Thread: Straight Razor vs Shavette

Hi, I've just joined the forum and, although I'm not new to wet shaving I am relatively new to straight razors. I use a Dovo shavette as my sharpness reference and,although I can shave with my straight razor, it doesn't come near to the shavette in terms of sharpness and hence comfort. My question is this, should I expect a well sharpened straight razor to reach the level of sharpness of a shavette?

Never used a shavette so could not comment on the relative sharpness compared to a SR. If you are getting uncomfortable shaves with your SR my guess is your honing technique with SRs is not quite as good as you believe it to be. Other people that do use shavettes have also commented that the shaving technique between the two is different also, so that may or may not be part of the problem.

Bob

I have tried a disposable (shavette) type razor one time and won't do that to myself again unless I do something really bad and want to punish myself.....he! he! But seriously, I guess that was the worst shave (very bloody) I ever had. Now I'll admit it was probably my technique and/or too much pressure but I don't think I have enough blood to practice while learning proper technique....I'll stick to a regular str8 razor, thank you very much!

My hats off to those who can shave with shavette type razors and get good results.

In general, the angle used for a straight razor is lower than that of a shavette. That means the spine of the razor needs to be closer to your skin.

You did not mention anything specific about the straight razor other than calling it "well sharpened." Are you certain that it was well sharpened?
Also, are you using a strop?
How many times have you shaved with the straight?

Use the search tab at the top of the page & you'll see this is a really common question.

Basically the razor needs to be shave ready & you need to adapt to a new tool.

I started with a shavette and a properly honed straight is just as sharp.

For a straight, use a lower angle to shave with - about two spine thicknesses off of the skin. It should cut right through the hair with just the weight of the razor. If you feel it tugging on the hair then it is not sharp enough. If you feel it dragging on the skin then lower your angle.

hi and thanks for taking the time to respond to my enquiry. To answer you questions, I have honed the razor on 3000, 8000 and 12000 and finished off the polish using diamond spray on felt modular strop followed by about 15 strokes on leather strop. I have probably shaved with straight razor about 50 times and I think I've got my shaving muscle memory established and my technique is coming along.

Thank you for taking the time to respond...very helpful comments. Thanks.

The first few months of shaving i always had to finish up with the Shavette, because it always seemed sharper than my SR. What i found out later was the reason it was like that was because of improper stropping. I dont think you need 3K and 8K stones unless you were putting a new edge on or removing a defect. You should only have to use the 12K on rehoning

Originally Posted by norbertstepien

hi and thanks for taking the time to respond to my enquiry. To answer you questions, I have honed the razor on 3000, 8000 and 12000 and finished off the polish using diamond spray on felt modular strop followed by about 15 strokes on leather strop. I have probably shaved with straight razor about 50 times and I think I've got my shaving muscle memory established and my technique is coming along.

I take it then that you are a couple of months into shaving with a SR and this is your first experience with honing a SR. I don't know of too many people, make that none, with no honing experience that get it right honing from bevel set up the first time round. By right I mean sharp enough to get a smooth comfortable shave. There is sharp and uncomfortable and then there is sharp and comfortable. The later can be hard to get to. Add to that most beginners have poor stropping technique which can result in damage to the blade.

Bob