Printable View
If you feel confident in your stropping the Tony Miller is fine. OTOH, if you are unsure the Filly is cheap enough that if you nick it up it won't break your heart. Sounds like you've taken the bull by the horns with your shaving and dove right in. It gets better as you practice and the more shave ready the razor is. :gl:
Yeah you're going to have to get a strop. It is part and parcel for shaving with a straight razor
I made a strop, so technically I have one. How good is it? I have nothing to compare it too, but when I use it sounds the same as the what I hear in the videos I've seen. LOL
I'm thinking my homemade strop may just take the place of the Filly. I've used it several times now, and so far, have not nicked it once. I'm not trying to go real fast yet.
It's in my nature to do things well or not do them at all (I say I have attention to detail, my wife and others say I'm anal hehe), so I know I'm being very critical about my stop technique after reading all the warnings here. This doesn't mean I'm doing it "right", but I think my caution is keeping me from slipping and cutting the leather.
I was just reading another thread where someone was talking about being frustrated with the straight. He ended up using his DE again and was surprised how much more comfortable it was. That really resonated with me. I am finishing up with a DE still, and it always feels so much nicer then the straight. The straight, even at it's best so far, still feels "rough". I'm unsure if it's the blade or the newb holding it ;)
P.S. Hi Hoglahoo. I don't know if you remember, but you were the one I was talking to in chat on Veteran's Day when I had straight shave #1 :)
yep! Hayduke of B&B fame ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Hayduke
Don't worry too much about the cuts.
The only real cut I have had so far was on one of my first shaves from setting the blade on my skin at too steep an angle. Hurt like hell but I definitely learned my lesson.
Thanks for posting that! Always nice to read how other people do at the beginning :)
The Dovo you linked is real nice looking. Don't discount "old" or NOS razors as well. For the same money you could probably pick up a good strop and classic beauty of a razor :)
Look forward to reading more!
I know you've already made your own starter strop so this may or may not be of interest to you, but, if you do decide to order a Tony Miller, for an additional $7.50 he'll include a starter strop... and, it's actually REALLY nice. Very, very basic mind you, no handles, D-rings, swivel latches or anything of that nature... just nice piece of leather in a simple barber style with a leather loop with cinch bead attached at the top - but fantastic for learning on (just go mine about a week ago).
Might be worth it if your unsure about your homemade strop, or if you're looking for something to put paste on for an occassional touch up between honing periods.
It hurt? That's exactly how I got my biggest cut. It was right as I put blade to face on an area that wasn't flat. I knew I had jsut cut myself, but it didn't hurt at all. I thought it was because I had just stropped the razor and it was extra sharp.Quote:
Originally Posted by DPflaumer
I'm planning to acquire more vintage razors. There is a strong appeal to shave with something really old, but I'd also like to have something made currently for variety :pQuote:
Originally Posted by avatar1999
I posted that link because it's the one I like, based on the pictures. It's pretty :)
That's a good idea. I did see that Tony offers the practice strops with purchase. I was thinking Filly mostly to get a Gold Dollar while I was at it. We'll see what I end up ordering. This could get expensive quick, so I'm trying to restrain my purchases LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by Malacoda
I can't wait to shave tomorrow morning :)
Shave #5
I think my stropping technique may be improving a bit, but I did finally nick my strop :( I'm glad I did the DIY thing for this one :) I don't think the nick makes it unusable, but it did make a sort of speed bump for a couple days :p
I'm getting better the the chin, but still not very good at it. So far only 2 WTG passes with the straight, then a single XTG pass with a DE.
So far, I'm not getting very close or comfortable shaves. The razor seems to be rough as it passes over the skin.
Shave #6
I reached a milestone. This was the first time I didn't have any bleeding :)
I actually started shaving less with the straight. I did 2 WTG passes again, but this time I didn't work too hard on the neck or mustache area. I find I'm cutting my neck most shaves when I try to get it close to DFS. Since I'm still using a DE as the last pass, I am being less picky with the straight. At least the blade felt like it was cutting better this time. Maybe I did a better job on the strop.
Shave #7
The chin area is no longer a problem at all!
I've decided to grow out the chin :D It's a goatee, versus a Van Dyke, as I will continue to shave the mustache.
My beard had been growing for 4 or 5 days this time. The first pass was definitely rough. It reminded me a lot of the way it tugged on shave #1. Second pass was fine. I had a couple spots to hit with the nick stick, but overall not a bad shave.
I don't want to blame the person I bought my razor from, but I think the roughness is the blade's sharpness. It is extremely likely that I dulled it, but I have no good way to sharpen it yet. Could the razor's sharpness (or lack thereof) be the cause of the "pulling"?
I'm going to buy a couple new razors from SRP before the end of the year to take advantage of the "Priceless Value" offer that is running (free honing for life). This is good because I won't have to worry about learning to hone a razor. It's also bad because I don't get to learn to hone a razor :P I'm sure I'll own some stones by the end of next year hehe. I'm also going to order a horsehide and linen strop from Tony. After a lot of reading here, it seems that this is the best combination.
Maybe I overlooked it, but you didn't mention which razor you're using now.
If you haven't done it yet, check out the shave videos by Lynn and Jockeys. You can probably pick up some ideas for the harder-to-shave areas there. As for the strop, I got the Filly from Ruprazor and it came with a letter that said you can use a pumice stone to smooth small nicks out of a strop. It's a good thing I bought a cheaper strop since I've already nicked it and it arrived just the other day...
I'm using a Bengal razor bought on the classifieds. I tried to find the listing, but I guess it expired or something.Quote:
Originally Posted by BingoBango
The nick on my DIY strop is near my hand, so it doesn't have a huge affect on the strop's use.
When I order my "good" strop from Tony, I'm planning to get his practice strop too.
I haven't updated this in awhile, but I have still been shaving!
I'm not going to try and list my thoughts on each shave anymore. and there was much rejoicing :p Instead, I'm going to post about those milestone or threshold moments where I feel like there has been a significant improvement in my ability to shave with a straight razor.
I've reached a couple of those milestones since my last post.
A couple weeks ago, I finally put the DE down and committed to shaving entirely with the straight. I finally realized that need to learn how to shave all the hard bits eventually. Using the DE to clean up the moustache area was not really helping me get better at it. It worked, I'm much better at all the areas of my face (including my upper lip).
I had an epiphany during one shave. I finally understood about holding the razor "just tight enough". I figured out that I was only cutting myself if I was trying to "force it" a little. It happened while I was trying to get a handle of that new Boker (honed by SRD). That thing is pretty sharp! Maybe my stropping technique is finally getting better and/or the 2" latigo I got with the Boker works better then my DIY job :P The lesson here was to learn to pay attention to holding the razor just tight enough.
I really don't know if others have had the same experience as me, but I was really happy last night when I had my first totally straight razor shave without cuting myself. It doesn't mean I haven't used the straight without cutting myself. When I only used the straights on the parts of the face I am good at (and cleaned up with a DE), I could get a nice shave without cuts. Each time I committed to a new area and learn how to shave there, I would get a few cuts. When I first used the Boker on my neck, someone at work asked if my cat had scratched me (I have no cats), but then they remembered I was on the lookout for "vintage razors" and chuckled. So the milestone was using the straight entirely without cutting myself. It wasn't BBS, but it felt nice :D
OK, this is long enough, but I have one more topic to talk about. Braces. I suspect there aren't a lot of men using straights with orthodontics in their mouth. In the event there is someone else living with that unpleasantness, I'll share my thoughts. They do make the upper lip harder ro shave, but it can be done. Part of my success in this area was tied to the just tight enough grip epiphany mention above. I also had to abandon stretching the skin in this area. I like the result of stretching in most other areas, it won't work on the upper lip with braces on :( They make little spped bumps under the skin hehe
Sounds like you are off to a pretty good start here. Keep it up.
As you may have noticed, they guys here are always good to give suggestions and tips, so don't be shy about asking questions. I've been here for about 6 or 7 months, I think, and I have never seen anyone ridiculed for asking a question, or making an observation.
Welcome and :gl:
hrmm... well I had created a thread to discuss purchasing a Dovo, or two, from SRD. I was getting some useful feedback when it got a bit off track and then locked :rant: OK, maybe I'm not as upset as that smiley, but he is kinda cute lol. I am bummed because there was discussion going on outside of the "heated discussion". Anyway, I doubt I'll get as many people reading this thread, but I'll put it here anyway. :P
As I've said, I already purchased a new Boker and 2" Latigo strop from SRD. It's nice. The blade is very very sharp, although I think it may feel sharper now. I suspect it's just that I am learning to use it better, but it could be that I'm better at stropping.
