Thread: Size, Shape and Grind

As a newbie, and following the thread "How many Razors Do Newbies Have"

I was wondering which Size,Shape, and Grind are prefered ie: for ease of handling, performance etc

I own one at the moment a Dovo 4580 silver steel ebony

It seems to me that a full or quarter hollow round point with a 5 or a 6/8 blade would be a good starter razor. OTOH, whatever you've got will suffice with careful practice. Your Dovo ought to be fine if it was honed to shave ready by a competent honer.

The Wiki recommends the following:

Frequently Asked Questions - Straight Razor Place Wiki

I started with a DOVO 5/8" Black Star round point. But I have a range of widths now from 5/8" up to 15/16", in hollow ground to wedge shape, and a variety of ends like round point, Spanish point and TI's Dreadnought shape.

The Wiki recommends the shapes and sizes it does so that people are dead centre for width and grind, so you can decide whether to go wider or stiffer or whatever. The round point is recommended, just because its a little harder to jab yourself in the cheek with the tip...! I still managed to do it though..!

Other guys here have started with square point razors, or old W&B wedges they inherited, so its possible to use anything really! The Wiki recommendations are just a guide for what could make a good first razor to go for.

The razor you have is an excellent razor! DOVO's are a very good make, and mine certainly give me great shaves!

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

It seems to me that a full or quarter hollow round point with a 5 or a 6/8 blade would be a good starter razor. OTOH, whatever you've got will suffice with careful practice. Your Dovo ought to be fine if it was honed to shave ready by a competent honer.

The razor came shave ready out of the tin, have done a little stropping but not too much

I'll take a 6/8 or 7/8 half hollow spike please, so nice of you to offer.

oh and, That razor is most definitely NOT SHAVE READY out of the tin regardless what the manufacturer or sales person says. Your razor must be hand honed by someone who knows. The machine finish isn't good enough.

X

My favourites are french points. Genrally I prefer a 5/8. I own a few 9/16s, 6/8 and 13/16s and like quarter to full hollows. I own a 2 8/8s but rarely use them.

I started with a Dovo full hollow 5/8 round point which worked very well for me. However, I moved on to a wostenholms near wedge with a square point which I found to be even better.

The round point does help avoid punture wounds, but I found the near wegde to have the best qualities of a full wedge, and a full hollow combined.

The edge was sturdy and had no flex to it which you might find in some full hollows, but was still easy to strop and touch up on hones as it wasn't a full wedge needing special techniques.

The razor you have looks like a great place to start, but as I quickly found out; no matter how good your razor is, you will most definitely want to buy more... many more.

Another good point made was in regards to it's shave readiness. Although it may have come shave ready from the vender, a company turning out hundreds of razors weekly will not put the same care a concern into your blade when honing it. You will get a decent shave, but when it comes time to have it rehoned, find a honemeister in the classified section of this site.
They will but the time and effort into sharpening your blade, which a factor could not.

How many $$ you want to spend and what appeals to you. Before I knew it, I had a variety of straights razors with different grinds, shapes, sizes, and different steel and I easily became efficient with all of them.

The 1/2 is fun because it manuevers everwhere so easily.
The 5/8 seemed small after I use my 7/8. The 7/8 seemed big at first, but I manage to fit it everwhere the 1/2 goes.

Square points are handy shaving tight areas. Less intimdating than they look. Round point, more safety than I need.

The wedge makes less noise when I shave and I feel a bit retro using it.

You will likely get more than one straight razor, so don't let it weigh too heavy on your first buy. You will likely have others.

Pabster

Originally Posted by Pabster

You will likely get more than one straight razor, so don't let it weigh too heavy on your first buy.

Agreed. If you can, buy a few used, shave-ready razors and see what floats your boat...

Just ordered razor no. 2
No turning back now