Thread: Im making the switch over to straight edge

Originally Posted by acharles331

I purchased a 6/8 Blonde Dovo and I'm very excited about giving this a go. . . . I'm also looking into getting a strop pretty soon because i read that the blade will dull pretty quickly and need to be stropped often.

Welcome to SRP!

Did you purchase your straight razor from a vendor or an individual who said they would hone it for you so it would be "shave ready?" A new razor that is only sharpened at the factory isn't sharp enough to give a close, comfortable shave.

You're going to need to purchase a strop right now. If you bought your razor from a vendor like Straight Razor Designs, it is honed "shave ready" and you will not need to strop it before your first shave. However, you will need to strop it before your second shave and before every shave after that. Learn about proper stropping technique here.

And be certain to read Lynn Abrams excellent article First Straight Razor Shave.

As mentioned by another member, there is a learning curve between first putting a straight razor to your face and enjoying what we call a "baby butt smooth" shave. How long it will take any one individual to achieve a "BBS" shave depends on many variables: one's knack for learning the physical skill, the coarseness or softness of your beard, the sensitivity of your skin, the various directions your beard grows in different areas of your face, how often you shave and so on.

Don't feel discouraged if you read of another newbie who seems to be getting a BBS shave right off the bat or much quicker than you seem to be progressing. We are all learning at our own speed.

Get that strop now before you have your second shave. Read up in the Wiki about pre-shave beard prep. The more care you take to soften your beard before you even apply lather to your face, the easier and more comfortable your shave is going to be.

Good luck and keep us informed on your progress!
Namaste,
Morty -_-

Hey guys thanks for all the useful info and for the encouragement, really helps out a lot! So i received my Dovo in the mail today and i put together a strop with supplies i picked up at Tandy Leather for stropping. I gave the razor a go today for my daily shave and WOW is it an experience! After i got over the initial fright of a straight edge i did ok with the proceedings of shaving(but i see what yall mean about keeping the Gillette around, and will probably do until i master this). I managed not to nick myself although the shave was a bit harsh, I'm thinking of sending the razor off to get properly honed/sharpen to where its "shave ready" and I'm hoping this help with the harshness of the razor on the face. I am also practicing proper stropping, i figure i do the damage to the edge now and not when its freshly honed/sharpened.