Thread: Shavette shaving vs Straight razor shaving

I have been learning straight razor shaving using a Dannyco Magico 112 Shavette (Dannyco - Home Page). I am starting to get a confortable shave with it. I have decided to move on and to buy a real one. I bought a Dovo Silver steel round edge 5/8 , full-hollow razor and i shaved twice with it this week.

My first shave was awfull. First, i am not used to the longer edge. Second, i found that even if the vendor said the razor had been honed on stones (i bought it on the classified ), it seemed that it had problems cutting the whiskers. It was ok just for the sideburns. I could not get a good shave because it felt like it was pulling instead of cutting. I had to complete my shave with the Shavette. My face was so red when i finished, my immediate thought was that the razor was not sharp enough.

I exchanged and email with the seller and he suggested that it might be my technique and to wait after a few more shave to see if i could experiment with the cutting angles and see if i get a better shave.

The second shave was a bit better. I had received my strope and i stroped the razor on the linen (20 times) and then the leather (30 to 40). THis time, i used pre-shave oil to further help. It appeared that it was a bit easier to cut the whiskers. But i found it was harder than the Shavette. The chin is the region i had the most problems with. It seemed it had problems cutting the whiskers. In the end, my face was red and burning, but i managed to have a BBS . At what cost!

Is this normal ? I am tempted to shave with the Shavette next time to see if i have lost the touch of shaving... Then try again the next time with the Dovo.

I am looking for advices. I am thinking this razor may not be sharp enough. I tried the hair test a few times on the Dovo and the Shavette. Everytime, it appeared that the Shavette was quicker to cut the hair. The Dovo blade would cut sharp the hair but it seemed it was pulling or having a problem doing it . I am no expert in doing this test and it may be just me being biased when doing the test.

I do not have hones. I am still undecided on what i will buy. I will be looking for a fast and reliable hone. I have yet to decide between Nawina, Shapton or Norton .. That will be the next question after i have fixed this issue.

Thanks

Originally Posted by MichelG

I have been learning straight razor shaving using a Dannyco Magico 112 Shavette (Dannyco - Home Page). I am starting to get a confortable shave with it. I have decided to move on and to buy a real one. I bought a Dovo Silver steel round edge 5/8 , full-hollow razor and i shaved twice with it this week.

My first shave was awfull. First, i am not used to the longer edge. Second, i found that even if the vendor said the razor had been honed on stones (i bought it on the classified ), it seemed that it had problems cutting the whiskers. It was ok just for the sideburns. I could not get a good shave because it felt like it was pulling instead of cutting. I had to complete my shave with the Shavette. My face was so red when i finished, my immediate thought was that the razor was not sharp enough.

I exchanged and email with the seller and he suggested that it might be my technique and to wait after a few more shave to see if i could experiment with the cutting angles and see if i get a better shave.

The second shave was a bit better. I had received my strope and i stroped the razor on the linen (20 times) and then the leather (30 to 40). THis time, i used pre-shave oil to further help. It appeared that it was a bit easier to cut the whiskers. But i found it was harder than the Shavette. The chin is the region i had the most problems with. It seemed it had problems cutting the whiskers. In the end, my face was red and burning, but i managed to have a BBS . At what cost!

Is this normal ? I am tempted to shave with the Shavette next time to see if i have lost the touch of shaving... Then try again the next time with the Dovo.

I am looking for advices. I am thinking this razor may not be sharp enough. I tried the hair test a few times on the Dovo and the Shavette. Everytime, it appeared that the Shavette was quicker to cut the hair. The Dovo blade would cut sharp the hair but it seemed it was pulling or having a problem doing it . I am no expert in doing this test and it may be just me being biased when doing the test.

I do not have hones. I am still undecided on what i will buy. I will be looking for a fast and reliable hone. I have yet to decide between Nawina, Shapton or Norton .. That will be the next question after i have fixed this issue.

