Thread: *FIRST SHAVE WITH NEW DOVO -- NOWHERE CLOSE!

Is the optimum angle not 30-40 degrees away from your face?

Originally Posted by shotwell1234

Sounds like you are lifting the razor off the spine while you strop. The only sound you should hear during stropping should be a (very) gentle rasp. Send Lynn a PM as he will likely be more than happy to fix any issues with the razor. It is not uncommon to get stropping wrong at first and to roll the edge.

Originally Posted by Wildtim

This sounds right. The sound is NEVER high pitched. that is scraping the edge off on the strop, it is a smooth sliding sound as you draw the edge down the strop. The spine should be in constant contact with the strop even in the flips at either end.

Both of these were good to hear. I think I might be doing it a bit wrong...I hear a bit more high pitched sound.

Originally Posted by Gags1892

Is the optimum angle not 30-40 degrees away from your face?

One spine width off the face is about 20 to 30 degrees.

Optimal angle is different for different razors. experiment with yours and see what works best. For example, my Dovo shaves best with about 1.5 spine widths of space b/w the spine and my skin. But my Wapi is comfortable only at shallower angles. I think Lynn mentioned having a razor that works best with the side pressed nearly flat against his skin. they're all different. And don't expect perfection right off the bat. It'll come.
--bill

I appreciate all of the feedback, so thank you to everyone. I guess I had high expectations maybe? But it still didn't feel right off the bat -- it was pulling A LOT, my first actual shave of my first pass, it didn't even take off all the stubble (or even close to it). I realized myself really giving some pressure to pull the razor to go down my face as well.

Before I even used it for the first time, it didn't pass the "hair test" for sharpness (didn't cut a long piece of hair into 2)

Should I send it out to be re-honed? Or just strop it A LOT and see what happens.

Don't worry so much about the hair test, I am sure the razor came to you properly honed. Focus on your angles and pressure as these are what will cause a sharp razor to pull. If you didn't strop before the first shave, it is likely that you are still fine, just take your time and keep adjusting your angle until it is comfortable. Don't use any pressure, you're not trying to scrape the hair off of your face, you're trying to slice it off. Also, make sure you are stretching your skin or the razor can jump and pull. If you need any more tips (i.e. these don't help) feel free to pm me and we can figure out where you're going wrong. I just went through the learning curve recently so I still remember a lot of the things you can do wrong.

During the first shave with this new DOVO, I actually changed angles throughout because I knew something wasn't right. I went from as close as maybe 20 degrees to as far as about 45, and everything in between, and the results were the same (which weren't good at all). I did this on the area underneathe the sideburns, since it's the flattest area on my face for me.

I would also recommend PM'ing Lynn before posting anything else about the hone. He may be a busy guy, but I'm sure he'd rather hear it from you and try to help you troubleshoot than to come across it in a thread.

Here's another question: How was the lather? What kind of pre-shave routine did you use? There definitely is a learning curve to straight shaving...I just had my 7th or 8th shave and finally got it close to right (partly from bbshiver's post about scything/guillotine). There are so many aspects of the shave to keep in mind, besides the razor/angle.

Good Luck!

I did PM Lynn a few minutes ago, but thanks cwrighta. Appreciate the response.

I did nothing but use the razor straight out of the case, and I'm really finding it hard to believe that there's that huge of a discrepancy between shaving with a disposable straight and a DOVO straight that it would give me such a poor result on a brand new, honed razor. The DOVO was giving me poor results from the first stroke. Pressure doesn't change between the 2 types of straight's -- you aim for as little as possible in both situations, and the angle might need to change a bit from disposable to straight, as some posters have stated, which I also tried varying numerous times throughout the shave, but didn't help a bit.

For my lather, and my pre-shave routine, it has been the same since I started. I fill a mug with hot water, leave my brush in the mug to soak in a sink of hot water while I shower -- I get out, make, and apply my lather. Thick, and not watery at all -- it took me a while to get it right, since I use William's which tends to use a lot of water, but I got it a few weeks ago and have been doing it since -- again, no prior problems with shaves at all.

Unfortunately, since I'm fairly new to this as well, I'm at a loss at this point. From what I've heard, people using disposables have had much better results with regular straights.

Maybe some of these resident experts can shed some light on the problem!