Quote Originally Posted by aparrado View Post
Hi guys,

A year or so ago I bought an Art of Shaving Horn Razor and Dovo strop along with all the goodies needed for a good shave including a brush, bowl, yellow paste, etc.

I never really committed and gave up far to quickly eventually giving my AOS Horn Razor away to a friend of mine who seemed more adamant about the hobby than I did. I had trouble getting the blade back to its as-new sharpness.

Move forward a year and I find myself buying another AOS Razor, this time the AOS Dovo - Blackwood Grenadille. Since I already had the strop and everything, I was eager to give straight razor shaving another try, this time, hopefully with more success.

With your guidance maybe I will have an easier go at it this go around.

1) When stropping, how many strokes on each side (canvas / leather) is recommended for the ideal sharpening.
2) What's the appropriate speed in which to strop? I feel like I may be going to slowly. Maybe in measure of how many strokes per minute?
3) When will my new razor require honing and what type of stone would be best recommended for this razor. I saw a lot of videos and information but they all seem to be "use the stone that is appropriate for you" which, being a newbie doesn't really compute to me since I don't know what I am after / need.
4) Is getting the razor sharpened at a knife place like Williams Sonoma or Sur La Table recommended in place of honing?

Thanks, sorry of these questions seem incredibly newbish in nature.
1. Get your blade pro-honed until you know how to shave with a straight. Until you have perfected your technique, you will never know if your razor is dull, or your technique is poor. If you really want to practice your honing, get a cheap razor with quality steel on ebay, but shave with one that was pro-honed.....
2. Start out slow with your stropping. Better to take your time than to crap up your strop or injure yourself. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. Learn to strop smoothly, then learn fast later. Be patient, it will come. Just like the shaving, it will take 30 or 40 minutes at first to finish your face. Later about 10 minutes....
3. Honing time seems to be more or less depending on the razor. If your stopping is good you should get 6 months to a year before a light touch up.
4. Never send your blade to a knife sharpening service unless they specifically know how to sharpen a straight razor. Best is sending it to one of the guys that advertise here.

Good luck,
Jeff.