low end vs high end razors

OldFashioned, please dont give up yet. It doesnt matter wether youve got a 1$ fleamarket special or a break the bank custom, theres only so much difference in razors. The problems gotta be somewhere and if we can find it, we can fix it. The places I would look at the hardest are stropping,beard prep, angle and technique. The only place I can see where the razor itself making a difference would be if you had the wrong size razor. Heavy razor vs. lite beard or vice versa. Give the guys some time to chime in here and help out. I have enjoyed reading your posts and believe that you are a great addition to the SRP community and I would hate to see you go. God bless and good luck.

Wow thanks alot for the replies. You guys are truly family. Well, I'm going to try it again today (didnt shave at all yesterday) and going to strop it 50 times as mentioned above. Honestly, I never stropped more than about 10-15 times before each time and maybe I needed to do alot more. Also havent used the linen side either. Its definitely my angle and technique. It could also be the razor itself as some just dont work for others. The only option is just to stick with this one and if it doesnt work out, try another one, maybe another grind, an SS type, etc. Thanks again for all the posts. VERY informative.

I just want to add that maybe you would benifit from using a bigger blade, 6/8 or even 7/8. It made a big difference to me on the quality of the shave I got. Be it that my technique flaws where masked by the bigger blade or whatever. Also , I too started with a new Dovo, big dissapointment. I now have several razors and find that ALL of them are better shavers then the Dovo. I have talked to many on here about this and find that (surprisingly) most agree that The new lower end Dovos leave much to be desired in quality. Maybe it's best to pick up a nice balde on the BST and give that a whirl to compare your shave,,,I'd bet you'd be happy. Just don't give up and go back to the Mach 3,,,,you'll be missing out!!!!!:nono:

+1 for the bigger blades. There was a poll done here a while back and the favorite razor is the 6/8. The 6/8 is my everyday razor. I have 5/8's razors but they are blades that I use to just get a "different" shave.

There are couple of problems with a 5/8 when you are starting out.

1. The "feedback" is a lot more and a bit unnerving for a new guy. The 6/8 will be smoother, grinds being equal.
2. The smaller the blade the easier it is to roll the edge when stropping.

Good luck,
Richard

Wow i did not know that. I guess now its all coming out about the new lower end Dovo's. Heres what Im going to do. I did kind of always want to try those 7/8 henckels razors as I know they are good but I felt 7/8 might be too big. Do they make a 6/8? If not, what is a razor that is one of the best in this regard? Anyway, should I get a SS or HCS? Spike point, round? FULL hollow ground, 1/2, 1/4? I really dont know and have nothing to gauge except you guys. I think im going to give that a shot and stick with THAT as it would be easier for me to stick to something that works better as opposed to one that doesnt.

Aside from the suggestion of trying a wider blade, you may also want to consider a stiffer grind, like a 1/4 hollow. A shave-ready Wapi from Mike or Ken may be a good, inexpensive option. As for the friodurs, there is a 6/8 Friodur on the BST right now. You will need to figure in the honing, and the chips in the toe will need to be honed out.

That being said, my suggestion is to work on your technique first. The suggestions made are good, but the differences really are small, and apparent only after you have sufficiently improved your technique. One may shave closer or handle better than the other, but they all will give a good shave properly handled. If a 5/8 honed by Lynn is not giving you a good shave, no offense, but a 6/8 or 7/8 likely will not either. Just a bigger dent in your bank account.

You already have the tools you need. Be patient and take your time. Use the M3 for the ATG that you need. Start with just WTG passes on your cheeks, and try to do a little more each time. Just relax, and enjoy, rather than pressuring yourself to make par right away.

