Thread: looking for good reputable honemeisters

Hey Folks

Looking for a local reputable honemeisters in seattle
just bought a Dovo straight razor but dont seem to get the closeness shave I expected skin burns afterwards .
please help

First, welcome to SRP. Where did you purchase your razor from and is this your first straight shave?

yes my second shave noticed not as close as my first shave,
stropped before second shave as instructed.
bought it at vintageblades

Did you strop before your first shave? I'm thinking poor stropping may have lead to your second shave results.

vintageblades or vintagebladesllc ?

bought it at vintage blades

Then the edge of your razor should have been among the best when you got it
Second shave not close is to be expected so not a big deal

Do they offer a free second honing?
if not look at Member Services - Straight Razor Place Classifieds

Any way give it one last try and now take your time stropping(your sending it out anyway so as long as you dont cause too much damage it wont matter)

It could be a technique thing, too. There is a learning curve to shaving with a straight, and even a fantastic edge won't shave well if the shave technique isn't there. Meeting with anyone local to check out shaving (and also stropping) technique is probably a better starting point than honing technique.

We get a lot of new people in here and with their first shaves, we get similar comments. Unfortunately, I'm betting the problem is not the razor. If you check some of the beginner information in the wiki and around the forum, you will get a tremendous amount of help. The most important thing other than preparation is technique. It is recommended that you only shave the sideburn to jaw on your dominant hand side for a few days to get used to the razor. The angle should be 30 degrees or less which means the razor is pretty vertical to be able to cut properly. The hand has a natural tendency to bend back at the wrist making that angle 45 to 90 degrees causing a pretty uncomfortable shave. I would also recommend stropping the razor on the leather side 50-60 strokes prior to shaving with it. Once you get comfortable with just the sideburn to jaw on the one side, then move over to just the cheek for a couple days. You should be using short little strokes when shaving and a little longer clean up strokes.

I wouldn't rush out to get the razor re-honed just yet.

Have fun,

Lynn

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

...Meeting with anyone local to check out shaving (and also stropping) technique is probably a better starting point than honing technique.

Amen to that, brother!

A shave-ready straight should not need re-honing for a good long time but poor stropping technique will damage the edge and a poor shaving technique will make things seems far worse than they are.

Hang in there and get those two areas down before thinking about honing.