Thread: Sharp enough? A new shaver wonders...

Good afternoon, all.

I am a new straight razor shaver, and have been lurking on this forum a day or two, and decided to post a few questions of my own.

A brief intro: I have been using the straight razor for 3 days now, and although I am fairly happy with the shave it gives, reading these forums has led me to believe that my razor is rather dull and I am losing out on a better shave. Experts, am I right in thinking that a) my razor is not sharp enough and b) I am in need of a better hone? Read on.

1) My razor, strop, and hone are all from Col. Conk. The retailer's site told me that the razor is a rebranded Dovo made for Conk. The razor is plain apart from "Made in Solingen" markings on the blade tang, and fancy "Solingen" scrollwork on the face of the blade. My strop has no paste apart from leather conditioner. (Dovo yellow paste)

2) The razor shaves alright from the box with a bit of stropping, (by my standards of disposable razors, anyway, forgive me, I'm new) but is fairly uncomfortable to use. Mild razorburn occurs, despite a thick lather on my face.

3) The razor absolutely does NOT even come close to passing the hanging hair test. I have to swing the razor rather severely to cut a hanging hair, which is both frightening and unsafe. When the razor finally does cut the hair, there is an audible pinging noise.

4) I have attempted to resolve this by honing the razor (did not do this before first shave) on the supplied stone (I gather, from other posts, that it is rather coarse; about 1200 grit) and although honing and stropping have improved the blade, it still does not pass HHT.

If I do indeed require a new hone, which is good for a new shaver? The Norton seems to be recommended frequently, although it is a bit spendy. Many seem to prefer waterstones... is there a consensus? I am new the razor honing but very familiar with honing other sorts of blades, but none of my stones are remotely fine enough to use on a razor.

Your razor is indeed dull. You can use any finishing stone. I recommend the Norton or perhaps a barber hone. A pasted paddle with 1 micron and .5 is probably enough to take your edge to the next level from the Conk. I don't think its 1200 grit but it seems that idea has been perpetuated on many forums. It is too coarse to shave off of though.

Its impossible to be certain because you are new to this thing and your technique may need adjustment. Nobody gets good shaves the few few shaves and if there is somebody who did I would sure like to meet them. having said that it is a general principle that razors out of the box are never shave ready though some manufacturers come real close though Dovo ain't one of them.

So the Dr's advice is to hone up your razor, keep adjusting your technique and then take two aspirin and call me in the morning! Actually I wouldn't even worry about shave quality until you have two solid weeks of shaving under your belt. If things don't gradually improve then you know the razor is at fault.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Its impossible to be certain because you are new to this thing and your technique may need adjustment. Nobody gets good shaves the few few shaves and if there is somebody who did I would sure like to meet them. having said that it is a general principle that razors out of the box are never shave ready though some manufacturers come real close though Dovo ain't one of them.

I will definetly agree with that. A Dovo out of the box is just a good starting place. I would recommend going to Tony Millers site and see about a pasted paddle strop. http://www.thewellshavedgentleman.com/
Enjoy.

Jockeys, Yes it does sound like your blade is dull. If you are trying to hone that razor like you would a knife, that's not good. I am sure that it will not take you long to get the hang of honing. Tell you what. I am no Honemiester, But if you send it to me, I'll see what I can do, and send you a loaner to use while I have it.

Phil

I think the fine gentlemen above me may have missed the fact that you have already honed the razor on the supplied stone or they do not have experience with this stone.

At this point the razor is so far from shave ready as to nearly be dangerous to shave with. I'm all for the "anything" is possible and "to each his own mantra" but there are times when it does not apply. This is one of those times.

You have a nice offer there from Floridaboy.

Try out his offer and reply back.

That set was my first also. The first few shaves do not go so well either. Send the razor to Lynn to have it honed, you will be amazed. It will cost you about $20. It took probably 1-3 weeks before the shaves weren't annoying.

Didn't see the offer from Floridaboy......Take him up on that!

Well, I went off to a woodworker's supply store and managed to lay my hands on an 8000 grit japanese waterstone. I flattened the new stone (and the old one) on saturday with 320 grit wet sandpaper and a piece of lucite, then honed and stropped the razor.

What a difference! It doesn't pass the hanging hair test just yet, but it is very comfy to shave with despite that. (again, compared to a cartridge razor) No razor burn! I think part of my problem might have been that I was bearing down on it like I would with a cartridge razor.

Floridaboy, thanks very much for your offer, it is very generous, but I am one of those stubborn chaps that has to learn everything the hard way on his own

Good work! See how much nicer it shaves when honed well.