Thread: Honing problems

Hi guys, newbie to the forum and fairly new to straight shaving. Have been using a cheap shavette since xmas and although at times i have cut my face to pieces, it gives such a close shave it is unreal. Love it!

The problem is this - i recently bought two new dovo razors. They were nowhere near as sharp as the DE blades i use in my shavette, so i sent them off to a professional sharpener (shall remain nameless for now).

Had my first shave with one the other day - it started off okay, not awesomely sharp but okay.on the second pass, against the grain, it would not take any more hair off. The other wouldnt do much better. Had to put a lot of pressure on the blade to get it to cut against the grain.

I leave my moustache to last, i mean literally dont touch it till last, and at that point the straight wasnt even cutting any hair at all.

My shavette finished the job nicely though.

I am a bit disheartened, as i have spent over £300 on the new razors, a strop, and getting them sharpened. Are DE blades usually sharper than a freshly honed straight? Or is something amiss?

My prep consists of a hot shower, pre shave oil, lots of lather made from cream from decent companies, applied with a badger hair brush. Never had problems using these with the shavette.

I am pretty sure its the razors not being sharp but can anyone add their two pennies worth?

Any help appreciated.

Btw I am in London and North West england if anyone can recommend anyone to help out.

Ta guys.

Trenchy

I don't know what to say regarding your razors, because I've not seen them or honed them, but you shouldn't try to compare a DE shavette blade to a straight razor edge, because they are completely different animals, and there's an huge technical difference in using the two to achieve a quality shave, It could come down to did you strop the razor before you shaved and if so did you cause the edge to fail? there are a number of small technical details you may have to look at, I know that if I hone a razor for someone starting out I would have stropped the razor ready to go, and I will tell the person who will be using the razor to just shave with the razor and do not strop the razor on the first shave, so if he strops the razor on his second shave and loses the edge you probably know what's happened.

Jamie.

Originally Posted by celticcrusader

I don't know what to say regarding your razors, because I've not seen them or honed them, but you shouldn't try to compare a DE shavette blade to a straight razor edge, because they are completely different animals, and there's an huge technical difference in using the two to achieve a quality shave, It could come down to did you strop the razor before you shaved and if so did you cause the edge to fail? there are a number of small technical details you may have to look at, I know that if I hone a razor for someone starting out I would have stropped the razor ready to go, and I will tell the person who will be using the razor to just shave with the razor and do not strop the razor on the first shave, so if he strops the razor on his second shave and loses the edge you probably know what's happened.

Jamie.

Thanks Jamie.

I did not strop the razor. However, I am unsure if it was stropped with the company i sent it to.

Would you mind briefly summing up the differences between DE blades and straights please? I'd love to know.

Trenchy

Have a look at this post, http://www.theshavingroom.co.uk/forum/thread-18304.html
Talk me into a straight

Jamie

Thanks Jamie.

I guess i need to get in touch with the people that sharpened my straights then.

James

Originally Posted by trenchy

Thanks Jamie.

I guess i need to get in touch with the people that sharpened my straights then.

James

Definitely,
they are the ones that know your razors and should be able to guide you with the blades.
You said "company", are they specialized in razor honing or are they a knife sharpening shop that does razors on the side (please do not name names just general info).

I have shaved with DE razors, Shavettes, and Straights over the course my life time. I have noticed a great difference in the sharpness and quality of the different shaves. Seeing a DE and a Shavette take the same type of blade you basicly get the same save out of them. I find that you can nick yourself more quickly with a Shavette than a Straight. I believe it is the geometry of the bevel that makes the difference here. Honing and shaving with a Straight is more forgiving to me than a Shavette or even a DE. Also gives a more comfortable and enjoyable shaving experiance...

Another thing to think about is that with a traditional SR you need different angles then with a shavette.

My guess is that you are using a pretty steep angle from the time you spent shaving with a shavette. With a shavette or even a near wedge TSR you can get away with that steep angle but with a full or half hollow blade you can't the blade simple will skip over hair or come to a dead stop.

Try adjusting your angle start with the spine of the razor only about a half a spine width from your skin and keep adjusting it till you are cutting hair cleanly.

The other thing to remember the size of a TSR is much greater then the size of the shavette. So some methods you developed with the shavette won't work because you won't be able to fit the TSR into those same areas. One of the places you will most likely have to adjust for is the mustache area.

Guys, this is awesome. Thanks especially to castel33 - I had not thought of this.

Officerdread, I totally agree with you - I cut myself so much more easily on a shavette than with a straight. I personally think that this is because the corner of the DE blade sticks out and can nick you easily, whereas my straights have a round point.

Will have a go over the weekend experimenting with angles and will let you know how i get on.

Ta all,

The trench

Oh and mainaman, they do sharpen knives, but it seems to me like their main focus is straights. The sell vintage razors and do a rebuilding service too.