Thread: New to Straight Razors, What am i missing ?? Blade not sharp

I agree with Ed. You may continue to work at the honing in frustration, and may even arrive at a shave ready edge in about six months after you have needlessly worn the edge and spine down. But I highly recommend that you get it professionally honed first to feel what shave ready really means. Then when it is time to bring the edge back you will know to what you must aspire. You have a nice setup, and it will do the job, but you need a good baseline from which to proceed with success before you spend anymore time or money.

Hang in there. The reward is worth it.

Gammaray

greetings,

i am new to this club...have used the straigt-edge from feb of 2011. i have a se dovo inox; also, i have a strop but i tell you, i have gotTen to one of the points of your comment: I HAVE LOST THE !EDGE! OF MY LITTLE DARLING. it just doesn't cut like it used to cut and therefore i have been relegated back to using a cheap triple edge safety razor and i dont think i have to tell you how much, after shaving with a straight-edge, i am impressed with the cut. the strop kept the edge for awhile but because of inexperience i couldnt maintain the precision edge needed to avoid defacing the skin getting shaving bumps and in-grown hairs. i am in the caribbean but i wanted to know if you know of anyone of reputable character that can bring the edge back to little missy? i want to eventually become proficient at honing a blade but i am willing to start by paying a professional to do it. will probably buy a new blade, honing stone, strop and work on restoring the edge of the blade i already have.
Can anyone guide me along these lines?

Pointless to discuss whether slicing paper will damage the edge. The test is useless for razors. It's not hard to push cut paper. A shave ready razor has to be much sharper.

Also pointless to take any advice on razors, stropping, or honing from anyone at AOS. At least not the one I have been to. It's a nice shop but not a source for knowledge.

Send the razor out for honing as recommended. A higher grit hone isn't what you need right no, first you need to master the basics.

Michael

I do not mean to be contrarian, but I would play around with light honing before you send it in.
I say this with some reservation, because ultimately you will be responsible for what happens to your DOVO.

Everyone comes from different perspective, but I for one value the ability to hone over a price of a razor.
You can always (and probably should) send it in to be professionally honed after you are done with some level of experimenting.
This way you can gain some valuable experience and also have a sharp razor at the end of the day.
If you send it in right away, you might be much more hesitant to do any kind of serious honing afterwards for fear of ruining it.

All of this, of course, is null if you get a practice razor offered by stingray.

it is all good. I am working on getting new tools (honing stone, new strop, and used blade[s]) so i can start practicing but in the meantime i am going to send my blade to the chief honemeister for a hone/restoration; i gotta be smooth....know what i mean!