Thread: low end vs high end razors

It may be useful at this point to relate a little of my experience.
I found my grandfather's straight and had an overwhelming surge of nostalgia. So, it began... the journey.
I started searching and reading on the Internet and found this group. I tried to shave with my grandfather's razor and gave up after a couple of passes on the cheeks. I just did not have the honing technique at the time. I ordered a prehoned razor from Classic and a strop from Tony. I started out just doing the cheeks to get used to the razor but found myself using too much pressure and giving myself some real irritation. I was only doing a WTG and XTG pass. Every day the shaves on the cheeks got worse despite stropping. I had some bad thoughts about the honing job that Classic had provided. It was only 6 weeks or so later that I was to finally discover that I was not using a light enough touch on the strop and was in fact rolling the edge on my blade. Boy, was I frustrated during the 6 weeks before I discovered that my own technique was the problem.
I ordered a second razor that was a quarter hollow and had it honed too. At the same time, I sent out my first razor to get it rehoned. New discovery! My beard responded much better or my technique was much better suited to shaving with a quarter hollow vice a full hollow razor. I have since learned that my technique was the issue. Ah well, I was making progress. I was now able to navigate the razor over my whole face and I was not rolling the edge with my stropping. Shave was still not great and I still needed to clean up with a DE. But, I was determined! People did this for ages... it simply could not be that hard (ha, ha, ha).
Well, I have to tell you that after five months I finally got an almost acceptable shave but still needed to clean up areas on the neck with a DE. I think that most folks are hesitant to tell the stories about taking a while to get the hang of it and especially after reading some of the posts where some folks pick it up on the first shave. I have now been shaving for about 18 months and can get a BBS shave over the whole face but I still don't shave ATG except for on the cheeks from time to time.
It has been a long journey but it has been extremely worthwhile for me. There is a real satisfaction in being able to accomplish this art. I am still learning something new each time I shave about my technique and ways to improve it. I now shave with a variety of widths and grinds of razors. My favorites tend to be 6/8 or 7/8 with 1/4 or 1/2 hollow grind.
Hope this is useful in understanding that straight shaving is a learning experience that can vary for different people and not just something you decide to do one day.

If you are looking for a vintage razor that is in beautiful condition and will have some stunning scales on it you might want to check out Traveler. He sells blades with a full refund if not satisfied policy. In addition, he provides rehoning of the blades at any time you wish at no charge beyond the postage both ways. I purchased a razor from him that I absolutely love.

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!!!!!

+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.

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.

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.

THis isn't going to sound nice and friendly:

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

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.