Thread: New member

Hey fellas I'm Robert and I'm pretty new to wet shaving. I have been shaving with Gillett fusion all my life until recent.. I started at west shaving with a shavette straight razor and I love the shave so I stepped up and got a dovo 5/8 full hollow. The blade is nice but didn't shave comfortably so I sent it off to get it honed. Well I got the dovo back and did my first shave with it this morning. I have to say I expected a better shave. With the shavette I get a clean comfortable shave with no pulling and it cuts straight through the stubble leaving my face smooth after 2 or 3 passes... after shaving with the dovo for about an hour and a half I had to finish up with the old Gillett fusion because I don't have any more blades for my shavette and the dovo wasn't doing the trick... I tried stropping and it helped a little but not much. Not ruling out that I could be doing something wrong but seems to me like a freshly honed full hollow blade shouldn't be getting hung up on stubble.. even with col conk soap the shavette does a great job but the full hollow dovo didn't.. any suggestions or tips?

Your angle could be off. Your edge could be off. The edge on a straight razor is a delicate thing, and can be easily rolled with poor stropping. Straight razors do hadle a little different than a shavette. You could try a lower angle on your straight. If you put your geographic area in your profile you might find some help nearby. Hands on is often way easier to learn.

Thanks I'm still trying to figure the site out and stuff...

There are quite a few members in the greater Seattle area, Cudarunner is a little ways away in Walla Walla and Gssixgun is not that far in Sandpoint Idaho. There are also a couple members in Spokan. There are meets in your area as well.

Keep at it. The straight is a whole different kind of beast. Not sure who honed your edge but it seems like it should be sharper. Generally a lower angle is used than compared to a shavette, so that could be an issue.

Any trouble with weepers or razor burn with the straight? Seems as though you have some experience with the shavette so we can probably rule out some of the common mistakes, ie., too much pressure, insufficient skin stretching, beard mapping, etc...

It took me a while but I eventually got better shaves then I ever had with a de, consistently, and in all regards, except for time, but that’s not really the point for me.

In any case, welcome! Lots of qualified members in pnw, reach out to one, you’ll be happy you did.

Everyone who answered you so far has been correct. Shavettes and SRs are different "tools", requiring different techniques, and a SR edge can be damaged in many ways. My question: Did you send it to be honed by someone who is on this forum? If not, are you sure they know what they're doing? There are lots of places (and people) claiming to be great SR honers or "sharpeners". Some aren't. They're knife sharpeners or knife hobbyists that are great with all edges except SRs. One guys, especially, who is all over YouTube is a "razor killer" as far as I'm concerned. PM someone here if you don't want to post a name in the forum.

PM sent.....

I bet the problem is along the lines of what Harold is saying. Outback PMed you. You will be in good hands soon. Welcome to SRP. A keen edge is in your future.

I sent ya a PM

Sorry, double post

Hello Robert and welcome to SRP.

I too, suspect that you sent your razor to someone that's not quite up to speed in the honing department.
You will soon be in the utmost of capable hands with Outback.

Meantime, enjoy the forum. There's a lot to learn.

Pete <:-}