Starting Off (and a question about hones)

Hi guys,

I have just made the jump to the world of straight razors. On recommendation I bought a Dovo 5/8 Best Quality Half Hollow. The razor is provided 'shave ready' having been honed and therefore I am hopeful that with the exception of a strop, I can start the journey as soon as the razor gets here.

Having lurked in the forum for a little bit, I am a bit confused however about honing/stropping.

I have bought the following to try and get myself started (as well as creams/brushes etc.):

- 2x Hanging Leather Strops
- Dovo Leather Balm
- Dovo's box of 2 pastes (i believe one sharpening and one polishing).


I just wondered whether someone could give me a bit of help on what is needed to keep the razor sharp. I have a kept beard and therefore I wanted to get a straight to make sure that it is shaped as cleanly as possible. This means that I will only need to use my straight every couple of days and even then it won't be a full face shave. I am hoping the limited use will keep the razor sharper for longer.

I have also seen a lot of chat on here about barber's hones. From what I have seen these seem like a good beginners option as they help keep the razor sharp without having a full honing set up. I am in the Uk and lots of these can be found cheaply on eBay. I am very concerned though not to ruin my razor and therefore would be grateful for any advice on which brands are ok in terms of barber's hones. I have seen one from dixie's for example.

Thanks a lot in advance and sorry for the ramble!!

1. The leather balm should not be needed for some time. If your strop started to dry out you would useca small smear in your palm then palm rub the strop. Palm rubbing before each strop session should keep the strop sufficiently.

2. Depending on which Dovo pastes your talking about depends on usage. Which colours are they.

3. Theare lots of different barber hones. Swaty is a known good one. I have a dubl duck which is good. It would need to be in decent condition without chips etc or you would need to fix it which is time consuming and no guarantee of it working great

Thanks. That's really helpful. On 2, it's the blue and red paste. I only have two strops so at the beginning I assume I could only use one paste and retain one for the day to day stropping. On 3, I have been looking at http://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/231792331800 and similar. From what you have said it would seem like this isn't an option.

For the paste you could paste one strop and yes keep the other for daily use clean. If you have a two sided strop you would paste one red and the other black/blue. It would be used red then black. I would use black first then if it wasn't enough red then black.

Hones with chips need the chips lapped out or cleaned up to stop the razor from catching. There are lots of barber hones out there in decent condition and the couple extra buck you pay can be saved in sand paper lapping a ridiculously hard hone and the time it takes to do it. Also barber hones with crazing or cracking should be avoided. You can use any high grit hone like a barber hone just doing a few passes when the edge starts lagging.

The pasted strop essentially works the same where you strop on the paste as the edge starts lagging to maintain a sharp razor. As you already have the paste you have a while if you wish to find a hone as well. Hope this helps