Thread: First full shave

I was finally able to get my first full straight razor shave (3 passes) Saturday. It took me about and hour with 5 or 6 small nicks, was still a little rough in spots, but I was feeling pretty proud of myself for finally making it through.

I do have a question. I have a pre-sharpened Dovo Razor that I bought new a month or so ago from ClassicShaving.com. I've bought a couple other razors from members here since then and I'm finding that my Dovo doesn't seem as sharp as the others. It also seems to pull when shaving. I used .5 micron diamond paste on it yesterday and it seems to have brought it back a bit but still not as sharp as my other ones. Should I just send it in for re-sharpening or are there any suggestions, short of honing, that I can do to bring it back?

Congratulations on the full face shave that must feel great! I also tried doing the full face too, I look like a half shaven rat, but I had the most fun.

Sorry, I can't help with the honing questions.

that's great, keep up the good work!

as far as your razor goes it's up to you. the 0.5 diamond should definitely be enough. strop it well too.
if i were you i'd return to it in few weeks.

You might want to try to pick up a barber hone. That should bring your edge back.

bj

Thanks. I used a paddle strop with the .5 micron paste last night and it seems to have worked. I ordered a 12k honing stone and will see if that makes it any better. If I succeed in making it worse with the hone, I'll just send it off to the Honemeister for professional sharpening.

I have a 4 sided strop with three sides pasted. .50/1.0/3.0 When I had my first Dovo, I went through the process of sharpening it as well after a few shaves. Although it came preshave and professionally honed, I preferred it to have about 10 passes on my .50 strop to made the edge even better for me. After about 10 shaves with it, it does get some passes on the 1.0 pasted strop before moving to the .50 pasted strop.

About every two shaves this razor "Dovo Special" gets a visit to the .50 pasted strop. I think the .50/1.0/3.0 pasted strops are similiar to honing with a very fine 12K, less fine 12K, and an 8K stone. Overall, its faster and easier. Sooner or later, I will have to add more pastes to the strop, but I have no idea how long that will take - 2,3.4 years? Perhaps , a barber hone is my next purchase.

Tony Miller gave me great advice on getting this 4 sided strop and how to use it with the pasted sides. High quality strop, awesome perforrming tool, and exceptional advice.

Pabster

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll make a 4 sided strop my next purchase.