Thread: New Member From So Cal

Hi Guys!!
I'm new to straight razors as I have been using safety razors for some time. I decided to go all in, and made purchase of a Dovo 5/8 Full Hollow, a Japanese Tosuke, and in about 5 months, will receive my Robert Williams "Purist".
I am fortunate enough to be only a couple hours away from Classic Shaving in Palm Springs, and bought what I felt was the necessary accessories: Norton 4k/8k, Chinese 12k, 2 sided paddle strop, 1 micron and .5 micron paste, and 2 sided hanging strop. I honed the Dovo to what I thought was a very keen edge, and shaved with it. Unfortunately, I was left with significant razor burn. I am used to Feather blades in my safety razor, and can get a very good shave with them, and never get irritation from them even thought many say they are very harsh, so I guess I have to check to see if I honed my razor correctly, as it was not shave ready when I bought it, (should have bought it at Classic Shaving instead of a local mall) and I have to work on my technique. Regardless, I am very excited to get a great shave with a straight, and welcome any and all info I could get from the more experience guys out there.

Sounds like you bought some great equipment. IMHO it sounds like you took on too many tasks at the same time. Learning proper shaving technique is tricky on its own. Learning proper honing technique is also very tricky. My suggestion is to send your razor to a honemeister (they can be found on this site) and putting the hones away for a while.

When you get your razor back you can be sure that it's shave ready and just focus on your shaving technique. You can then later re-introduce the added variables of honing.

Just my 2 cents. Good luck and welcome!

First of all welcome!! Its always nice to have another So cal member to the club, and Garden Grove, is pretty close . If i were u i would take that razor and send it off too Lynn(founder of SRP) and when it comes back u will know what a straight razor is suppose to feel like. Also the fact that u used a DEmeans that u probably have your prep down and that is one less variable to worry about.

Originally Posted by sharpnut

Hi Guys!!
I'm new to straight razors as I have been using safety razors for some time. I decided to go all in, and made purchase of a Dovo 5/8 Full Hollow, a Japanese Tosuke, and in about 5 months, will receive my Robert Williams "Purist".
I am fortunate enough to be only a couple hours away from Classic Shaving in Palm Springs, and bought what I felt was the necessary accessories: Norton 4k/8k, Chinese 12k, 2 sided paddle strop, 1 micron and .5 micron paste, and 2 sided hanging strop. I honed the Dovo to what I thought was a very keen edge, and shaved with it. Unfortunately, I was left with significant razor burn. I am used to Feather blades in my safety razor, and can get a very good shave with them, and never get irritation from them even thought many say they are very harsh, so I guess I have to check to see if I honed my razor correctly, as it was not shave ready when I bought it, (should have bought it at Classic Shaving instead of a local mall) and I have to work on my technique. Regardless, I am very excited to get a great shave with a straight, and welcome any and all info I could get from the more experience guys out there.

Hi Sharpnut...Allow me to join the watermark in welcoming another So Cal member to the fold. There are many here on SRP

Looks like you're off to a great start. Don't worry about the razor burn...it will take a little time. Kinda like when you switched from cartridge to DE...same thing here...different hardware and some learning curve (for both you and your skin)

thewatermark and ElChe are both right...send your Dovo to Lynn (or some others here...there's no shortage of honemeisters) to be honed...that way, you have a baseline to compare what a good sharp edge feels like. Sounds like you will need some practice razors for honing. My advice is NOT to take your good Dovo blade to the hones until you have learned on some practice blades...honing is an art that will require time to learn and you will make mistakes. And if you don't, you're doing something wrong

Welcome. It is good to see more members from Southern Cal. Without sounding redundant, send your blade to Lynn, Max or Mainaman. Hell I imagine anybody here on this site that hones will do. It will show you what a good and proper sharpening can do to your blade and hopefully ease the razor burn. As for your shaving, just practice. Good luck and great to have you here.

Originally Posted by sharpnut

Hi Guys!!
I decided to go all in, and made purchase of a Dovo 5/8 Full Hollow, a Japanese Tosuke, and in about 5 months, will receive my Robert Williams "Purist".
I am fortunate enough to be only a couple hours away from Classic Shaving in Palm Springs, and bought what I felt was the necessary accessories: Norton 4k/8k, Chinese 12k, 2 sided paddle strop, 1 micron and .5 micron paste, and 2 sided hanging strop.

Welcome to SRP. Wow, you're not kidding about going all in, I guess I am still in the "wading pool" with a few razors, a couple of strops, and a newly acquired barber's hone. That is some great gear to begin your new hobby with, you should be set for a short time until the RAD and HAD set in with a vengence. May they have mercy on your wallet.

Originally Posted by ElChe

Sounds like you bought some great equipment. IMHO it sounds like you took on too many tasks at the same time. Learning proper shaving technique is tricky on its own. Learning proper honing technique is also very tricky. My suggestion is to send your razor to a honemeister (they can be found on this site) and putting the hones away for a while.

+1 on ElChe's advice, take it slow and focus on learning the techniques that go into just shaving with a straight razor. Honing, what little I know of it, is like turning the amplifiers up to eleven.

Thank you for the advice. I spent some time today reading thru the wiki pages, and realized I went a little crazy buying and doing too much soon. I will take all the advice and move a little slower.

Thank you for the advice. I'm sending my Dovo to Lynn, that way, like you said, I will have a baseline. I didn't realize there was so many So Cal people here, I have done alot of work in LA. To me it's right around the corner. Anyway, thanks again for the advice, and thank you for taking the time to help me out.