Thread: 1st Shave

Today I had my first shave with my DOVO Best, I actually think I did great, finishing my whole face with no nicks (that were visible) only problem was I really couldn't get that close of a shave in the thicker areas. I even took several attempts at these areas only to feel as if the blade needed to be sharper. It was brand new, I would have stropped it before using but won't have my srop for a few days. The seller said they are shave ready from the factory. Is this true? Or should I give it some rubs on the barber hone? Also, the razor burn was bretty damn bad at first, any reccomendations for a good lotion or after shave to soothe the burn. Thanks

Im a Newbie, but from what Ive heard, even "shave ready" razors are not in fact shave ready...... and Ive never tried to shave without stroppin, so ... isn't there a belt or something with a good soft leather you could use?

Don't confuse shave ready with 'factory sharpened'...likewise, there are some places out there that use the term 'shave ready' just to sell more razors. The solution is to make sure that you buy your razor from a reputable dealer.

Having said that, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I felt the same way when I started and I can tell you hands down that it was likely your technique that let you down, not the razor...unless you bought it from an unreputable dealer. Keep at it and you'll notice that your shaves will get noticeably better after the first week.

Congrats on the first shave and keep at it

Shave ready from the factory usually means the razor has been sharpened on a grinding wheel and then stropped before being shipped out. A truly shave ready razor will have been honed on a succession of hones, and probably pastes as well, the stropped, test shaved, sterilised, re-stropped and then shipped.

So there really is a world of difference..!

A barber hone probably wont be enough to get the razor up to the standard that you want for shaving, so you'll need to send it out to a pro. Places like Straight Razor Designs, The Invisible Edge here in the UK and the classifieds here on the site will all have honemeisters services available, so I would send it to one of them for honing.

This will mean you will definately have a shave ready edge and safe in the knowledge that it is up to snuff. Honing yourself may get the blade sharp, but if you dont know what you're doing you may not get it sharp enough, or overhone it or end up with a rough finish.

Learn to shave first, and then learn to hone later!

Good luck and keep us posted!

i have a supposedly shave ready dovo witch i thought was ok until i got some nortons and honed it up wow what a difference. i would deffnitly say get it honed by some one

Thanks for the help, so who you get it from means that much, I thought when buying a brand new razor it means you get it as sharp as they decided to make it at the factory. Anyway, I have a stone I think is around 14k grit (natural stone so can't really know) would this not suffice since the blade bevel should already be well established from the factory, o is sending it to a honemeister really necessary, I am one of those people that pride on not paying others for services and instead learning things on my own (for the better or worst). My technique can def. get better, but when I am running over my stubbles numerous times unsuccessfully, I feel like I have to blame the sharpness, although I might obviously be wrong. Keep up the help, and I am waiting for my strop and hone before trying my second shave. Any reccomendations on how long I should grind on the 14k natural stone. Thanks alot people, I have dived in head first to straight shaving and am in love, why did people ever stop.

Factory new and shave ready are indeed 2 different things. I have some dovo that did ok right out of the box, but most need a little bit of help on a finishing stone or a pasted strop. From my experence it took close to 6 months to really get a good shave consistantly with a straight razor. The main cause of razor burn is just way to much pressure on the blade, you need a very light touch (you are just cutting hair).

Any lotion I think helps with razor burn but
NIVEA For Men Post Shave Balm,Sensitive

Works great for me.

Glad to have you here and WELCOME.


CROM

Yea I actually got a good bit of razor burn sting right after shaving that felt alot worse than expected. My face is used to a disposable razor so I thought I would be fine with a straight, fortunately a little bit of lotion and time helped out. Now all I need is a legitamate hone