Hello all - I have been researching and reading all about straight razor shaving for a bit now (here). I ordered a DOVO, and a strop online. I practiced some SLOW strops. The blade came already pretty sharp, I don't know if it's considered 'shave ready' according to REAL standards. It did cut one of my hairs I laid on the blade after stropping (popped it right in half).

My first shave, I shaved one sideburn down, no cuts, didn't do to bad. The second shave I tried the non-dominant hand, and did the other side. It was very 'backward' feeling, so I just went SLOOOWWW, and did another sideburn down. No cuts, no whiskers either! I finished up with my DE both times. My shave soap dries up really fast it seems. So I'm trying for a little more water in the mixture. PS - I have thrown away the canned stuff.. Knock on wood - no razor burn at all..

I'm very hesitant to start on any chin / moustache whiskers. I'm pretty sloppy with maintaining a good angle on the blade right now, but... practice + slow is what I keep reading. I think I'll stick with that! The hardest part right now I think, is how to actually begin the shave. How do you actually put the blade on your skin? I was starting at maybe a 5 degree angle, then increasing to 30 just before shaving??

Alex