Hello! Tips needed!

More or less just wanted to say hello and get some feedback on my orders so far!
Im a 23 yr old Swedish guy who've gotten interested in this shaving business since i went to a barber a couple of months ago on my vacation.

I've ordered all stuff i thought i needed before i found this place, even tho i've only been browsing/reading today i've found alot of helpful stuff in this forum (especially this, the newbies corner :) )
However, this is what i bought:
Edvin Jagger - 5/8 Cut throat razor
Dovo strop
Red and green paste
Edvin Jagger soap

I've never seen anything written about this Edvin Jagger razor (yet), any thoughts about it? It was the _only_ razor they had in the swedish online shop, it costed ~110 USD, i figured it couldnt be that bad. Keep in mind i made this order before i had a clue about this community/sites from other countries with ALOT more stuff that they could ship worldwide.
Do you guys think i can get this Cut Throat razor into a shave-ready condition with the gear bought? If not: are there any pro-honers in europe (prefferably sweden :P ) that you could recommend me sending my little razor to?

Anyway, dont flame me for my english, nor my shaving skills, this is the first day of my life even thinking about somethingelse than my mach3 ;)
(and ya, ofc ill read, watch , do whatever to get some knowledge in shaving with this beast before i even try to shave myself :) )

Cristal,

Welcome to the forum...:)
Your English is great. Probaly better
that a lot of native speakers.

As far as the Edvin Jagger razor, I really don't
know anything about them. You will probably
need more than the paste to make the razor
shave ready, and that would go for any new
razor.

Since I've never honed either, I will let the others
give their opinion on this.

As far as shaving goes, I'm sure that you will do just
fine. The rest of us had to learn and you will as well.

Wish I could have offered more, I mainly just wanted to
welcome you. Be patient, other will respond. There
are alot of good guys here just itching to give their
expert advise.


Terry

Welcome,

I think you've got a good shot at getting the razor shaving. Its more about knowledge than equipment though, so either way don't sweat it. If it were me I'd strop it first, then test shave on a small spot. Failing that, then run it under the red paste and then strop again (after cleaning) and test shave again, then failing that run it over green paste, then red, then strop and test shave again. Failing that, repeat until successful. Learn some sharpness testing techniques. I'd use a piece of balsa wood to apply the pastes to (a very small amount) and then if you become successful purchase a paddle strop for application. A barber hone would be a good addition in the near future or find someone locally that can hone it for you.

Purchasing another shave ready razor is a great suggestion you'll get from more than one of us.

Your English is perfect. You'll want to do a lot of reading and ask a lot of questions.

thanks to both of you guys for really fast replies and warm welcome's!


AFDavis11: ok, thanks! perfect answer, and yes, i've already been out scouting for a hone + some razors to practice on and shave-ready razors. One thing now since im still far away from knowing all basics: When i'll work with the paste (on lets say Balsa) ill move the razor on the surface similar to the motion when stropping?

Yup, for pasted paddles move the razor with the edge trailing.

Go for the balsa or a scrap of leather froma shoe repair shop for the pastes. Do not apply them to your good Dovo hanging strop.

The Edwin Jaegger is likely a made to order Dovo product. You may well be able to sharpen this to shave ready on the green and red pastes with some work. I have done many new Dovos using only pastes from 9 micron to 0.5 micron.

Keep us posted on your progress.

Tony

I found Edwin Jagger razors here.

They are made by Dovo.

The two Dovo razors I bought new were ready to shave out-of-the-box. I did strop them 20 strokes on the pasted linen and then leather, as I usually do before a shave. They have improved since I've been shaving with them and stropping them, but they were ready to go when I got them.

You probably got a good bang for the buck. It's a general concensus that the Edwin Jagger Best Badger brush from Crabtree & Evelyn is the best bang for the buck and I had a great experience with it, so I am assuming they will match it with the razor. As it looks like it was made by DOVO, you won't be disappointed. I own one and it's always in the top 3 of my rotation.
In any case you won't get flamed for your English or anything else. This is a very friendly and helpful community, including quite a few of us whose first language isn't English. If you have any additional questions, don't hesitate to ask. We'll help you as much as possible.
Welcome aboard and hope you enjoy your experience at least half as much as I did.

Thanks for all comments guys! Really appreciated!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

In any case you won't get flamed for your English or anything else. This is a very friendly and helpful community, including quite a few of us whose first language isn't English. If you have any additional questions, don't hesitate to ask. We'll help you as much as possible.
Welcome aboard and hope you enjoy your experience at least half as much as I did.

---

Thanks for the kind words, and yes.. indeed, people are really willing to help + friendly! In other words, i dont regret my choice to sign up and paste of my newb questions :D
and ofcourse, ill keep on asking if there are any other questions i cant find the answers to myself and when the time comes: The story about my straight razor virginity disappearing!

Greets neighbour. Glad to see that there are other Scandinavians involved. Can't really help you on the honing as I'm a newbie myself. However, I just shaved with a pre-honed straight from Ed (ForestyProf) today and it was good. I did my cheeks with a DE and the neck and chin with the straigt. Didn't cut myself but I have to admit I usually get closer shaves with a DE. Give me a few more tries and I'll do better.

