first shave report and a question or two

Hello ! Thought I'd introduce myself.. I've been reading about straight razors occasionally flirting with the idea of owning one as my daily shaver for about a year now. I have been using a gilette D/E razor from the 30's (nonadjustable), for the last 5 years, and have spent less than 10 dollars on blades.. I love the thing, but felt it was time for the next jump up.

So, I got a strop, razor, soap, etc.... all of those things. I figured my new dovo would be sharp out of the box. Not. Well, I ordered a razor from billy, and it blew the dovo clear out of the water, 100+ year old steel as well. So, I've cut myself a little here and there,
everything has been going decently well so far, I'm waiting for more hair to show up so I can try shaving for the third time. The first time with the dovo I didn't feel like I accomplished a whole lot, and the blade pulled, etc.. Just scraped skin off. I even got it honed by a local knife guy.. It's definitely not shave ready though unfortunately. The guy's been sharpening knives and blades of all sorts for 30 years or so, but apparently the SR is a completely different beast.


Anyhow, I ordered a dovo brush, with the ebony handle from classicshaving.. is it normal for the brush to lose a lot of hairs the first few times you use it? l I don't think it should be doing that??? also, I think that the brush is too big for my face, a 30mm knot is the one I ordered, and it just seems massive. What is a good size for a normal sized face? will they accept a return of a brush for a different one?


a little about me. I'm a 23 year old photographer and artist living in san francisco, and am quite intrigued by antique things. Hence my draw to the straight razor. also, I'm green minded, so like the idea of not wasting metal and so on ...

So those things being said, hello !

:)

~Omar

Depends on what you mean by "a lot". The first use they tend to shed, but should settle down quickly after that.

Yes, straights are very different from knives, I just hope your knife guy didn't ruin it. Straights are honed by laying them flat on the hone, with knives you hold the spine up about 20 degrees off the hone. If he sharpened your straight like that it'll take a lot of correct honing to get the edge back where it needs to be.

Welcome aboard Omar. Knives are NOTHING compared to straight razors. Even the woodworking community here was shocked when I started asking about 15,000 grit Shaptons. That's why I'll suggest that you read up on our help files and use the forum search function as it will answer a great number of your questions. After that you'll always find someone ready to answer your questions. Enjoy!

I've picked out or noticed probably about 40 or so hairs come out. It doesn't seem to be letting up just yet. The brush is huge though, and I'm more worried honestly at this point that it may be too big... I've read a bit about this before, and didn't know how large the one I was ordering was.. see illustration:

picture of the badger brush against my face

There are even bigger monstrosities out there so this one will be just fine. Having a big brush means it can hold more water and thus retain heat better. Unless you're a squeezer, it will be harder on your soap but not noticeably so. Instead of 6 months your cakes will last 5.5, unless you're a squeezer lol. I'm pretty sure this brush will have some sort of a warranty so if it sheds too much you can always exchange it for a new one.

Shedding for a new brush is not unusual. 40 hairs total? No worries. 40 hairs per use? No, not normal. It may shed for the first week, maybe two, but after that, there is a concern that needs to be addressed. The 30mm knot is a massive knot! I sold mine. For most gents, a knot in the 20-25mm size is preferred. If you continue to have shedding issues, contact your vendor.

RT