Thread: My Intro

Hi all,

Yesterday the mailman delivered my new Dovo SR and a strop from SRD. I have not tried either yet. Actually I have not tried any SR yet having been a cartridge shaver most of my life, though I am so old that my first razor was a DE - state of the art at the time. After that it was a Schick Injector single edge, as I recall.

I'm not altogether sure how or why I have come to the point of wanting to try SR shaving. Several weeks ago I set about sharpening all the cutlery in the house on a newly acquired Norton 3-stone set and after some practice managed to get scary sharp edges. After telling the wife the knives were sharp enough to shave with I actually tried it. Wrong! Those knives won't shave. So that led me to the interweb sharpening sites/videos which in turn led to razor honing and shaving. I was intrigued. I should mention that in the last couple years I have taken to wearing fedoras and suspenders and, while I have not wholly adopted the vintage lifestyle, I seem to be leaning that way just a bit and SR shaving seems to fit right in.

So here I am. Haven't tried the SR yet but have been reading, and reading here, watching Lynn's vids, and getting ready to try it. I picked up a junk no-name straight for a couple bucks at a thrift store in order to practice stropping technique before putting the Dovo to leather.

But my wife keeps asking if I have lost my mind, why do I want to risk "cutting my head off" when I can actually get a good enough shave with what I have now. I haven't actually been able to come up with a good answer other than to say, "it's a Zen thing," or "I just want to see if I can do it."

I plan to start slow, as is recommended, and I'll let you know how it goes.

Braz

Hi, Braz. Welcome to Straight Razor Place.

I like your plan to start off slow. Reading up and watching videos before shaving is a good idea. Likewise, practice at stropping will be beneficial. You can even practice with a butter knife so there negating the risk of a nicked strop. Since you will be shaving with a Dovo from SRD your razor will be shave ready. You actually don't need, and probably should not, strop before your first shave. Just wipe the oil off the blade and shave!

Hi and welcome. Keep it slow and simple and it will come together quick enough. Good luck with

Welcome!!

As others have said DON'T strop the razor first as it is shave ready out of the box if it's from SRD. Before you strop the razor do a bunch of practice stropping with a butter knife making sure you understand the flip correctly, that is were most of the strop cuts/nick come from

I too, am old enough that I started with DE's, kept buying them when new ones came out and sadly, do not have a single one left.

Started with the straight last February and was hooked immediately. Take your time and advance as your comfort level allows you to.

There are so many knowledgeable, helpful members here that any question you may come up with, will be answered.

Read up in the library here and watch videos.

Soon, you will be hooked for the rest of your life and getting the closest, most comfortable and best shaves of your life.

Who knows, maybe we can get you to try a pipe, too.

Welcome to an older but better way of shaving!

Once you get the hang of making lather, your pre shave prep, the angles and the 'lack of pressure' you'll be on your way.

I did see Bright Red Warning Lights in your introduction and that is about sharpening knives/don't even think about learning to hone a razor for at least a year. As a former meat cutter i thought that 'sharpening' a razor would be a piece of cake and no problem. The problem was that there was a Huge Problem!

I had to relearn Everything that I knew about how to make things sharp!

You have your hands full with just learning how to Properly Strop your razor let alone making a good lather and of course learning the Proper angles so you get a Clean Close and Comfortable Shave.

Now that that's out of the way, go slow, only do the cheek area for awhile so that you can become comfortable with this new art.

I believe that the #1 thing that is needed to succeed in learning this age old art its Patience! If you don't have patience then you will fail. Take your time, it's not a race. With patience everything will fall into place.

Hang In There!

It's a long strange trip but well worth the journey.

Take it slow and enjoy it.

Welcome to SRP!

To answer your wife, the reason to shave with a straight is to have a smoother face for her.
Try that line.

Thanks all for the warm welcome and the good advice. I might mention that I wear a mustache and goatee so some of the more challenging aspects of shaving won't apply.

Hi Braz & welcome aboard. The vids are great & the straight you got from SRD, you should be able to shave with it right away w/o stropping it. Lynn is an owner of SRD. He hones & strops each new razor before it goes to it's new home plus as you know, you get a one time free honing for the future when needed. As previously mentioned, knives & straights are completely different so sharpening them is also different. just take your time. A good place to start if you haven't seen it yet is the beginners Guide in the Library here & go from there. You will learn everything you need to here. Click on anything you can click on & you will be amazed at everything you find. As far as stropping, you can practice with a butter knife for now until you feel comfortable with it but learn it first. It is the most important tool that goes with a straight razor to maintain the edge.
Great to have you here. Any questions, just ask.
Good luck my friend.

Two SR shaves now - sort of. The first one a couple days ago I started slow but things seemed to be going well so I did my right cheek and jaw area and bravely did my neck as well. All was WTG and not perfectly smooth but OK for a first try. Then I went to the left hand side and everything seemed confused. I just couldn't seem to be able to hold the razor right and still be able to see what I was doing. Managed to get the cheek area shaved but along the jaw line I managed to inflict a pretty good cut on my jowl. I put that down to forgetting to stretch the area. Switched back to my right hand to do my neck on the left side.

Second shave was today and it went much better, as in no blood, but I still went only WTG and used the cartridge razor to clean up some spots, especially around my jowly area. Need to build some confidence to work in that area. Moving in the right direction though.