Make sure you have a good shaving brush and some good cream/soap. It makes all the difference in the world.

Hey alfborge fellow neighbour! nice to see someone from the scandinavia here :D

So, to keep u guys updated (rather get some feedback / expressing my joy) im making this reply.
I lost my straight razor virginity today.
I ordered my stuff yesterday, when i got back from work today i got a package leaned towards my door. Guess if i was happy?
Anyway, i got in and packed up all stuff. Filled with happiness i touched all stuff, practicing some stropping really slow trying to imitate those tutorial vids in the vidgallery.
After a few hours of mental preparation and nervousness i figured it was time to loose my virginity!
I expected to cut myself, i just hoped not to cut myself really badly. Since im a paramedic and got some stuff at home i brought out 1 litre of intra venous fluid + one vein catheter (needle) just incase i did cut my artheria going beside the adams apple or my carotis communis vein (yeah, i was kinda nervous and wanted to be cautious ;) )


However: I tried out the razor on my arm after stropping 20 passes, hoovering 2 mm it didnt cut my armhair. I used the balsawood + red paste i bought earlier today and gave the razor roughly 50-60 passes. Stropped again and tried the hair test now on my arm, it didnt really cut much hair now either. But i figured i would try to shave as a test.
After checking the Lynn-video once again i felt confident enough to take a shower and applying my shavingsoap. Then i started, trying to do EXACTLY like mr. Lynn. It all went really smooth, felt great and close, not feeling any pain at all while doing my cheeks. The area below my cheeks ~the jawline was kinda tricky, but worked out rather good after pulling my skin a bit more. Then i went on shaving my chin, this was a really hart part in my humble opinion. I did cut myself one, leaving a really tiny piece of blood, didnt hurt actually. i kept going and it all worked out rather good.

Im writing this with a little sore cheek but with a large portion of happiness and joy!
It was really a blast, i feel so good at this very moment. I don't really know why. I just do :)
When touching my newly shaved areas its pretty decent, its not like a "against the grain" shave with my old mach3 around my cheek, but then. I didnt expect that kinda result either. Im surprised because the rest of my face feels like a good mach3 shave against the grain (except for my mustache which is somewhat inbetween a against the grain and along the grain with my non-straight shavings). However this actually leaves me less sore and vulnerable then after my regular shaves, the mach3 gets really close, but leaves me and my skin in a bad condition (+ alot of those inflammatored hairsacks 1-2 days after every shave).
I didn't go for 2 passes, i never shaved against the grain today.
Note that all written is with my own measurements expecting a bloodbath. When i say that it turned out really good i mean: a decent shaving without any pain.
Not perfectly shaved and a flawless technique :P

Anyone got another tips for testing if its shave ready? It turned out really good (with my measurements), but could be nice to know if i should work some more stropping with the red (or maybe the green) paste before shaving next time!

Now im just longing for my next shave, i actually want my beard to grow a couple of millimeters every hour for the next few weeks/months !
once again: GREAT THANKS TO ALL OF YOU GUYS!!!!
consider me hooked already unless i get a zillion inflammatored hairsacks the next couple of days :P

Congratulations on your successful first shave; any first shave that you survive with only minor wounds should be considered successful, actually shaving hair is a nice bonus :-)

As for sharpness, the razor should be able to cut arm hairs mid-shaft, that is, you should be able to wave the razor slowly through your arm hair a millimeter above the skin, and the hairs should either pop in two, or just tumble over onto the blade. With this level of sharpness, shaving shouldn't feel much like scraping, it should feel more like you're just wiping the lather off your face with the blade.

I'd use the pastes some more, but be careful not to use too much pressure, as that can make it difficult to achieve the very fine edge necessary for a comfortable shave. Also, you mentioned you had two pastes, are these the dovo pastes? If so, I think the green is the coarser paste at around 5-6 microns, and the red is the finer at 2 microns or so. You might want to do 10-20 light passes on the green, then wipe the blade very clean (to avoid cross contamination) and the 20 or so very light passes on the red. If that doesn't do the trick, then you may need to send the razor out for honing on an actual stone.

Aaah yes.. Thanks mparker762.. I got them both (red and green paste), i just didnt know if i was doing this armhair thing right, guess i was. I'll try out some again following ur instructions.

Btw, i got balsa atm to do these stroppings on, can i re-use it ? i mean, the place that i've contamined with paste earlier!? Need to clean it before it can be used again? I dont mean to mix those spots up (red/green), just if i can use that certain spot again or if i should buy a large amount of balsa pieces :P

No need to clean them, just be carefull when you switch between them, wipe clean your razor, to avoid cross-contamination of the pastes...

nenad

no need to reapply the pastes until they're all black and aren't sharpening anymore. A few drops should last you months before you need to reapply. Just wipe the blade off whenever you switch between them, so you don't get coarse paste smeared into your fine pastes.