Thread: There are no stupid questions, except ones asked 1000 times, like this

Good evening everyone, I am a proud owner of a new Dovo straight razor and I am happy to be a new member here.

I tend to learn best by watching and repeating, so if someone could please take a few minutes to read this and let me know if I am understanding this correctly.

Strops:
I received my razor as shave ready. My normal, daily use will include stropping the razor before I shave and possibly after I shave. I have a strop with a latigo side and a canvass (?) side. I will do 20 complete up and back passes on the canvass side and then 25 complete up and back passes on the leather side. I do not have to use strop pastes; however, as I learn and improve my skills, I can look into using the strop pastes. Once or twice a year, I should or can use mink oil or something similar to treat the leather portion of the strop to keep it supple.

Honing:
I should not need to constantly hone my razor. There is not set number of uses or days, but is more of a "as I think I need it" routine, but may be about every 3-6 months. I can use the Norton 4000/8000 grit and this is good enough for a new user. I can also, if I want to spend more money, use a yellow Coticule and slurry sharpening stone or a Sharpton Glass Stone set. I would use a small bit of water on the honing stones.

If you have made it this far, thank you very much for reading this. I would appreciate any feedback on my understanding of the above. I think that as i get more experienced and comfortable with using the razor, I will look into expanding my use of the various pastes, strops and hones, but for now, I want to make sure I can take care of the razor I have now.

Welcome Herne. You have a good start and understanding as a beginner. All you need now is practice. Keep at it and every thing will fall into place. bj

Welcome to SRP Herne.

1: If you are using a new strop daily or so there is never a need to use any oils or wax on it. A daily rubbing of it with the palm of your hand will keep it in good working condition. Oils and waxes are used mainly to rejuvenate vintage strops. If the razor you are getting comes shave ready (and that depends on where you buy it) there is no need to strop it before your first shave, Then it should be stropped before each subsequent shave - linen and leather.

2: Unless you do not have a good stropping technique you should not worry or think about doing any stone work until you have learned good shaving techniques, understand how your beard grows and can make a decent lather. Honing, even touch ups require a great deal of concentration and will detract from your shaving education. And when you do start to use stones, go with the synthetics. They have a known value and are consistent. Natural stones vary and cannot be assigned grit values.

3: I just checked the membership list and there are 7 SRP members in Korea. At the top of the page go to Community, click on Members, choose advanced search, enter Korea and the list will come up. I strongly suggest you contact anyone, or all, of your choice and see if they are close enough to you to meet and share learning experiences and offer guidance on your beginning steps. And of course, questions can always be asked on the open forum.

I would up the strop count, but you have plenty enough understanding to get started.

+1 to Razorfeld and Bluesman7. Double the stropping before the shave. Strop after if you want. I have found no great benefit in stropping post shave but I do 10 laps on linen to dry and clean the edge just the same.

It sounds like you have the theory basics down, the practical side will just have to come with time. It is refreshing to read a post by someone who has done their research a bit, it does happen (probably more than I think).
I am sure that you will have more questions as you become more familiar with your equipment and we will be glad to guide you.
You will find that a lot of aspects of this type of shaving/hobby (depending what you make of it) are quite personal, there is a pretty solid core of advice/tips etc to get you on your way but how and what of them you use becomes your own.

Advice from 1 newbe to another (8 months for me). Your understanding is solid, I offer the following from my experience:
1. Take your time at first, especially with stropping. The better you strop the less you have to worry about honing.
2. Keep your blade away from the sink and your hands dry while shaving. I, like many noobs, dinged blades on the faucet. I also dropped one and dinged it. So I got into honing sooner than I should have in retrospect. I spent way too much time, and money, on learning to hone and I'm just now getting acceptable results.
3. Buy a Double Edge and learn how to use, if you don't already have one. That way you can still enjoy your shave if you do have to send your razor out for honing. Better yet, get a second, inexpensive but shave ready straight. You will want a second sooner than you think, anyway.
4. If you decide to try honing, don't learn on your nice and first straight, reference number 3.

Welcome to the forum, keeping asking those questions and enjoy the ride!

Welcome to SRP Herne. I would add to the strop section. You do not need to add any oil what so ever to your strop. Simply use the palm of your hand and when ever you near your strop,give the strop a rub down . The oils in your hand should be enough to keep your strop dressed and in good shape. I got that advice straight from an expert hone master here.

Originally Posted by Herne

Good evening everyone, I am a proud owner of a new Dovo straight razor and I am happy to be a new member here.

I tend to learn best by watching and repeating, so if someone could please take a few minutes to read this and let me know if I am understanding this correctly.

Strops:
I received my razor as shave ready. My normal, daily use will include stropping the razor before I shave and possibly after I shave. I have a strop with a latigo side and a canvass (?) side. I will do 20 complete up and back passes on the canvass side and then 25 complete up and back passes on the leather side. Double this amount...BEFORE and AFTER the shave. I normally do about 25 on canvas and 50 on leather before and after a shave. I do not have to use strop pastes; however, as I learn and improve my skills, I can look into using the strop pastes. Once or twice a year, I should or can use mink oil or something similar to treat the leather portion of the strop to keep it supple.

Honing:
I should not need to constantly hone my razor. There is not set number of uses or days, but is more of a "as I think I need it" routine, but may be about every 3-6 months. I can use the Norton 4000/8000 grit and this is good enough for a new user. I can also, if I want to spend more money, use a yellow Coticule and slurry sharpening stone or a Sharpton Glass Stone set. I would use a small bit of water on the honing stones.Most of us recommend starting out with synthetic stones at first because each and every natural stone like a coticule is different, coticules are all over the place. Naniwa would be another "brand" to consider

If you have made it this far, thank you very much for reading this. I would appreciate any feedback on my understanding of the above. I think that as i get more experienced and comfortable with using the razor, I will look into expanding my use of the various pastes, strops and hones, but for now, I want to make sure I can take care of the razor I have now.

It appears as though you have prepared yourself rather well, your face will thank you.

Pretty much all there is left to say is welcome. Enjoy your stay.