New member who needs halp!

Dear Straight Razor Community,

I'm new to the fancy shaving world. I've been lurking around this site for a while because about 3 months ago I purchased my first straight razor and dove headfirst into things. I purchased at a local shop a Dovo #515 5/8" razor. While I've improved a great deal, I just don't have the time or patience right now to maintain a straight razor (just had my first child two weeks ago!)

I would like to switch to using a nice safety razor, and I hope I can get some advice here.

Anyways, I'm a PhD student in Hebrew Literature, I live in Boston, and I look forward to learning all that this forum has to offer.

Cheers!

What you can do is pick up a quality DE and if at a later time you still want to move the straight you will have the required amount of posts. I imagine by that time you will decide to have your razor pro honed and give it another try...win, win. Participate in the forum, learn, have fun!

Hi and welcome to SRP. I think you forgot to buy a strop.

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Originally Posted by RedGladiator

Hi and welcome to SRP. I think you forgot to buy a strop.

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Worry not, my ignorance is not THAT deep. I bought a nice strop made by the Illinois Razor Strop Co.

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Originally Posted by shooter74743

Rules are rules & we don't talk sales on the open forum. What you can do is pick up a quality DE and if at a later time you still want to move the straight you will have the required amount of posts. I imagine by that time you will decide to have your razor pro honed and give it another try...win, win. Participate in the forum, learn, have fun!

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Thanks, man! I will be sure to do as you suggest. We'll see how things progress. I have come to learn that my Dovo, while technically "shave-ready," was not truly ready for close shaves. I'm the type of guy who would rather learn how to hone on his own rather than send the razor out.

Welcome to the forum. Do you have any experience with using a DE to shave with? It might make a difference on what DE gets recommended. If you have no or little experience a milder DE may be a good place to start.

Bob

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Originally Posted by BobH

Welcome to the forum. Do you have any experience with using a DE to shave with? It might make a difference on what DE gets recommended. If you have no or little experience a milder DE may be a good place to start.

Bob

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No experience at all. I'm open to suggestions. I don't have a super thick beard, though my skin can get irritated fairly easily (not overly-sensitive though).

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Originally Posted by FlyCasual

No experience at all. I'm open to suggestions. I don't have a super thick beard, though my skin can get irritated fairly easily (not overly-sensitive though).

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I don't have too much experience with new production DEs and the few I do have are not on the mild side so no recommendations on new razors. From the vintage Gillette DEs that I have a Gillette with a tech head seem to be mild shavers. Should be easy to find one in good condition fairly cheaply. Used DE normally clean up fairly easily.

The make of blade you use can make a difference so getting a sample pack of different blades is a good idea to find a make that suits you.

A lot of irritation from shaving comes from using the wrong angle and/or too much pressure on the blade. That goes for both DE and straight razors.

With a DE use just the weight of the razor for pressure. To find a good starting angle with a DE put the head of the DE flat on your face with the handle straight out parallel to the floor. The slowly rotate the handle downward till you can just feel the blade. That should be a decent starting point and you can adjust from there. The head on a DE does not pivot like on a cartridge razor so it is up to you to maintain the angle while following the curves on your face while shaving.

Bob

You have good advice on the DE's, my working knowledge is weak there to be honest. When you want to get back into straight shaving & the little one is sleeping more, contact me and I will hone your razor at the cost of return shipping w/ insurance. It will be truly shave ready. Trying to learn to hone and shave is near impossible as you will not know what shave ready is. Knife shave ready is where we start with straight razors...

get a nice vintage adjustable a gellette fat boy a slim or a super adjustable would be great as they all so from super mild to super agressive depending on the setting you pick. If you want new go for a merkur future its also adjustable, im new to straights but not new to de shaving so Im glad somone has a question I have knowledge of feel free to pm me and ask any questions.

Welcome to the Forum!! Thee is a Safety Razor section... Be sure to review past posts there for many examples of the same/similar question.

Also, I just reviewed the Rules and, though it did not openly state it, I believe anyone can post a Wamt To Buy (WTB) Ad... The Want To Sell (WTS) and Want To Trade (WTT) areas have required minimums but I do not believe that is true of WTB. Any of Mods can verify and if this is not correct I am sure someone will be kind enough to clarify.

Lastly, there is a StraightRazorPlace Facebookers Group... No Buy/Sell/Trade there but there is great information and traffic in that Group that may interest you about DE/Safety Razors.