Since I know I would be buying a new Dovo at some point, I decided to make that purchase during the lifetime honing promotion. I had budgeted a little $$ for myself and had just about decided on the Bergischer Lowe. Then, after buying my wife an iPhone, she asked what I'd like as a gift. When I said a razor, she liked the idea. I started showing her blades on SRD and she set a budget of $300. When I suggested getting a couple different less expensive models, she said "No, I want you to get something nice." She liked the pictures of several of them, but she liked the Mother of Pearl model they have. She also liked the BL and the Renaissance, but a lot of them she thought weren't as attractive. So apparently she wants me to get something with a little bit of the "bling" factor. hehe
Now I've already planned to make a purchase myself, so I already have funds I can put towards a purchase. I'm considering getting 2 new Dovos, but I wanted help deciding what to get. I'm starting to have some second thoughts about getting 2 Dovos since I have not used one.
Right now I'm thinking I'll have the Mrs. buy the limited edition MOP razor for me and then purchase the BL myself, but I'm still open to options. I like the idea of getting 2 different blade types, ie stainless and carbon. The MOP LE is a "41" stainless blade and the BL is "Swedish Steel". It's still carbon steel, but different from the others I think.
I like the BL mostly because of the blade shape. I like that point (Spanish point?) a lot. My new Boker is a round point. It shaves OK and I think it makes the neck easier, but I actually prefer the spikish (sorta round off) point of my vintage Bengal. So I'm not sure how much I like the round points yet. That leads me to the Bismark or the Ebony spike points. Other then the BL, these are the only non-round point options at SRD.
I like the stiffness of my Bengal, but I think I'm just getting used to the more hollow Boker. The Bismark, and therefore the Ebony (both blade #25), is said to have a stiffer feel. The BL is a "singing" razor, so I suspect it will be the same or better/worse (not sure which it is yet hehe) then the Boker. After reading a lot of threads here, it seems that most beginners develop a preference for the heavier wedge type razors, but that they also tend to eventually migrate towards the more hollow grinds. I'm guessing this is in response to improved technique. So I'm thinking it might be OK to skip that intermediary stage and go straight to hollows :D
I have not found much information about the MOP razor. I'm not too surprised since it says they only made 40 of them! It's a beautiful razor, and I like the potential collectability of it. I also like that it's a "41" blade, but it's a round point. I'm finding that shaving around the goatee is a little harder with the round pointed Boker, so this is an important issue. Of course, my difficulty with a round point could also be my poor technique. The biggest selling point to the MOP is my wife likes it. It's her favorite ;)
Are there any stainless Dovos, at SRD, that are not round points?
This is getting way too long, sorry :rolleyes:
I realize that I'm in a pretty enviable position, so I should just shutup about it hehe :boohoo:
Any feedback though is appreciated. Especially if you used different Dovos and can compare them.
Happy Xmas Eve :beer1:
I am not aware of any non-round point stainless dovos, no matter the vendor. You should call SRD and ask them though (as well as the differences in grinds among different models you're considering), they actually know what is available from Dovo, while most only see what's offered for sale at various vendors.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hayduke
As far as shaving around a goatee with a round point, yes it is harder than with a pointy point.
Your wife clearly wants you to have the best gift and I think 'looking nice' is important to her because that's all that she can appreciate in a razor. In fact you're not much more knowledgeable than her since you're just starting. If you had used that "41" blade and loved it it'll make a perfect sense to buy the version with the fancy scales. As it is you have to make your decision based on (1) opinion of others (2) your current understanding of what you like. If you ask me, based on these you just can't determine which is the ideal Dovo for you and it's best to accept this as a fact. Make your choice based on your best guess what will be best and don't worry too much about making a mistake. The only way to know how much you would like a razor is to use that razor and since that isn't an option there's no reason to overthink it.
Whatever you and your wife end up picking, enjoy your gift and that your wife wants to give you the best one she can, as in my view that's the most valuable part in this.
Thanks Gugi,Quote:
Originally Posted by gugi
My other thread (that was closed :( ) had a lot of responses, but yours may be the most thoughtful.
You're absolutely right that the best part, about whichever razor I choose, will be that she bought it for me :)
I don't know for certain I prefer heavier blades. I used the Boker again this morning and it was very nice. It might even be smoother then the less hollow Bengal. I am pretty sure that I don't prefer round points though. Don't hate them yet, but I like having a pointy end to clean off the 'stach and around the goat.
I will give them a call next week and ask about them. I already thought that might happen ;) I really wanted to try one of Dovo's "41" Inox blades, but I am reluctant to buy another round point. That being the case, I may end up with the BL and maybe the Ebony Spike point.