Thread: First time using a straight razor

I just received all the necessary items to start using a straight razor. I shaved for the first time today and I feel like my razor isn't sharp enough. I have a new Dovo 3" full hollow ground but I had a lot of pulling from the razor. I took a hot shower before and washed my face as well as used cream and a brush. Does anyone have any suggestions? I also have a 8000 grit sharpening stone and a strop. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

Originally Posted by Adamstahly1986

I just received all the necessary items to start using a straight razor. I shaved for the first time today and I feel like my razor isn't sharp enough. I have a new Dovo 3" full hollow ground but I had a lot of pulling from the razor. I took a hot shower before and washed my face as well as used cream and a brush. Does anyone have any suggestions? I also have a 8000 grit sharpening stone and a strop. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

Well, you have a long way to go. Just hang in there and listen to the advice from the experts that you'll receive here. I'm not an expert but, my advice to you would be look at the youtube videos to get an idea of what and how. The key is knowing your face, be patient, don't get in a hurry, and learn correctly or you will get cut a lot! Good Luck to you!

Thanks man I will

There are a few factors. Many new razors need to be honed first. Not all retailers hand hone the razors, or even check them before they are sent out. That is one factor, another possible is technique. Stropping is a crazy important skill also. Poor stropping can kill an edge as fast as you can pass the blade over the strop. Shaving technique is also a big one, not only can it give a poor shave but it can also dull the edge much more quickly. Geofatboy on YouTube covers the shaving and stropping fairly well.

Originally Posted by RezDog

There are a few factors. Many new razors need to be honed first. Not all retailers hand hone the razors, or even check them before they are sent out. That is one factor, another possible is technique. Stropping is a crazy important skill also. Poor stropping can kill an edge as fast as you can pass the blade over the strop. Shaving technique is also a big one, not only can it give a poor shave but it can also dull the edge much more quickly. Geofatboy on YouTube covers the shaving and stropping fairly well.

This is the gospel here. First, have one of the guys here hone that razor for you, then watch the videos and read in the SRP Library.

My first razor was a shop bought Dovo and it pulled and tugged . The shop insisted it was shave ready from the factory.
You need to find a professional and get it honed rite.
Good luck

Yeah it was jnatcat. You guys have all been great. Thank you all again for all your help! I feel like I have a good jumping off point now. I'll definitely keep up with the blog page!

Hi and welcome. Good luck with your shaves

Originally Posted by Adamstahly1986

I just received all the necessary items to start using a straight razor. I shaved for the first time today and I feel like my razor isn't sharp enough. I have a new Dovo 3" full hollow ground but I had a lot of pulling from the razor. I took a hot shower before and washed my face as well as used cream and a brush. Does anyone have any suggestions? I also have a 8000 grit sharpening stone and a strop. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

I know this sounds backwards, but you really really REALLY need to learn to shave, with a true shave ready razor, before you try to learn to hone your own razor. Otherwise you will not know whether to correct your shaving technique, or your razor's edge, when the shave sucks. What I would do is first buy a shave ready razor, vintage or new, from an established member of this or any other straight razor forum. A known member has his reputation on the line when someone else shaves with his edge. A stranger could care less, once he has your money. A lot of so-called shave ready razors are sold by guys, even women, who do not even shave with a straight razor and not only can't make a good edge on a razor, but wouldn't even recognize a shave ready edge if they saw it.

Never trust any person who does not shave with a straight razor, to hone yours.

An established forum member or someone recommended by multiple forum members will be much more reliable. Shave ready vintage razors can be dreadfully expensive if you are talking about rare or highly sought after models in pristine condition or extremely good restorations. They can also be laughably cheap. You might find a decent vintage American razor, shave ready, showing its age and lots of use, for as little as $20, though that would be exceptional. But twice that much? I see deals like that quite often. Pretty don't shave. Your second razor doesn't have to be showroom ready. It's a tool, not jewelry. So you got your brand spanking new Dovo. An ugly duckling for your second razor is fine. A pretty one is good too, but won't shave any better. So get that second razor, and get it already shave ready. You will kill two birds with one stone.

Dovo claims that their razors leave the factory shave ready. This is a bald faced lie. Very seldom will a factory fresh Dovo, particularly an entry level Dovo, (basically any Dovo retailing for under $140) shave comfortably, if at all, right out of the box. Some vendors will hone them, usually only on request, often for an additional charge. Further, entry level Dovos can be very difficult for less skilled honers to work with, as they are often twisted and warped, and poorly ground by "the FNG" at the factory. The better offerings by Dovo are pretty good and I really like their Bismarck, Carre, and Bergischer Lowe. Preference for the Bismarck and for plainer models using the same blade profile. Dovo "Best Quality" is ironically about as bad as you can get in a major brand, though the steel is very good and if honed by a knowledgeable person willing to go the distance and make it right, will shave just fine.