Thanks

You are covering a lot of ground here with your questions, and I am not sure what is causing your problems without seeing the razor in person. this may be a case where you just need to experiment with a few things and revisit this in a couple of weeks. I would say that you shouldn't sacrifice your face for a smooth shave. If you are not getting a good shave, it's either the razor or you. No need to force either one if it's just not there yet.

based on my (a month) experience good lather preserve good shave, of course then you should have shave ready blade the good beard preparation...but as far as I read all the wiki and threads here, shaving with shavette and str8 razor is different in many aspect...

I'm a newbie my self, so my advice might not really help (then what's the point I'm writting here ), I started SRS just a month ago, but unlike you, I start with str8 razor (not with shavette or any DE) after years using electric and mach3, having said that I butchered my face, getting irritation, etc. but in the end after a month each shave getting better result, nowadays I can get good BBS without any irritation but still need to work on several area but in overall I get better result...

I can't seem to find people that get straight BBS shave in the first try (in the right way, I did have BBS in wrong way, irritation, etc.), some people spend months and years, and that's just part of the learning curve, the beard prep, lathering, angle, stropping, etc. If you did good in shavette then the problem might be your blade and angle, since shavette is typically sharper than straight razor out from the factory, but still logically str8 razor can be made as sharp as shavette, the point is that in straight razor you choose how sharp you want (or the honemeister choose, if you're not hone it yourself) while in DB, basically you get whatever the factory made for you.

good luck!

I followed the same path, execept it went faster for me. It just happened that I received my straight faster. So I used the Dannyco only once.

In my case, the straight made it easier. But it was really shave ready, so I could know right away how it was supposed to be and when I found the second shave less comfortable I knew I had to use the strop.

If it can help you, I noticed that I use a smaller angle with the straight than with the Dannyco.

And my opinion is that the honing on stoned should not be the last step. Stropping it on a leather strop should follow the honing and be used before each shave.

I'm no expert myself so it is only my opinion based on my little experience of 1 week...

Gilles

Thanks, yes, i probably put too much information. It is hard to gauge just how much is enough. For this Thread, i am seeking for information comparing Shavette shaving vs straigth.

I read another thread where someone mentionned that a Straight is not as sharp and does not slide through the hair as easily. This confirms the hair test . Even though the Dovo popped the hair it was not as quick as the Shavette in doing so.

I was thinking some more about how i shaved and the difference between my first and second shave. I shaved with the straight using the same speed and technique i was using with the shavette (what else did i know). The second time, i went a little slower and i had stropped the razor before (i did not the first time because i had not received my strope - i rely on mail order since it is hard to find straight equipment around here).

Since the straight does not slice as easily, perhaps the pulling of the whiskers is a consequence of going too fast and an improper angle. I will play closer attention next time. This is mother's day tomorrow , here, and my wife has pleaded i do not use the straight today . Next week, i will make another attempt . In the meantime, i will keep reading and will get back to basics to uncover what i am doing wrong.

Thanks

Well, i have shaved for a third time using the straight razor. I was afraid of using it and wanted to use the shavette. However, i thought i needed to use the straight if i really wanted to learn to master it. I took my time and paid attention to the pressure and angle of the blade. I used light slicing strokes. It worked ! I got a decent shave: only 3 nicks, considerably less redenning (almost none - only the chin). One was caused by a mistake and the other two because i came back to the same spot too often.

I guess that i need to get used to my new razor. Shaving is improving at a fast rate. I still have the impression that the Shavette is sharper and can give a faster shave.

I believe that i need more mileage to get better at it. I was reading the post for May 2010 advices, the gentleman who wrote it was observing that most of us complaining that our new razors were not sharp enough had to work on our techniques. I believe from my little experience that he is damn right! I need to get back to basics and pay attention to my technique and get used to my new razor. It is a different beast than the shavette and i must learn to control it to give a confortable shave.

