Thread: Hello from Greece

Hi all,


My wet shaving career began about 1.5 month ago. I have received a beard grooming gift from a friend and visited a traditional barber. I really liked the blades and the process so i got myself into it. I bought a stock Dovo Best Quality 5/8 with a Dovo strop and started to shave specific areas of my beard (neck and cheeks) every 2nd day to get used to the blade.


Unfortunately it was not shave ready as i discovered later when i found SRP. I sent my razor back to the store for honing and they told me it was ok, and that they just did a few passes over an oilstone (???).


I was not happy with the result as it doesn’t shaved arm hair. A couple of days ago i received a Norton 4K/8K and a DMT 325 for lapping. After a lot of reading and video tutorials i tried to bring my razor to a sharper state. I am not there yet, but i think it is getting better. I know i spent a fair amount of money for a starter but i really want to learn and revive arts like this.


Great job guys, really a ton of information, advice and friendly people here in SRP.


Panos

Welcome, you are in the right place to start your long road)

Welcome Panos,

I imagine it can be quite frustrating to buy a razor that isn't shave ready and have to figure out how to hone it yourself.

I know there are a few experienced members from Greece on this forum. Why not try to see if someone can mentor you and show you a few things?

I would recommend that your razor be sharpened by someone experienced with straight razors and that also shaves with them. You need to know what a shave ready edge feels like so that you can aim to achieve that level of sharpness yourself in the future.

In the mean time, it would be best to focus on stropping and shaving technique.

Welcome to SRP!
If you haven't already done so, then check out the Beginner's Section in the Library, the knowledge there will make starting out a lot easier.

Maybe the traditional barber can help you out with honing?
Hopefully you can find someone in Greece that will help you out. An hour with an experienced shaver is worth days of reading.

Otherwise, my advice would be to watch Lynn Abram's and gssixgun's honing videos on youtube. A bevel setting stone (1000 k) would help a lot, but you can do it on 4000k Norton, it is just going to take at least 100 strokes - so make sure you tape the spine of the razor and change the tape when it wears a hole in it.

Good luck, and ask us any questions that you have.

Thank you all for your advice, I will definitely try to find someone near me.
But having watched Lynn's and gssixgun's honing videos you can imagine how tempting it is to try a few more passes..

Until now i have tried without tape the circles technique in 4K and i can see some wear on the spine. Can i tape now, or will i create more problems like 2nd bevel etc?

I think i will stop and find someone to show me a couple of things first hands on, before i end up with a toothpick instead of a razor

Hi and welcome. Taping now will focus the honing at the edge so it may actually be beneficial. Any second bevel it creates should hone out fairly quickly but would only be a cosmetic issue not a functional one.

Thanks eddy for clarifying that.

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to SRP!!!

Don't neglect to seriously lap that Norton 4k/8k, first on a flat tile with 220 and 360 wet and dry paper (used wet) then on the DMT. The 8k side is generally not a problem and once it's flat you're good to go but the 4k will need some serious work - the first mm or so can be a bit rough and the more this side is lapped the better it becomes. This has generally been the experience of the guys here, me included. Also, remember to chamfer the edges of the stone a bit too.