Thread: New To Shaving and a lil frustrated

Every Mehaz razor that I have ever looked at appeared to be extremely poorly ground! All had something of a frown and all were brand new! I have seen three of these razors!
Assuming that yours is not poorly ground then that leaves your hone and your honing abilities in question, not to mention your technique and prep!

Get your blade sharpened by a honemeister who can also tell you if your blade was poorly ground from the factory, and then reread everything on prep, technique, and stropping! Leave the honing for later!

There is quite a learning curve to using a straight, so take your time and practice! It will all come together eventually!

The brand and "solingen" both look as if it's printed on the tang instead of stamped. There are Solingen based sellers who import Eastern produced razors and knives merely to put the Solingen trademark on them. That doesn't mean that those tools are unusable by definition, but I definitely advice you to have someone who knows how to assess a razor, take a shot at properly honing it, to find out if it actually takes a keen edge and is able to keep it for at least a couple of shaves.
That Str8razor has a decent one, doesn't mean that yours is of the same batch. It only means that you might be fine. Something to rule out first.

I'm sure the strop is good.

A good strop and a good sharp razor is all you need to learn how to shave with a straight. Without a sharp razor you can't learn how to shave.

Learning how to hone is nearly impossible without at least the ability to perform a decent shave with a sharp razor. You can't assess honing results when you have to second guess your shaving skills.

Trying to learn both skills simultaneously is a recipe for frustration.

Hope this helps,
Bart.

I agree with Bart--I'd be willing to bet that razor isn't made anywhere near Germany! The Germans are much more meticulous and take much more pride in their products than to simply print like that on a blade----even at their LOWEST price point! "Mehaz" certainly has an Indian "ring" to it!! I'd feel better ordering a new blade from a reputable dealer. Even the lowest priced Dovo will probably serve you better than a knock-off. Good Luck!

Although it isn't a good close up photo the edge of that blade would concern me. I doesn't appear uniform.Don't frustrated. You can't learn the proper technique without a properly honed razor.Once you feel the ease at which a good shaver takes off the stubble you'll be a believer.