shaving hurts and does not remove hair! advice needed

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Originally Posted by gssixgun

I was hoping Lynn was going to poke his head in on this one since I don't think there is a razor he hasn't done, or at least seen...:D

But yeah I am game to give it a shot, at least we will know, if it can be sharpened, now how long the edge lasts I guess Gsansom will have to let us know, Plus he can't be all bad for a newbie his S/N starts with GS :w

GS you got a PM let's see if we can put this together...

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OK, thanks to the kindness of gssixgun we are going to see what kind of mileage we can squeeze out of this piece.. :rolleyes: I will keep you posted.

GS

BTW, this is the quickest and most helpful forum i have ever visited. Pat yourself on the backs.

You are right, Leavitt and Pierce is primarily a smoke shop that sells shaving supplies, chess sets and other high end knick-knacks as a sideline. I have been buying pipe tobacco and pipes from them for nearly forty years. I was just in there last Saturday and they had only two razors on display, neither of which was titanium and both seemed fairly good quality; one was $50 and the other was $70. Probably not the best one could buy but probably not the worst either. But as I said, and I guess this is true of any straight razor bought these days, other work would need to be done with them to make them shave-ready.

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Originally Posted by gsansom

BTW, this is the quickest and most helpful forum i have ever visited. Pat yourself on the backs.

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Doh... now I feel bad about the jokes. You'll have to forgive me. Everybody else here is really nice. Glen's the best, if he can't make it work it can't be done.

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Originally Posted by Quick

Hopefully Glen's test shave won't take the edge off of it :). Or it might be just fine.

but if that doesn't work out:

1) For probably around a grand you could get a custom razor maker to duplicate that one precisely, even right down to the color, but made out of the finest steel. Fiance would never know.

2) Explain to the fiance that it's an absolutely beautiful piece but it's a display razor. Like they do with swords and not meant to be used. That it's inspired you to buy another one to start straight shaving with. Then get a nice wooden cradle for it and put it up front in the hutch.

3) Lie through your teeth. Get a different one to shave with and tell her you only paid $10 for it. Tell her that the Venus is such a nice one and especially since it came from her that you want to preserve it in brand new condition just to look at and remember. (heh, she might have been drawn to that one because of the brand name right? Goddess of love and everything). Might work.

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That is hilarious. Now i am going to have a straight razor mantel piece that says Venus on it. Venus.. just drips testosterone... right? ... right?...... anybody?

GS

But seriously, she will be fine, just unfortunate situation is all.

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Originally Posted by gsansom

Venus.. just drips testosterone... right? ... right?...... anybody?

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she does indeed... well she makes men drip it i guess, same thing :)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...elli_Venus.jpg

ONE option you have, is to buy another razor from the forum that comes shave ready. One that does not break the bank and is a bit older (~$35-40). Justify it as this....you bought an 'older inexpensive' razor to practice on. When you learn how to use it, and hone it, you will then attempt to hone the new 'fancy' razor. You do not want to ruin the present, right? She meant well. With time, and the fact that you will most likely get a bunch more of these (they do become addicting) you can keep her present as a 'show piece' and shave with the others...........

:shrug:

C utz

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Originally Posted by gsansom

good lord...... I had no idea it would be THAT bad..

my fiance bought it for me. i donno what to do now, if i go out and buy another one i am not sure how that would look....

i do very much appreciate the honest feedback though, could you fine people recommend a low cost alternative? thanks!

G

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So, I have a followup and a few questions to go with it. I too just started using a straight, and have shaved with one 3 times now. I got a Dovo Classic from Vintage Blades, ordered with the honed blade option, and received it with a note certifying that it was shaved by Lynn Abrams, who evidently is famous around here.... My first shave was extraordinarily painful, didn't get close to the skin at all, and basically felt like i was ripping the hair out of my face.

I also (and here's the rub) have a disposable blade straight that takes derby SE blades. I decided to give that one a shot, and it was like night and day. The disposable was smooth, quick, and wonderful. It also sliced the hell out of my face, since I had (and have) no idea what I'm doing, but it actually shaved me, and I'm improving.

Third shave, I decided to strop the Dovo as best I could, canvas/leather strop as tight as possible, 10 passes on canvas, 30 on leather, but when i went to the shave, it was the same as before, painful, and clearly not cutting the hairs. I went back to the disposable, and it was smooth, quick, and dangerous again. Suggestions? It seems to me that the Dovo is just dull, but that goes against the central premise of these fora, that the only way to be sure of a sharp blade is to have it honed professionally. Am I wrong?

Also, another, easier question: when I'm done shaving, the skin on my face feels extremely... tight. Yawning is painful, and I feel the skin stretching. Right now I'm just rinsing with cold water after a shave. What sort of balm/balsam/cream/aftershave do I want?

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Originally Posted by gsansom

wow, you guys are swift in the response department. thanks for all the advice.

here is my razor
Gun Metal Titanium Straight Razor
hopefully it is not a piece of junk.

-G

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:nono:
i was looking at this compay a few weeks ago. i'm still a noob and wanted to know about it so i showed it to they gentlemen here and they told me i'm better off giving my money away. it's a pakistani (or afghani) blade. don't be angry with whoever gave you the gift. in this case, it's truly the thought that counts. they probably wanted to give you some thing nice but didn't do the research on blades.

as far as the future mrs. being upset you bought another razor, tell her she just gave you a new hobby. this way you can buy more razors and you can [I]mayby[I] get hey to one day get you a zowada

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Originally Posted by Quick

Hopefully Glen's test shave won't take the edge off of it :). Or it might be just fine.

but if that doesn't work out:

1) For probably around a grand you could get a custom razor maker to duplicate that one precisely, even right down to the color, but made out of the finest steel. Fiance would never know.

2) Explain to the fiance that it's an absolutely beautiful piece but it's a display razor. Like they do with swords and not meant to be used. That it's inspired you to buy another one to start straight shaving with. Then get a nice wooden cradle for it and put it up front in the hutch.

3) Lie through your teeth. Get a different one to shave with and tell her you only paid $10 for it. Tell her that the Venus is such a nice one and especially since it came from her that you want to preserve it in brand new condition just to look at and remember. (heh, she might have been drawn to that one because of the brand name right? Goddess of love and everything). Might work.

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4. Send it to Glen to get it honed. Buy another in the meantime and if the fiance asks say that glen sent it to you as a temporary replacement. When glen returns the Venus give some excuse to continue using the replacement. Say that Glen said you could have it and that you want to keep the Venus in mint condition.

FWIW my wife bought me a titanium coated razor. She thought it might be a hit or miss. It was a miss. I was honest with her and she said 'Dont worry, it was super cheap anyway'. Your fiance may appreciate your honesty.

*Disclaimer* The writer of this post takes no responsibility whatsoever for the negative outcome of honesty. Got that? None.

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Originally Posted by gsansom

my fiance bought it for me. i donno what to do now, if i go out and buy another one i am not sure how that would look....


G

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After the second purchase you both might get used to new razors arriving in the mail or turning up in junk shops.
There's a little thing called Razor Aquisition Disorder you may yet experience. :)