Thread: New member from Illinois

Originally Posted by TimButterfield

Just to post an update of what I ordered...

• Dovo #1226850 Razor - It's the link I posted.
• Walkin' Horse Horsebutt/Cotton Strop
• