first shave, only 4 cuts or so

well today i got my Dovo stainless razor. the first thing i noticed was: it was impossible to cut free hanging hair with it. tried on my arm 5mm or so above the skin, nothing. so i figured i had to strop it and i did. but still it does´nt cut free hanging hair. maybe the strops are too coarse?

it definitely removes metal, i could never imagine leather removing so much material from the spine (well much and much, but still) i made the strops myself. how fine is fine enough? the strops i made are not ultras-mooth, they got some texture but not much. should they be ulta-smooth?

i shaved myself anyway. first i was a little afraid, like i was holding a laser-sword. its difficult to shave against the grain with a straight (i usually do this with my mach3 to get the closest possible shave). it was some spots i couldnt reach really, (just in front/below the ears etc) i have to work on that. i feel kinda sore in my face now

now to the very important question. how dull is a razor if it does´nt cut free hanging hair? or the hair of my arms above the skin?

and how do i fix this problem :thinking: / mike

i think i probably didnt pull the strop tight enough, is this a usual problem?

whaaa? leather should not remove metal unless it's coated with some abrasive substance.

If the razor pulls then it's not sharp enough, no matter what the various tests tell you. But in general a shaving sharp blade should cut free-standing hair on your arm mid-stalk (e.g. not by shaving against your skin, but just waving the blade through the hairs a millimeter above your skin).

You fix this problem with a hone or by mailing the razor out to someone with a hone and the knowledge to use it. The Norton 4k/8k hone is widely recommended if you opt for the first approach, and there are a variety of guys on the forum suitable for the second approach.

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Originally Posted by shaver47

i think i probably didnt pull the strop tight enough, is this a usual problem?

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It's a common problem for new guys to experience. I dulled my first razor that way. Pull it taught and strop lightly.

could i possible solve this problem by doing more stropping or should i hone first and then start stropping, i have a Spyderco UF-hone, just need to make it a little smoother, before i can use it. i can feel its not quite perfect yet.

Stropping will not sharpen a dull razor, it cleans and aligns the cutting fin on an already sharp razor so that it will shave properly. If 20-30 laps on the strop doesn't get a razor so it shaves well, then more laps won't help.

The spyderco ultrafine will work to get your razor shaving sharp, I don't use it but a few others on this forum do. Just remember to use no pressure at all on the hone, just the weight of the razor is enough. If you use more pressure it will remove metal faster but won't produce the fine edge that's necessary, so you'll just grind away your razor for nothing. If the razor is actually close to shaving sharp then a few laps should be sufficient.

You may want to check other threads here or in the honing/stropping forum. There was a similar thread recently. After that, read through the help files.

Welcome,

I think your jumping a little too fast into the shaving. Please consider purusing our files section and reading up on straight shaving. You can do some pretty significant damage if you don't know what your doing, why, how, or simply using a dull razor. You can even just ask a lot of questions, we'll answer them.

Take the time to learn all about sharpness testing and don't shave with a dull razor. Learn when and why to strop and hone. Study up a little on shaving strokes as well. One of the barbers manuals, say the 1961 version, in the help files would be the minimum reading before you begin stroking a razor to your face.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/compo...d,19/Itemid,3/

I didn't listen to that advice originally and I've got the scars to prove it. :cen

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Originally Posted by AFDavis11

Welcome,


http://straightrazorpalace.com/compo...d,19/Itemid,3/

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im going to do some reading before i try it again

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Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

I didn't listen to that advice originally and I've got the scars to prove it. :cen

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yea but now that you have the scars don't you feel like you have a badge of courage for all the world to see?

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

yea but now that you have the scars don't you feel like you have a badge of courage for all the world to see?

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I'd prefer if I didn't...
-Why don't you go straight buddy? You'll look like me, look at the clean shave!
-Yeah, but what about these scars? :eek:

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Originally Posted by shaver47

i think i probably didnt pull the strop tight enough, is this a usual problem?

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The strop must be kept taut while stropping.

Second, what do you mean that the strop removed metal? That should never happen. Are you sure it was metal and not just the burnishing of the leather strop?

By the way, the leather should be smooth but not necessarily glossy.

The founder of this group, Lynn Abrams has just released the best video available. 3 1/2 hours worth. Go to the Buy/Sell/Trade forum and read the sticky called World Of Shaving.

i just finished my hone, now its smooth as a models a$$. i also took the corners off. i used a spyderco triangle rod. i "shaved" off many many particles from the hone, kinda strange since its been polished with diamonds (you can see the marks in the hone), this i did with a fine rod. today i will borrow a camera to show you guys the metal the strop removed (definetely some wear).

the shave was better than expected actually, i noticed today. yesterday it didnt feel that good really

this is how the spine looks. this is only wear from the strop. to the left you can see how it looks where the strop has´nt had much contact, i tried to file this down to even it out with a sharpmaker rod (the scratches). seems to me like the strop is more agressive than a fine SM rod??:shrug:

the difference is about 0.1-0.15 millimeters (unaffected part/stroped part)

am i reading this and looking at this correctly here!@#?!?!?

is that the spine of your blade and is that ground away part that you are saying a STROP caused??? cuz if thats what you are saying that stop, just stop. put down the razor. go take your strop and throw it away.

you have a nice razor and you are destroying it. if it removes that much on the spine of the razor i'd hate to see what the bevel looks like or lack there of. your strop should tremble in fear of your razor. the slightest touch of the edge of my razor to my strop and SLICE the strop starts to bleed. you get what im saying here. soft leather vs. metal the spine shouldn't show any wear from the strop.

ok, here's what you do.

1 - Tony Miller on this site will sell you a fantastic REAL strop. infact you should actually send him your current strop so he can see what the hell it is you are using and why it is removing metal. thats just nuts. www.thewellshavedgentleman.com call him and talk to him, seriously. im sure he'll want too se this astonishing strop.

2 - if that strop removed metal then it destroyed your bevel and edge. you need to have it comptely rehoned. you need a new bevel put on. people were reading this board thinking that you only dulled your razor due to improper stropping but after lookin at those pictures, that is not the case. the razor is on life support and needs the feed tubes via a honemaster here. there are a few, try joe chandler, lynn abrams, robert williams, bill ellis ...oh theres a bunch. they will restore your bevel and then hone it to shaving sharp so you can start over.

3 - i don't know what grit you have or how you are trying to alter your hone to make it a finishing hone. no idea if that will work for you. if it does, awesome then you can do touch ups on the blade when it dulls. if not then pick up a pasted paddle from tony miller (strop guy) or buy a finishing hone which there is a discussion about in the honing section.

do you see the difference here..

TOUCH UP - fine grit hone to put the polished edge, extra sharpness back on an already created and maintained bevel. this is what you do when your razor goes from shaving like glass to pulling as you shave

NEW BEVEL - the edge of the blade which is ground(honed) to form the cutting edge. if you have removed that much metal from some kind of pakistani strop or something then you have ruined/destroyed your bevel. i don't know where you bought the razor so i don't even know if it came with a shaving sharp bevel in the first places (most don't unless they are shipped to a honemaster befor you OR you buy a restored blade off a honemasters website). New bevel creation is what you do when you buy ebay razors, when you have to do restoration work / sanding etc etc to a razor, when yo chip your blade OR when you destroy the previous bevel by cheese grating it on your pakistani strop.


if you continue to push yourself to shave with a dull or ruined edge you will HATE straight razor shaving. it will hurt you and cut you and give you terrible irritation and you won't enjoy the experience. SLOW DOWN and send your blade to someone that will help you, who will fix the edge and hone it to shaving sharpness. THEN you will enjoy your shave and see why we all truly love shaving.

~J

ps. buy a new strop from tony, send him your old one. send out your razor to get honed. save your face!!!

yeah thats from stropping only. i have a spyderco hone which ive heard from reliable sources it will work for honing. im going to try to clean the leather and when im done rub some olive oil into it and see how my other knives respond to it. otherwise ill just get me a dove strop from germany, its probably my cheapest alternative, just started a new job so im as close to broke as possible now for atleast another month. i tried to strop one of my kj eriksson moras (1095 @ 59-60hrc) and its seems to remove some material there too. however i only stropped the spine

i succesfully hones the razor to the point that it cuts some hair of my arm above the skin (but not all of them) have i honed enough?

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!
If it effortlessly pops the hair with every part of the blade (heel, middle, toe) without pulling or tugging, give it a few more passes on the 8k and try the HHT.

I think he means "if it DOESN'T efortlessly pop hairs" then go for a few more 8k strokes. If it DOES, you should be good to go.

X

I like a couple of extra strokes on the 8k for good measure.

now ive honed and honed, dont really know hard to push it against the hone..
its like nothing happens. the shaving is getting better now. at what angle would you say you hold your razor when you guys shave? i also shaved my head, i only missed/couldnt really reach the spots behind my ears otherwise it went fine i think

You should be using a light touch now, followed by a really light touch, followed by using just the weight of the blade. Keeping the razor flat on the hone is part of the trick, give it a year of practice and it'll be easy.

I'd guess most guys use about a 30 degree angle. Some use 20 for the first pass and 35 to 40 on the second pass. Some use 10 on the first . . . in general 30 degrees is considered average. Anything over 60 and your risking edge damage and irritation.