Thread: My first experience

Firstly, hello, this is my first post on this forum.

I got my Dovo stainless steel razor today and (tried) shaving with it for the first time. Needless to say I was slightly terrified of slitting my throat or something, but I only slightly nicked my lip and my ear.

The results were mediocre at best and brought up some interesting questions:

• Is shaving against the grain a huge no-no? I've read both methods and I'm curious as to what suggestions you guys have. After a 2 pass shave I still have a lot of stuble.
• It seemed like the blade wasn't really "gliding" through my skin, it was actually surprisingly hard to shave, a LOT harder than what I expected. Any ideas? I've heard my beard and skin will have to get used to the razor, so maybe that was it?
• How do you guys deal with the chin? It was the most problematic area I found.

Thanks!

Hello Iggy!
Was that a sealed new Dovo or has somebody honed it for you?

It was indeed sealed new, I stropped it and it does indeed seem extremely sharp.

Maybe it would be a good idea to get you a razor from the classifieds that is sold by a honorable member as shave ready. Must not be a beauty. Only for reference. Dovo does not always deliver well honed razors.
Then you'd know how it works properly and you can send your Dovo to a honemeister to get it shave ready for you.

Welcome to SRP.

Originally Posted by Iggy

It was indeed sealed new, I stropped it and it does indeed seem extremely sharp.

How did you test sharpness? You do realise that the edge is hyper sensible, and touching it with your thumb will dull it? Take a look at this: Sharpness tests explained - Straight Razor Place Wiki and The Shave Ready Razor - Straight Razor Place Wiki.

In general, it might be a good idea to carefully read Beginner's guide to straight razor shaving - Straight Razor Place Wiki. You seem to be getting a few things wrong.

Finally, there a quite a few old threads about shaving the chin area, e.g. this one: Shaving the chin area - Straight Razor Place Forums. Click the search button, pick "advanced", and enter chin as the keyword, searching titles only. VoilÃ.

The razor needs to be pro-honed, your technique & beard/razor prep is probably not up to par, in time that will change. Dont try ATG yet, stick to WTG and then move on to XTG before trying ATG. Get the technique down first and then progress. As for the chin, you must break the contours of the face down into small flat planes and adjust your strokes accordingly. Welcome to SRP!

You've already gotten lots of good advice so all I can offer is a free honing! If you'd like your razor sharpened, I'll do it for free if you just send me a PM.

Oh and congrats on not slitting your throat! That's a very good beginning.

welcome

yeah, take up ron on the honing offer

Welcome. As gugi says, take advantage of Utopian's generosity. You'll be astonished at what a difference a talented honer can make to a razor, turn it into a different tool entirely. The chin was the most difficult part for me too. Read the links and practice makes perfect. Good luck and enjoy the ride.

Thanks Utopian! Sadly I'm going on a trip next Saturday and I fear I wouldn't make it in time. I will be in Europe on tour soon so I'll try and get it honed over there.

Thanks everyone else for the links and tips. I'm glad to say Day 2 was a LOT better. I actually have a shave, but some extra nicks :/

I stropped the hell out of the blade, got rid of a bad spot about 3/4 of the way up the blade.