Thread: Victory is mine (at least a little bit)

WELCOME TADAMSDE!!! Its good to have you here at SRP and in the world of straight shaving! Feels pretty good getting that first shave with a razor you honed yourself?! Listen to the other guys though. Honing does take alot of practice to get it right. It's not rocket science by any means, but a razor that isn't honed correctly can lead to a less than enjoyable shave. Take your time and learn to use the razor for a month or two. Then start on the honing if you want. That's what I've done and I am very happy with the results! But do what is best for you. Your the only one who knows what that is. Take what you need from here and you'll spend some of the most enjoyable time's shaving! Well, there is one other thing more enjoyable than shaving with a straight and everyone will agree with me on that I believe! Good Luck and once again WELCOME!

From the sound of it, you seem to have some idea what you are doing with both shaving and honing. Since you seemed to mostly enjoy your shave, it couldn't have been THAT bad, which indicates that your honing probably wasn't all THAT bad either. Perfect? Probably not, but seemingly not too bad. Also, you seem to have the basics of honing (setting the bevel, etc) so that's good.

I will agree with everyone else that you should definitely either get your razor honed by a honemeister, or, buy a shave ready razor from the classifieds. If I were you, I would opt for the shave ready from the classifieds. This way you still have your dovo for comparison, and you can practice honing with it, striving to sharpen it as sharp as your new "shave ready" razor. Also, it's a good idea to have 2 razors on hand in case one doesn't feel right on a particular day, or in case you slip up and drop a razor, or whack the edge on the faucet or something (doh!). In any event, the main point is that it's helpful to have some point of reference for sharpness, and the way a properly sharpened razor should feel on your face.

Either way, welcome, and good luck with your shaves!

Thanks for the helpful input. I have made arrangements to have it professionally sharpened (by Chris from the classifieds) and I have also ordered two other shave ready razors from the classifieds, primarily because right now I am SHAVE HAPPY. I figured having three razors to switch back and forth, and learn to shave with will be a nice luxury (probably not necessary though).

Anyway, getting my first taste of straight shaving was fantastic, and now I am ready to hone my skills (if you will). Thanks for all the advice. I do believe having the blade professionally sharpened will help some with the tugging of the hair and will make for a smoother, more enjoyable shave.

Now I just need to figure out how to strop and try to understand exactly what the benefit of a good stropping is (because I can tell you for sure that I have not felt that benifit due to my horrible stropping technique).

Also, when the time comes and I need to touch up the bevel on a razor, after I have worn down the edge a bit, should I just take it to a 12k or 30k shapton or something? What do you recommend for a slightly dulling razor (I do know that this will be some time away, especially due to having three razors to rotate and having a thin beard anyway, but it never hurts to have a plan).

Also, if there is anyone in the Baltimore, Philadelphia, or DC area who wants to teach a newbie the art of honing and stropping, I would definitely be highly interested and willing to pay for some lessons. I really feel like some of these techniques are hard to learn through videos and forums alone (although they do help a whole lot).

Thanks again.

Tristan