Thread: Just starting

Received my Dovo straight razor yesterday. Should have joined this forum first.

Welcome!
Good luck with the new razor.

Originally Posted by artrbrown

Received my Dovo straight razor yesterday. Should have joined this forum first.

True, but unlike many members you bought a good blade from the start. Welcome to SRP, if there is anything we can do for you please let us know!

Welcome to SRP and best of luck! We're all here to help if we can...just ask

Thanks for you input.

In an attempt to learn this art correctly, I have printed a multi-chapter guide to shaving with a straight razor by Christopher Moss. It appears to be quite comprehensive.

Initially, I purchased a Dovo razor and sent it off to be sharpened correctly. It didn't feel sharp enough when I attempted to shave so I thought maybe I should use the strop, which I did. Tried to shave with the straight razor today but again, it was quite painful and didn't compare with a little throw away razor. I try to hold the straight razor at the same angle as the blade in the little throw away. Think I'll resharpen the razor with my 400/800 stone and strop it again.

I've been showering first and then soaking the brush while using a hot wash cloth on my face.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Art Brown

Getting a good shave with a straight takes more than a sharp razor, but good technique as well. Technique can only be learned with experience, so a beginner should expect sub par shaves for the first dozen or so. It is very common for a beginner not to know this, and blame a perfectly sharp razor for their poor shave.

Sharpening a blade also takes time to learn to do properly, which is why it is recommended that a beginner not try to learn sharpening and shaving at the same time. If you think it needs to be sharpened, send it to a honemeister (not your local knife shop), but like I said before, it is likely your technique that is the problem, not the razor.

So the best thing you can do right now is to focus on developing your technique.

Stropping pressure should be light, the stroke shouldn't be too slow. Be very careful on the turn as that is where most beginners nick their strop and damage their razor.

Beard prep, you should go overboard. Many beginners underestimate the improtance and time needed for proper beard prep, going overboard makes sure you don't fall into that trap.

While shaving, remember the following.
Before putting razor to face, get a good skin stretch going in a way that lifts the hairs up off the face.

When you do put razor to face, the pressure should be as light as you can. More pressure = worse razor burn. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that with more pressure you will get a closer shave. That isn't how straights work and you will only give yourself cuts and irritation.

Keep the angle of the razor below 30 degrees, which is about 2 spine widths. Judging razor angle is another thing many beginners struggle with. There are many accounts of people who know that the angle should be below 30 degrees come to the realization that they were judging the angle wrong and had angles arouond 45 degrees.

If you focus on those things, you will be getting decent shaves before you know it.

Welcome to srp