I'm a Noob

I'm new to straight razor shaving and to the forum (obviously ha!). There is a lot of good info here...
I ordered a new dovo razor to get started and it came in last week. Haven't attempted my first shave bc I just want to make sure it was honed before I try. This forum taught me it's not shave ready from the factory. The place i bought it from offered it to be honed as a (pay for it) service but the razor was shipped the day after I ordered it. I've emailed them to verify but haven't gotten a reply (need to call). Once I do I'll go from there! I've tested the razor on my arm and it just seems to pull so I'm thinking it wasn't honed.
In the meantime I bought a $12 Gold dollar (I know I know) razor off ebay to practice honing/sharpening. I have a set of norton stones I bought a while back for knife sharpening. Figure if I can get that sharp I can sharpen my more expensive razor no problem. I may be asking some questions, but for the most part all the info is here!

Welcome aboard & enjoy your journey,,,,,

Hi & welcome to SRP. You will love it here & there is plenty to learn as there is a wealth of information on here! Here is the first bit of information for you to know:
Straight Razor Place - Beginners Tips: December 2014
Frequently Asked Questions - Straight Razor Place Library
You will want to buy you a nice straight razor to begin with whether used or new. Beware of used ones not that they are bad but know what to look for like a lot of hone wear on the spine & edge or chips in the blade. Stay away from razors with rust on the cutting edge as that will only result in it chipping more metal off as it is honed. Here is also a list of straights to stay away from:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwik...azors_to_Avoid
Here is a list of good brands of razors you will want to own plus there are more than just these out there which you will find out from other members here:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwik...t_Razor_Brands
If buying a new razor, I suggest you buy one from Straight Razor Designs - Gifts for Men | Straight Razors or SRD. The owner & founder of this forum is Lynn & he is also part owner of SRD. When you buy a straight razor from him, he will personally hone that razor before you get it plus you will get a certificate for another free honing for when that razor needs it which should be a few months. There will be vendors who will sell you a straight razor that is supposed to be shave ready but really won't be. You will most importantly need to know how to strop & you can learn in the Library or here:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwik...azor_stropping
You will need to strop your razor before & after you shave. If you buy one from Lynn, chances are you won’t have to strop it before you use it the first time.
You will also need a shaving brush, a shaving mug & some shaving soap. Later it will also do you good to get a second straight razor so that when you send the first one out to be honed, you will have a backup to shave with.
Here is a link to the Library where you will find stropping in there & everything else you will need to know including how to hone:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwik..._Place_Library
Also here is Lynns bevel setting video & some of gssixguns honing video's:
https://www.youtube.com/user/gssixgun/videos
Bevel setting on a Chosera 1K taught by Lynn Abrams
Here is another good link to know:
Welcome to the Workshop: How do I / Where do I / What do I / answers are here
Should you have any questions, there are a lot of knowledgable members on here that will be more than happy to help you out. If you want to find someone in your area, you can look here:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwik...php/Local_Help
And if you can't find anyone near you, just ask and someone that lives in your are & hopefully they will let you know how to meet up & you can get some one on one mentoring. There is a lot to do on here, just search everywhere on the forum & in the Library. You will spend hours on here & have fun doing it, so there you go, have at it!
Good luck & have fun!
Steve

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks everyone, there is so much to learn. My next purchase should probably be a styptic pencil ha!

Have you got a flattening stone?

Welcome to the most friendly, helpful and informative site on the web!!

You will find members here of all different backgrounds, ages and occupations from all corners of the world and all with a quest for more knowledge about using and maintaining a straight razor!

If you take the time to search, 99.9% of your questions can be found in the Library (WIKI) however feel free to ask us about whatever it is that you are wondering about or having a problem with. It does help if you’ve done some research before hand so it narrows the problem down a bit.

As far as your new DOVO, if it has just the factory 'hone' on it then you will more than likely find it 'Lacking'. I highly suggest that you have it honed by someone who knows what they are doing. While I do hone for others if you'd like to know who I recommend please PM me and I'll let you know who and how to contact them.

That Gold Dollar will be a useful tool to learn stropping, as far as a Shaver they are hit and miss and I've found them mostly miss.

You say that you had a set of Norton Stones for knife sharpening. Well I do too, but they aren't suited for a straight razor and the Norton Stones that I have for honing straight razors aren't suitable for sharpening knives. Please note that I said 'sharpen' when referring to knives and 'honing' when referring to straight razors.

As a former meat cutter I will tell you they are as different as Black and White/Night and Day.

With that said learning to hone before you have learned to 'Properly' make lather, strop and of course shave with that straight, it's like putting the cart before the horse.

You failed to mention if you had a strop, brush, shaving soap if you don't then you will need to acquire them before you start down the road.

Please get that razor honed, if you are short on cash, PM me. With that said, it's not all that expensive to have a pro hone for you. The BIG PLUS is that farther down the road once it's time for you to learn to hone, you'll have a great comparison to how you are doing.

One last thing, Please post your location as a seasoned member may be just down the road or the block; you never know.