Originally Posted by MichelG

Well, i have shaved for a third time using the straight razor. I was afraid of using it and wanted to use the shavette. However, i thought i needed to use the straight if i really wanted to learn to master it. I took my time and paid attention to the pressure and angle of the blade. I used light slicing strokes. It worked ! I got a decent shave: only 3 nicks, considerably less redenning (almost none - only the chin). One was caused by a mistake and the other two because i came back to the same spot too often.

I guess that i need to get used to my new razor. Shaving is improving at a fast rate. I still have the impression that the Shavette is sharper and can give a faster shave.

I believe that i need more mileage to get better at it. I was reading the post for May 2010 advices, the gentleman who wrote it was observing that most of us complaining that our new razors were not sharp enough had to work on our techniques. I believe from my little experience that he is damn right! I need to get back to basics and pay attention to my technique and get used to my new razor. It is a different beast than the shavette and i must learn to control it to give a confortable shave.

congratz! yesterday was my 10th shave and I have fully BBS and comfortable shave with no nicks, I didn't count the time but I was in a rush, 3 passes done. Probably good fast morning shave is important but I personally loves to shave at night and go too sleep with happy feeling coz BBS, especially if there's no nicks, a personal satisfaction of mine

well...the honemeisters here saying that they can hone their razor sharper than factory DB

btw, I also feel the same way, sometimes we, newbie, get excited too much and skip the basic it happen to me, and I actually a bit feel shame with my arrogance saying I got BBS in my 2nd shave but then at night I feel all my face burned and dry...and well now, I've proven that all the mentors here are there for reason and what they experienced...

I made some progress in the past couple of weeks and i have found that the Dovo that i had bought was not shave ready for me. I first thought that it was the transition from the Shavette to the straight razor. I went back to basics and paid attention to angle and the amount of pressure. I helped reduce the redenning but it never helped get the razor to do its job properly. I always felt the razor pulling the hair while it cutting. I never had this feeling with the Shavetted except when the blade was dull.

I decided to buy a brand new razor and after i talked to the owner of the store (who advertises on this site) and told him about my problem, he recommended i buy a Thier Issard C135 Steel razor. This razor comes shave ready from the manufacture , in France. I have been using this razor since i got it on may 18th and am i glad i bought this razor. The first time i used it, i did not even use the leather strope and i gave me a nice shave. I now use the leather strope before i use it and it provides me with a very nice shave. I find that it is very close to the shavette as far as the ease to cut the whiskers. I still feell that the shavette with a brand new blade shaves quicker (blade is sharper in my opinion). However, the feel of the shave with the Thier Issard is much nicer.

I have also bought a set of Naniwa stones (3K, 8K and 12K) to bring the Dovo in line with the Thier Issard. I thought i would post my last findings to help those who experience a similar issue or those helping people: consider that the razor edge may be dull even if the razor was sold as shave ready.

I bought the razor from a newbie member who had bought the razor brand new in december. I thought the razor would still be sharp since it was honed by SRD. However, the seller felt it was too sharp and used natural stones to make it more confortable to him. I suppose that the process of using the natural stones made the blade a little dull. I have a coarse beard and i need a sharp edge if i do not want to exert pressure while cutting the whiskers.

Beware of newbie selling their razor and telling that they are not honemeister. You may get a good razor that won't shave comfortably. I now understand why you need two straight razors. One needs to always be sharp so that when you hone and try it out, if it is not shave ready, you can continue with the other razor and take care of the edge later...

Now, my next task is to learn to hone to bring the Dovo in line with the TI.

the issue was with the razor. thanks for pointing me in that direction. it helped me decide to buy a new razor.

thanks for the follow up on this post.

I just started with my first razor, which I got new and is the same dovo as you have. I did not experience any sharpness issues, but found that by doing more stropping on the canvas side of the strop, it has become a better shaver, it's sharper now.

congrats on the TI!