You can send your Dovo out for honing, and I suggest that you do. But first, get your hands on a proper shave ready razor, since you should have at least two, anyway. Then you can compare. When you have a few successful shaves under your belt, try the Dovo again. Then send it out to a trusted honer, and not just someone who claims he can "sharpen" your razor. Then, you will have two shave ready razors, one with a few shaves on it, one fresh as a daisy. Shave with the vintage until the edge seems to be going off, then if you are up for the challenge, shave with the Dovo and try to do an edge retouch on the vintage. This will mean getting a finer stone than your 8k, and of decent quality. OR, lapping film. If you decide to go with film, you will want to check back in with questions because it is easy to get the wrong stuff or use it wrong, and get underwhelming results. For synthetic stones, (that's what you want for your first attempt at honing) the Naniwa SuperStone in 12k is popular and as easy to use as you could hope for. You will need some way of lapping your stone. More stuff to read up on. Shapton makes some synthetic stones that are well regarded, too. Those who don't like Naniwa, usually go with Shapton. Either will do you just fine. Meanwhile, put that 8k away. You may want to use it later, but NOT now. You will only mess up your edge with it at this point. Not irreversably, but you will not be doing your face or your razor any favors by rubbing your blade on it right now.

Youtube is your friend, for stropping. Watch lots of videos, with your BS filters on. Main things to remember are NEVER touch the edge to the strop until AFTER you have seated the spine of the razor on the strop. Never lift the spine from the strop until AFTER you lift the edge. Stroke the razor away from you, spine first, then at the far end of the strop, stop, and flip the EDGE up and over as you reverse direction and stroke back toward you, not the spine. When you get to the near end, again, stop the stroke and flip the EDGE up and over as you prepare to change direction again. That is one lap. Typically one strops 40 to 60 laps before shaving. The strop should be pulled tight but not like full body weight tight. The razor should rest lightly on the strop but not so lightly that it bounces around uncontrolled. The razor pressing down should barely deflect the strop downward. Don't ride the shoulder up on the strop. Use an "X stroke" motion, where you begin with the shoulder right at the edge of the strop, then as the razor travels along the strop it is also drawn slightly to the side, maybe an inch or so, more with a very narrow strop. Watch for these things as you watch youtube stropping videos.

Your shave ready razor does not really need stropping for the first shave, so I recommend that you don't. That way you KNOW you didn't mess up the edge on the strop, with is not common but can happen while you are learning. Speaking of which, be careful to not slice and slash your strop. However, it will likely happen, anyway, Your first strop is sort of expendable, ideally, rather than a precious $350 horse shell cordovan masterpiece. OTOH, a piece of crap from Pakistan or China will maybe not work very well for you. We have seen some cheap strops that were good, but eventually they all drop the quality and thenceforth suck. I used to buy strops for $9.99 from a Pakistani ebay vendor who I won't mention as I am fuzzy on the rules on this forum, and his strops were at least usable. I mostly gave them away with razors, to newbies. Now they are dreadful. Figure on a basic beginner strop costing something over $30. The exception, if he still sells his "Poor Man" strop, being Larry at www.whippeddog.com. Tony Miller sometimes has entry level strops for under $50 last time I checked, at https://heirloomrazorstrop.com/. Fromm/Illinois are preeeeety basic but generally serviceable, at around $36 I believe for some models. Upgrade to a nicer one later, after you make your beginner mistakes on the sacrificial goat. If your strop is a really nice one, you might want to get a cheap learner strop to butcher as you learn. If it is a cheapie, you are good to go, just remember you can always upgrade later.

Before you do anything with your new-to-you shave ready razor, or your freshly honed Dovo, I suggest that for your future reference you perform a sharpness test. This is a subjective and relative thing, but it gives you some idea of whether the razor should shave or not, and the ability to quickly compare two or more edges. There are several, but the most common ones are the HHT or Hanging Hair Test, and the TTP, or Tree Topping Test. These are often dismissed as parlor tricks and in some contexts they are, but they are a useful and interesting tool for your own comparisons. To do the Treetopping Test, simply stroke the razor through the air above the skin of your forearm, not touching. Sweep the razor about 1/4" above the skin and see if it lops off any hair tips. If it gets one or two, you probably have a pretty shave-worthy edge. If it is super duper sharp it will maybe slice through every hair it encounters, with zero ping noises and zero disturbance to the hair shaft and follicle. This is extraordinarily rare and I would bet a dollar to a donut any day that you won't get that. OTOH, maybe it doesn't treetop at all at 1/4" but maybe it does at 1/8". That is still probably a shave ready edge. But no? Okay how about just barely above the skin? Meh edge, that. But maybe it will smoothly shave arm hair. That is not shaving sharp, it is only pocketknife sharp, and you probably should not punish your face with such an edge. Doing the sharpness test of your choice will tell you when an edge has degraded with something quantifiable, to go with the general feeling that the razor is no longer shaving as easily or as cleanly, or is pulling more. The REAL test is the shave test, but at this point you are not really an experienced judge of what is and is not a good shaving edge.

Finally, consider storing your razor somewhere else besides in the bathroom. Nearly all razors, however shiny they might be, are carbon steel, and not stainless. Rust is a possibility in a humid environment. Your strop hanging in the bathroom is fine. Your brush, fine. Your razor, nuh-uh.

Good Luck and Happy Shaves!