Thread: yet another newbie

Well i've been reading through these forum's for a couple of days now and decided to go ahead and make my introduction. I'm brand new to straight shaving. I got tired of the expensive mach 3 blades and the wonderful job they did slicing my neck to pieces and was telling my girlfriend how i was interested in getting a straight shave at a barber shop. I could'nt find a barber here in Memphis that did straight shaves anymore so my girlfriend got me a straight kit for chirstmas that came with a Dovo 5/8 razor, a Dovo strop, and a badger hair brush.

I've shaved with it a couple of times with not great, but not bad results. The first time out i only shaved the right side of my face hoping to get over the fear of using the straight. It did calm my fears a bit since i made it through without the sight of blood, but i didnt get such a great shave. The second time tonight, i shaved both sides of the face and did get a closer shave but had pretty good razorburn, presumably from shaving at too great an angle. I think also that my razor, though it was supposed to be shave ready, is not quite up to par. Tonight after reading through a couple of posts on the forum i stroped the razor about 20 round trips. Tested it with hanging hair test which failed. I also tried shaving the hair on my arm, it would catch some hair, cut a few and others would just be brushed out of the way. I don't have a hone yet but im thinking it probably needs some work. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for any help and i wanted to say how great this site is. It's wondeful resource for straight shaving (and apparently one of the only one's). I've learned a lot from it already and look forward to learning more. I'm already getting obsessed with this and all i've gotten out of it so far is half a shave and some razor burn

Wow! I sure would love to get a gift like that for Christmas! Your girlfriend either really loves you, or, anticipating your lack of ability, wants you dead.

I don't think you need much advice, seeing as how you already have some awesome equipment and this site to explore. Every topic, from stropping to how to combat razor burn can be found in the different areas of this forum. I read and asked questions here for a good month before I even put a blade to my face.

Speaking of which, it sounds as though that Dovo of yours wasn't shipped to you shave-ready. That's usually the case. As I mentioned in another topic a minute ago, many of the gentlemen on the site offer their honing expertise to newer members. I'm at your service, if you like.

That razor almost certainly needs a touch up. Honing is a bit of an art which can take some time to master. The Norton 4000/8000 combination stone is the best tool for the rookie honer and can be aquired here or some other places. i got mine from Lee Valley and I'm not ready to give it up yet which gives you an indication of how I prize it myself.

To keep a shaving blade in good shape, you're probably best off with a paddle strop and some cutting pastes. I recommend this guy.

There are lots of other details to obsess yourself with as well. Reading through the Help Files and doing a search here in the Forum for what you're interested in will yield some information. For anything else, just ask. We love to help where we can

Great start! Congrats and welcome. All great advice for you starting out. I also like the little barber hones for maintaining a razor in the condition yours is in. I'm surprised your getting razor burn from a razor cutting some hair on your arms so that could be angle I suppose. I would try lowering the spine a little. I would be very curious if you could improve the quality of the shave by using a little more pressure on the strop, ensuring you hold the strop very, very taught and strop until you feel some drag adding slight pressure as you go. This is advanced stropping, and most will advise you against it, but if your not getting good shaves and your going to be waiting on hones or pastes anyway, it would be a good learning opportunity to show you the true power of a strop. Your blade could be wicked sharp and yet a little out of alignment in those spots where the arm hairs aren't getting cut. That would cause razor burn. Good luck and let us know how it goes. And Welcome!

Stackhouse - I received a new Dovo for Christmas, as well. It was not shave-ready. I purchased a Norton 4k/8k combo water stone and was amazed by what it did to the blade. Use the pyramid technique that is well-documented here and go slow, making sure the blade is completely flat on the stone. After this, your blade will be noticably sharper. My experiences shaving prior to the hone purchase were lackluster - I did it mostly just to practice holding the blade, and also because I was too impatient to wait for the hone! Good luck - read, read, read, ask questions, then read some more...

Thanks for the responses and the advice everybody. I've continued practice with the strop, and shaving and it seems to get a little bit better with every shave. I still think the razor could use some honing though. I'm really having a interesting time learning how to shave my neck, hair growing in every direction possible is making it quite a chore to find the right angles and strech the skin right. I'll figure it out with practice sooner or later.