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I've using my new shave ready Dovo Best Quality for a month and things are getting better with each shave. Over the last couple of days I have noticed the blade seems to be loosing some of its edge. I am still stropping before and after each shave (15 on canvas, 50 on leather). Is that typical? Could it be bad stropping technique (blade rolling)? I have a certificate for an additional honing at no charge from SRD and I am wondering if it is time to use it.
Thanks in advance!
Do you strop before AND after the shave? This is an important question. Do you have a second razor?
If it was just a gradual degridation and it's your only razor, it's possible that it just needs a touch-up. You have several options: send it back to Lynn/SRD, pick up a quality barbers stone like a Swaty, or maybe even a Shapton 16K.
If the razor all of a sudden started to pull and you are doing your shave prep the same, then yes, you may have rolled the edge or damaged it in some other way. If so, I would recommend sending it off to Lynn/SRD as it will need to visit the stones.
I am not a big person on paste's & sprays, so I'm not going to offer any advice there as I believe they are just a "get by". My normal recommendation to learn to hone is to first start by touching up a razor that has started to pull. About 10x on the stone, strop 100x, and shave. If it's not quite right, do it again before the next shave. If after 3-4 try's it still doesn't shave right, then it will most likely need the bevel reset.
Where are you from in Texas, I live north of Paris...
if you are shaving everyday 2-3 passes after a month you might be wanting to touch up the edge many will use a paste, barber's hone or finishing hone. you also try to strop it a little more say 50/100 linen/leather and see if it improves stopping on newsprint might help refresh the edge.
or you could contact SRD and get options from them directly.
enjoy,
jim
Shooter:
Yes, I strop before and after but I suspect my stropping skill has room for improvement. I just ordered a second shave ready SR to have as a back up. I'm still too fresh to try my luck with a stone or a Swaty. Don't want to ruin a relatively new razor.
I'm in the Texas tropics, all the way down in Corpus Christi.
Thanks!
I was in the same boat. I got a Boker from SRD in November and stropped before every shave. It started feeling dull a couple weeks ago and I sent it off to be rehoned.
I know that I was stropping wrong for a while and that probably dulled it pretty quickly.
PM sent...
It is not uncommon that this should occur. As you learn and gain more experience, the edge will begin to last longer and longer. However, in the early stages of the process a lot of small (or large!) mishaps or just suboptimal technique both in the shave and on the strop will take their eventual and inevitable toll.
Now may be the time to learn how to touch up an edge - probably a pasted strop would be the most straightforward. However, you need to be brutally honest with yourself about where your stropping is at, because a pasted strop will wipe the edge clean off a razor if you get it wrong. So if you do not feel confident in your stropping it may be the time to cash in your honing voucher. Otherwise, another aspect of straight razor shaving has opened up to you!
Good luck!
James.
Razorthin,
If you're new to SR shaving and your blade has lasted for a month (I'm guessing 15-30 shaves) you are doing very well. :)
Anyway, it's time for a touchup. If you have a suitable hone or pasted strop give the razor a few light laps. If you don't have anything to refresh the blade yet I'd say you should redeem your free honing. That should buy you about six weeks to get a touchup hone.
I don't know if this is the case. But I'm guessing it is your first straight. And it is very common for it to be a little dull after the first month. I believe that's why SRD gives a free 2nd honing with their razor. I don't know for sure if that is the reason. Ha! Either was touch up sign either a paste, or get it re-honed. Keep at it. This is actually what got me into honing my own razors
This fits in with the helpful posts above, Straight Razor Place - Beginners Tips: November 2012
Well, I went ahead and applied chromium oxide paste to my webbed polyester strop. Practice a careful stropping routine. About 30 on the polyester, then about 75 on leather. Rinse and repeat. Edge is now better but I can tell it wont last for another month without touch up honing. My second SR is on its way. I have the feeling they will start mysteriously piling up in my bathroom. What do I tell my wife when she asks about my razor hoarding disease?:argue:
Get Lynn's World Of Straight Razor DVD World Of Straight Razor DVD - Straight Razor Place Classifieds.Quote:
Originally Posted by Razorthin
Like you, I was afraid of ruining my razor by trying to hone it. The DVD presentation made it look like something "even I" could do.
Also like you, I bought another razor to put off having to learn to hone. By the time I got to the third razor I decided that I can't keep putting off honing.
I have since moved on to Shapton hones, but the DVD got me started.
You are wise in stropping after the shave to make sure that your blade is clean and free of soap residue and other contaminants. I also keep my razors in a room adjacent to the bathroom in a closet for further protection from the humidity.
Please do not let them pile up in the bathroom moisture kills razors.
to keep SWMBO happy stash them here and there in dry places away from children... if she ever gets a good count of them she will think you either have enough or too many. if they are not all together it is harder for them to keep track and you can say "no this was one from the hall closet when in fact is is one of 3 new ones" you have to be tricky with the wife some times... mine knew "several hundred" while we were dating and that covers anything up to several thousand... when i sold off 400 last year she whined i did not reduce the numbers enough :)
enjoy,
jim