What everyone else says really. One of the problems (speaking personally) is that you go into this a little blind. No matter how much research you do prior to the first shave with a straight, it's still, to some extent blind. Each razor (and at this point it's probably best to admit to a rotation of two) is unique. I wish I'd gone for vintage blades made in Sheffield from the start, ie the one that I've tried fits my hand like a glove. Having said that, my TI gave me the bestest shave it ever has this morning. Four months into it and still learning. Stick with it, if you can be bothered:)

here's my little note so far, as a disclaimer I have not had the opportunity to shave with an exotic yet. I purchased 3 straights off of ebay for a total of about 40bucks including shipping. One of em shaves ok, one of em sucks for me right now and the wester bros I bought shaves like a dream. It's not just weather its a sharp razor but weather the razor is right for your face. The super duper ultra hollow ground pumacker blackdiamond (which happens to pass all the tests and is the only one to do so, so far) is my worst shaver so far. Its too sharp and flexible for my skill level. The slightly heavier and signifigantly less sharp wester bros. gives me a more comfortable shave and is WAY more forgiving, It pulls a little more but is not uncomfortable.

May I suggest sticking with WTG passes for now. Get comfortable with the razor, learn it like an extension of your hand, then progress to the next level. Think of it like riding motorcycles, noone is expected to hop on and be dragging elbows on their first couple of rides. The bike may do it but unless the rider is prepared there will be blood.

its just the way I do life. set reasonable goals, achieve them, and move on to the next step.

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Originally Posted by OldFashioned

Wow i did not know that. I guess now its all coming out about the new lower end Dovo's. Heres what Im going to do. I did kind of always want to try those 7/8 henckels razors as I know they are good but I felt 7/8 might be too big. Do they make a 6/8? If not, what is a razor that is one of the best in this regard? Anyway, should I get a SS or HCS? Spike point, round? FULL hollow ground, 1/2, 1/4? I really dont know and have nothing to gauge except you guys. I think im going to give that a shot and stick with THAT as it would be easier for me to stick to something that works better as opposed to one that doesnt.

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:nono::nono:

THis isn't going to sound nice and friendly:

Stop trying to buy a better shave!!!!!:td

The only way to buy a better shave is to go pay a barber to do it for you.

Your 5/8 DOVO is as good a blade as any out there. A 6/8 or 7/8 might be heavier and therefor require less skill to use well but they won't be any sharper or magically give a closer shave.

Your skill is to blame at this point, as well as your skin conditioning. it takes a while for the skin to get used to a new razor weather it be switching from a double bladed to a four bladed or from a mach 3 to a DE, even switching to an electric will cause irritation for a while after you make the change. You also for the first time in your life have to control every aspect of how the blade connect to the hair. Thats not exactly instinctual, it takes practice sometimes months of it.

By the way my best shaver is a 5/8's, so is my worst, in between the best and worst lie several 6/8 and a 4/8's as well. This is really one case where size really doesn't matter IT IS all about how you use it.

I also never strop after coming straight from the hone, I just shave away, because I might want to go back to the hone, or might feel that some hard stropping would better serve that razor. The gist is that while a stropped razor might give a slightly better shave, when coming off the hone there is a better chance of making matters worse than better so why bother.

I think the best razor to learn is lightweight 5/8 - the feedback is extremely useful in developing a good technique. However that means you'll have to accept longer learning curve. A heavier blade will probably give you better shaves quicker, but if I had to start over I wouldn't do that. So what to pick - it doesn't matter all that much. I'd say carbon as it's easier to find, although you can't go wrong with a 6/8 friodur. I'd stick with 6/8 for now - that's plenty of weight and the blade is wide, but not too crazy. You'll probably find stiffer edge easier too. But at the end of the day, to be able to say you've really tried this kind of shaving you should give it about 2 months. If you want an instant gratification - find a good barber and they'll do it for you, there's no other shortcut. And just pick one razor and stick with it for these 2 months - constantly varrying things will make the learning go much slower. I'm pretty sure it's not the equipment that's at fault here.

It's only once you can get a good shave from your entry level Dovo that you can start determining what razors you like or don't like. I know I don't like these Dovo's but I can get a good shave from them w/o a problem. I can just get an exceptional shave from other razors and that's why I like those better.