Bst of luck and I agree about oiling and storing your SR until at a later time you may want to pick it up again. As for starter DE/Safety Razors... Merkur 34c or 34cHD (... only dofference is larger width handle on the HD...) amd Edwin Jagger DE89 are probably the two most commonly recommended. TryABlade.com is also a great place to get blades as you can get sample packs to try and then whittle down your preferences... The one caution there is you should buy a couple of any Brand you wish to try as there is the occasional QC issues with any production item so you don't want to write off a Brand/Model based on one negative in case it were a fluke.

Happy Shaving!!

Shawn
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Originally Posted by Prahston

Merkur 34c or 34cHD (... only dofference is larger width handle on the HD...) amd Edwin Jagger DE89 are probably the two most commonly recommended.

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Sorry to get off topic but how come Muhle R89 generally is not recommended? The head is identical and IMO the handle is nicer :confused:

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Originally Posted by RedGladiator

Sorry to get off topic but how come Muhle R89 generally is not recommended? The head is identical and IMO the handle is nicer :confused:

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Probably no real reason except that the others are a flavour favourite and get more press.

Bob.

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Originally Posted by RedGladiator

Sorry to get off topic but how come Muhle R89 generally is not recommended? The head is identical and IMO the handle is nicer :confused:

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For me personally, I have the Merkur 34cHD and I've shaved with the DE-89... The Muhle R-89 is on my Amazon Wishlist still. I have nothing against them, just no personal experience, yet.

In researching I have not heard the Muhle R-89 mentioned as much but hear tons about the R-41 but that is an opposite type information. I wonder if it is price-point? Are the Muhles a bit high enough to push a decision the other way? Could also be Bundling... I frequently see EJ's in Bundle Deals. Also, I wonder if it could be Marketing... Do Muhles get more advertising in Europe/CA??

Interesting question... Makes me want to dent a CC and get that off my Wishlist. But, after the Holidays, the cards still have body work to be done. :)

This is a little out of the box, but you might find DE shaving not to your liking. A Wilkinson Sword plastic safety razor is cheap gives a smooth shave and only cost 10 bucks with a 5 pack of blades.

http://www.amazon.com/Wilkinson-Swor...on+sword+razor

It is actually a lot better razor than you'd expect from plastic and 10 bucks.

Personally, I think you should persevere with the straight.

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Originally Posted by Prahston

For me personally, I have the Merkur 34cHD and I've shaved with the DE-89... The Muhle R-89 is on my Amazon Wishlist still. I have nothing against them, just no personal experience, yet.

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I assume with identical heads the R89 will shave identical to the DE89. Only the handle is different.
I chose the R89 because it is German made and when I started I looked mostly at amazon.co.uk reviews.
I love the r89 and how it shaves though I prefer the 2 piece design of the 34HD. I haven't shaved with the 34HD, one of my friends owns one.

Welcome to SRP.
The difference between the EJ89 and Muhle R89 is solely the handle. The Muhle handle is lighter and, IMO, less balanced.
Personally, I'd recommend the Merkur 1904(42). Slightly more aggressive, an ornate, grippy handle, and nicely balanced. And for a relatively low price, is outstanding value, so possibly you could keep the Dovo.

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Originally Posted by stove

This is a little out of the box, but you might find DE shaving not to your liking. A Wilkinson Sword plastic safety razor is cheap gives a smooth shave and only cost 10 bucks with a 5 pack of blades.

http://www.amazon.com/Wilkinson-Swor...on+sword+razor

It is actually a lot better razor than you'd expect from plastic and 10 bucks.

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I agree you don't need to spend a heap to get something reasonable, i bought a Feather popular TTO brand new with 2 blades for about $17 and it seems good to me, i read an article about D/E's which mentioned that they were a good razor, and cheap to boot. I only own 2 D/E razors and the other is a cheap travel one so I don't have a lot to compare it to.

Hi and welcome. Im with the others on putting the Dovo away for later. Once you get good with the de you will soon be wondering what it would be like if the dovo was actually shave ready and the quality of shave that you can get from a straight. Don't know about de's so will leave that to those who know. Good luck

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Originally Posted by wayne394

Personally, I think you should persevere with the straight.

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I agree, the DE option is there, but you already have everything to get going on the straight path. I would take up shooters kind offer of a free hone. Why spend more than you already have.

DE seems like a step backward to me, but some people just don't like straights. Bustashaves (youtube channel) tried a straight, didn't like it and didn't use for 6 months, he came back to it and never looked back.

I dunno if I would call using a DE a step backward from using a straight razor. Either provide me with excellent shaves so for me they are interchangeable if all I want is a good shave. Now the experience of using a straight razor is some thing else again.

Bob

Hi & welcome to SRP. Hang on to the Dovo for now, maybe send it out to be honed so you know what shave ready is for a straight. You won't regret it later in the future! Good luck.