I'm not trying to discourage you, I want you to succed :tu Take your time, this Age Old Art takes patience, if you have patience then you will succed if you lack patience then you will fail. And I don't want to see you fail!

It's a long strange trip, but it's well worth the journey!

Sanfte Rasur, mein Klingenbruder!

(Smooth Shaving My Brother In Blades)

Please update your profile to reflect your location. Help may literally be next door but we need to know where that is...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RedGladiator

Have you got a flattening stone?

---

I do actually have one. I bought a set of norton stones that came with a flattening stone. Pretty sure it's a silicone carbide. I haven't tried using it though, my stones were flat enough for what I was using them for at the time. Plus most people seem to hate them anyway and just use sand paper on glass or some other flat surface.

Hi and welcome. If given the choice between the flattening stone and wet and dry paper i would use the paper. The flattening stone needs to be flattened and it tends to leave grit behind. Definitely get the razor pro honed and if you have any questions or problems just ask

I have the Norton set with their flattening stone, I find it works well. Just draw a grid on the hone and you can keep an eye on what is happening.

Also watch out with the gold dollars as a practice tool. They can be turned into decent enough shavers, but due to manufacturing some can have problems that no amount of honing skill will fix. It's easy to get one of these and assume that your honing technique is wrong when it won't sharpen. This can lead to a long and confusing experience trying to work out where you are going wrong, when you were doing it right in the first place. Don't be put off practicing with the GD but don't jump to any conclusion if not successful.

I have quite a few GD´s and have honed a lot of them for other people. I really found the techniques in gssixguns videos seem to work well in these razors and are a great introduction to the Norton hones http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y53SL9QMq6I

Sounds great! I may have to take you up on the honing (thanks for the clarification of sharpening vs honing). I bought my razor from classic shaving and purchased the "sharpening service". My idea was to have a professionally honed razor to compare to. Problem is that the razor was shipped out the next day after I purchased it whereas I expected it to take a few weeks (according to what it says on their website). And nothing came in the box mentioned it went to said service. I've emailed them to be sure it was honed since I'm too new to know for sure. Still waiting on a reply, maybe they are off for the holiday. I'll call them next week if no reply. I may try and shave with it but my technique will be bad so I won't know for sure what the main problem is.
Luckily I haven't sharpened many knives (or lathe bits) with my water stones so I'll just make sure they're flat and use them for razor honing only. Honestly I'm not very good at sharpening knives either.

Sorry, my first message is wrong & it was brought to my attention. I think they made some changes but this is the right message here:
Hi & welcome to SRP. You will love it here & there is plenty to learn as there is a wealth of information on here! Here is the first bit of information for you to know:
Straight Razor Place - Beginners Tips: December 2014
Frequently Asked Questions - Straight Razor Place Library
You will want to buy you a nice straight razor to begin with whether used or new. Beware of used ones not that they are bad but know what to look for like a lot of hone wear on the spine & edge or chips in the blade. Stay away from razors with rust on the cutting edge as that will only result in it chipping more metal off as it is honed. Here is also a list of straights to stay away from:
Brands of Straight Razors to Avoid - Straight Razor Place Library
Here is a list of good brands of razors you will want to own plus there are more than just these out there which you will find out from other members here:
Good Straight Razor Brands - Straight Razor Place Library
If buying a new razor, I suggest you buy one from Straight Razor Designs - Gifts for Men | Straight Razors or SRD. The owner & founder of this forum is Lynn & he is also part owner of SRD. When you buy a straight razor from him, he will personally hone that razor before you get it plus you will get a certificate for another free honing for when that razor needs it which should be a few months. There will be vendors who will sell you a straight razor that is supposed to be shave ready but really won't be. You will most importantly need to know how to strop & you can learn in the Library or here:
Razor stropping - Straight Razor Place Library
You will need to strop your razor before & after you shave. If you buy one from Lynn, chances are you won’t have to strop it before you use it the first time.
You will also need a shaving brush, a shaving mug & some shaving soap. Later it will also do you good to get a second straight razor so that when you send the first one out to be honed, you will have a backup to shave with.
Here is a link to the Library where you will find stropping in there & everything else you will need to know including how to hone:
Beginner's Guide to Honing - Straight Razor Place Library
Also here is Lynns bevel setting video & some of gssixguns honing video's:
https://www.youtube.com/user/gssixgun/videos
Bevel setting on a Chosera 1K taught by Lynn Abrams
Here is another good link to know:
Welcome to the Workshop: How do I / Where do I / What do I / answers are here
Should you have any questions, there are a lot of knowledgable members on here that will be more than happy to help you out. If you want to find someone in your area, you can look here:
Local Help - Straight Razor Place Library
And if you can't find anyone near you, just ask and someone that lives in your are & hopefully they will let you know how to meet up & you can get some one on one mentoring. There is a lot to do on here, just search everywhere on the forum & in the Library. You will spend hours on here & have fun doing it, so there you go, have at it!
Good luck & have fun!
Steve