eliminate the sharpness variable, and everything will come together in time. Do not try to rush your progress.

Yep send it out to be honed. But make sure to shave with it right as you get it back. Don't strop it until you've shaved with it.

I love your post. I agree with the others. Send it out to a pro for honing. I will post on your welcome page.
Good luck!

Tiz, yes it needs to be honed prior to shaving. And you need to learn to strop or you will most probably ruin the edge once it is honed.

All of this is common to new shavers and new razors. We have a small but active group in So. Cal and get together frequently.

PM, me and I’ll hone it for you and show you how to strop and maintain it.

Originally Posted by MisterMoo

The only new Dovo I ever shaved with wouldn't slice Cool Whip off Jello.....

Classic...made my day...

Tiz:

Take Euclid440 up on his very generous offer to hone your razor and, more importantly, teach you how to maintain it.

An investment in time spent with him will accelerate your understanding and skill set more than you can know, try to plug in with the group down there that's active. I'm involved with one up in Canada and it's a blast, great hospitality and you will learn so much, it will blow you away.