Thread: New Bloke

G'day fellas,
just starting out with the straight razor
bought a dovo had a couple of shaves and now cant get it sharp
again tried the strop, got a norton 4000/8000 and watched the demo in the wiki, no go any suggestions.

Cheers Gilbo

Hey Gilbo, Welcome!

Could be a number of things happening:

1. How you're shaving - angle of blade, pressure, prep / lather
2. How you're stropping
3. How you're honing

I'm not an expert with the honing, but I've been through all the above and can now get my blade sharp enough for me.

If it isn't the shaving technique and it is the blade - try working on your stropping first. For me, even after honing, it is stropping (lots of it) that brings out the edge. Sometimes the blade just needs lots of good stropping.


Can you list what you have done so far?

Was it shaving sharp when you first tried the shave - when did you find it wasn't sharp enough? Did it seem to get duller after a couple of shaves?

Others will chime in, but in the meantime check out the honing section of the forum.

Btw - where in Australia are you? Someone local might be able to help.

All the best,
Michael.

G'day Gilbo & welcome to the joys of str8 shaving. Hang in there mate. Takes a little time to get it wired as there can be a bunch of variables but if you got a couple of good shaves previously chances are you are stropping a bit too heavily & may have done some damage.
A new Norton combo may also need a bit of lapping attention too. As Michael said someone local is a good bet.

Hello!

If you just bought it, chances are it wasn't shave ready unless you paid extra for it to be honed.

If it was shave ready, you may have rolled the edge when you were stropping. It takes a little while to get the hang of it & develop muscle memory. Till you've done that, it's best to take it slow.

Finally, if you've now tried your hand at honing, you've probably bitten off more than you can chew at this early stage. It's pretty simple, but does take a little practise.

I'd send the razor out to be honed & save the Nortons for another blade. Use the honed blade & practise on an ebuy cheap vintage. When you're getting the same level of sharpness from the razor you're honing, you'll know you're ready to hone the Dovo. Read plenty about techniques & it'll speed up your progress.

Hey All,
Thanks for the replys
I bought the dovo and the strop, i think the
blade was shave ready because it was bloody sharp and had
a great shave, i took it to a old italian barber for a lesson in stropping after a couple of shaves,
he said to me because my hair was so coarse that i would need a hone as i would not get the blade shave ready on the strop alone, so i bought the norton. I watched the wiki vids by lynn and then tried the honing thing i watched for the even water displacment in front of the blade and worked the pyrimid technique.
When i checked the bevel after the hanging hair failed i could see that it was uneven a touch higher bevel at each end than in the middle. Does any one in oz know where i can get it honed im around brisbane but can send it inter state.

Cheers Gilbo

Get the thing honed and thatwill take thatout of the equation for the time being, if it doesn't shave well for the first few times after that, then it has somethng to do with your technique I'd say.
I sent you a Pm with what I've found out of late.


Mick

Originally Posted by GILBO

Does any one in oz know where i can get it honed im around brisbane but can send it inter state.
Cheers Gilbo

I can help if you do no good locally but Jimbo is up your way. Shoot him a PM.

Just stay away from any Knife shops that claim they can hone razors... They can't... Unless the guy shaves with one...