Victory is mine (at least a little bit)

I just finished my first straight razor shave folks!!! But that is not all. I also finished my first straight razor shave after my first honing!!!! It felt good. It was not a close shave, and I may have seen a little blood, there was definitely some beard-tugging happening as well. But who cares, I did it (please excuse the over-excitement, I am just very happy right now)!!!

Anyway, I do have a question. So I bought the razor (A Dovo Bismarck 6/8 with bone handle) off ebay and it had never been sharpened before. So it was pretty dull. I worked on my hone (norton 4/8k) for about an hour and finally got a nice bevel going and was able to pass the hanging hair test. However, the bevel did not go all the way to the heel of the razor. And at first it did not go to the toe, until I started going diagonal to the edge of the hone. So my question is, how do you get the heal of the razor sharpened (especially when you are dealing with a not perfectly flat edge like the one that comes on the bismark (you will notice a curve in the toe and heal))? Is there some kind of trick (rocking, pushing the heal first down the hone, or something)? Anyway, if you know what is going on let me know.

Oh also, I think I suck at stropping. For one, do you strop on the ultra smooth finished side, or the softer side of the strop. I have the Dovo extra wide strop, so mine has a reddish side and a tan side. But stropping did not seem to do much for me, and I think good stropping might help with the tugging of my beard and just make for a better shave. Anyway, I need some advice.

Thanks for reading my post. Needless to say I am very excited right now, but I still definitely have some fine tuning to do. I would love and appreciate any advice. Thanks. Take care.

Tristan

I guess this may get me in trouble, but I don't care, I think it'll still be helpful to you.

Here's my opinion - if your strop doesn't do much you probably suck at honing more than you suck
at stropping.
And you want to use the smooth plain leather side of the strop.

As far as how to get to the heel - it really doesn't matter how, rocking works and turning the razor at an angle works as well. As long as the hone is consistently rubbing against the edge of the razor with just enough pressure to keep contact it's good (well if there is no bevel you may want a bit more pressure than this).

Other than that if the razor is managing to cut whiskers that's pretty good. Still, if you let me shave with that razor I will have to respectfully decline the privilege :)

Unless you want to learn both skills at the same time (honing and shaving) I highly recommend sending your razor to one of our honemeisters who will put the correct edge on it. Otherwise you will get into a quandry as to whether your bad shave was the result of incorrect technique or not having the right edge on the razor. Personally, I think the HHT test is used to impress your friends. The only true test for that edge is to shave with it. But, there are others who swear by that test. You will have to decide for yourself if it is worthwhile. I think, at this point in time anyway, you probably don't have enough experience to know if it works for you.

As to the stropping, that is also something you need to learn by experience. It becomes a question of the right pressure to use. You have to have the strop tight enough to not have it bow excessively, but you also don't have to pull it out of the hardware either. You should have enough pressure on the blade to hold it flat on the strop, but nothing more. It is better to start with slow speeds and get your technique right than to try and whip it fast. Sure enough, if you try going too fast at the start, you are going to cut into your strop.

The message here is to take your time. This is about enjoyment, not speed. Your speeds will improve in time... :gl:

welcome tadamsde to the straight path,

+1 on Dward.
Honing and shaving are two new skills that you need to develop.. You need the product of the first to learn how to shave and you need the second to be able to assess your honing skills (the shaving test is the best test to see if the razors is sharp)

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!:rock:

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:y. 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