Thread: Anticipation

Hi all, this is my first post.

I'm 24 years old, and up to now I've always hated everything about shaving, and have usually just gone with a scraggly beard. I've always hated disposable razors, and although I've never used a safety razor, I don't think I'd be any happier with them either--my biggest turn off is the idea that there will be little bits of hair accumulating in small crevices in the cartridge (which absolutely drives me crazy). Ever since I shaved for the first time, I've always wished I could just use a raw blade, in the hope that I'd never need to worry about that again.

So recently I decided to finally invest in a straight razor. I started doing heavy research, found this website, and really feel that I've made the right choice to dive into straight razors. I'm currently awaiting an amazon order which should be arriving to my house shortly:

- Badger Brush/Stand ( Van Der Hagen Men's Luxury, Shave Set )
- Shaving Soap ( Omega 46001 Shaving Soap in Bowl )
- Carbon Steel Dovo Straight Razor ( Dovo Best Quality, Full Hollow Carbon Steel, 5/8", Black Handle )
- Razor Strop ( Fromm Razor Strop 2 1/2" X 23" )
- Proraso Aftershave Lotion ( Proraso Dioibarba Aftershave Lotion Hair Removal Products )

I absolutely cannot wait for this to arrive in the mail so I can do my first "sideburn pass" trial.

Anyway, I'm aware that for a beginner it shouldn't matter too much, but I'm curious if the razor I chose here is a good one. I've seen on this forum's "Bad Razors" list that both "Best Quality" and "Solingen" should be regarded as suspicious...and this razor says "Solingen: Best Quality" . I assumed that it must be legitimate since it's from Dovo.

Thanks,
Jay

First off, welcome to SRP

Yes, the gear you have chosen will do fine.
And the razor is a very good one to start you off.
What you need to do though, is to have it properly honed.
Straight from the factory, the edge is somewhat lacking.
Check in the classifieds for sharpening services! Or, better yet, check to see if you can't find a fine shave ready blade in there for a very reasonable amount.

The Dovo Best quality is a fine razor, and it is made in Solingen.
Most any Solingen razor will be considered a good one. In the wiki you referred to, you will see that what's being warned about is pakistani blades marked, falsely, Solingen.

Good luck with it!

Any questions you might have, fire away, the SRP is filled with helpful people who will try to assist you as best as they can

Welcome to SRP... What B told you above is dead on... May I suggest adding your loaction on the SRP google map and maybe one of us that knows how to hone is close to you and can help....

See how his post and my post have the link that says My Location check it out

Birnando,

Thanks for your comment. I did wonder about whether it would come shave-ready or not. I watched a few videos on honing, and am curious what the chances are for a newbie like me to try to hone it myself. I'm fairly patient with my hands and (after watching videos) don't think I'd have much trouble with the process, and am eager to learn. I think what I can't really learn from watching the videos is what the correct amount of pressure (or lack thereof) to apply to the blade is.

I ordered a 1000/6000 grade waterstone (although retrospectively--after further research--I think I should have found a 4000/8000 and 12000).

Will I utterly fail if I attempt to hone this blade on this stone?

You really should send it out for honing anyway, otherwise you'll maybe never know what a really shave-ready razor is. Not the best choice of stone, but i guess it'll work somewhat. Ask before you buy....

Okay. I'll try using it as is for a while, then send it in for honing, and hopefully notice a dramatic difference.

Originally Posted by notfed

I watched a few videos on honing, and am curious what the chances are for a newbie like me to try to hone it myself.

....I ordered a 1000/6000 grade waterstone (although retrospectively--after further research--I think I should have found a 4000/8000 and 12000).

Will I utterly fail if I attempt to hone this blade on this stone?

Well, the stones you have bought is a bit on the low side grit-wise to be a perfect fit for razors.
A 1K stone will be what most of us use for bevel setting, but we finish the sharpening/polishing/finishing on higher grits than 6K
The 4/8 path is a better one, if all you want to do is sharpen "good" razors. With good I mean razors who has the bevel set properly.

That said, I would definitely suggest you focus on the shaving side of things.
That way, when you do decide to hone your own razors, you'll better know what you are aiming for and can relate the honing to the only true test of the edge, the shave test.

Hopefully that all made some sense

Yeah, thanks for the feedback guys. I shall wait for a few months before considering honing myself . I wasn't aware of the free honing services until Blix pointed it out, that's great! Might mean I'll be waiting a few more weeks though .

Originally Posted by notfed

... I ordered a 1000/6000 grade waterstone (although retrospectively--after further research--I think I should have found a 4000/8000 and 12000). Will I utterly fail if I attempt to hone this blade on this stone?

Agree with above. Using what you have, if you insert some chromium oxide between the 6000 and the leather strop, you can get by.

But, don't get confused about maintaining an already shave ready razor, and honing a dull razor to shave readiness. Those are different beasts.

As above, get it honed. After that, for maintaining the edge, you won't need the 1000 lower grit at all. The 1000 lower grit comes into the picture when you buy a dull razor (the Dovo you did purchase, for example) and bring it to shave readiness.

Welcome aboard! You'll find evrything you need here from equipment to advice. Just remember to take it in stages.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk