Thread: Making a new razor shave ready...

Hi folks. So I've got a new Dovo and on the first shave it tugged/pulled pretty good. Clearly needs work. Some have told me that it needs to be honed, but then a barber (not a "hairstylist") told me that it shouldn't need honing. He told me that a good stropping oughta do it. He had a bunch of antique razors in his shop, he seemed like a good dude to ask. In his opinion, honing is something that is only done if the edge is completely lost. What do you guys think? Should I send it out for honing or just strop it, strop it good? How often do you guys hone? Thanks a bunch.

It could stand some improvement from my limited experience with factory edges, but also remember that the first shave typically has a fair amount of pulling & irritation just from not yet knowing how to use it well.

To be perfectly honest I'd send it to srd. A razor honed by Lynn is likely the finest edge you'll ever use, so that will also help a lot during the learning.

Edit: Just noticed you had your location visible. It's very possible we have a senior member close by who would be willing to sit down with you, hone the razor & offer a few tips on stropping & using it.

Shave ready and factory honed dont go together. You need to get it honed. Once honed you can prolong the edge by doing an occasional 5 or 6 passes on a pasted strop but if it is you one and only razor figure it will need a retouch every 6 or so weeks.

Here are some tips about new razors with new shavers in fact a Dovo in this case



http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...tml#post908878

You can answer this question yourself:

. . . Give it a _good_ honing -- 100 - 200 laps on leather.

If it improves:

. . . Give it another good honing!

If it doesn't improve, send it out.

. . . Charles

I agree with the barber. Despite the common opinion of people on shaving fora like this one, a new razor is usually shave ready. However to someone who doesn't strop their razor properly no razor is shave ready for very long.

Originally Posted by cannonfodder

Shave ready and factory honed dont go together. You need to get it honed. Once honed you can prolong the edge by doing an occasional 5 or 6 passes on a pasted strop but if it is you one and only razor figure it will need a retouch every 6 or so weeks.

This. You will need to get it 'shave ready'. Search for this phrase on the forums here and you will see that other newbies had similar experiences. In my experience, Dovo's are NOT sold shave ready. They just have a machine finish put on which is simply not enough to shave with.

My only experience with a brand new razor and factory edge was with a Revisor and not a Dovo. I had been straight shaving for 3 month by that time so my technique for shaving and stropping was not too bad by then. I stropped it and got a not so bad shave. Stropping it on a Crox pasted balsa strop brought it up a notch. Doing a light touch up honing on stones brought it up even more and it is very good to use now. You could try stropping the Dovo and see if that works. If that doesn't work then honing would be a very good idea.

Bob

When I got my Dovo Bismarck (new) it shaved, not well, but it shaved. I stropped it half to death and it did improve, a little.
You can't strop an edge onto the blade. If you don't think it's up to snuff, then try to get it honed (someone local if you can just so that you can
see the process).

Even if the edge doesn't improve, as least you can eliminate the blade as a variable.

Originally Posted by JeffR

I agree with the barber. Despite the common opinion of people on shaving fora like this one, a new razor is usually shave ready. However to someone who doesn't strop their razor properly no razor is shave ready for very long.

Now that depends on what your definition of shave ready is. if it means it will cut hairs then you're right. If you mean cut hairs without any pulling or issues then no. Also there is tremendous variation. Some new razors won't shave period and others come very close to true shave ready status. On average most would not be happy with a factory edge.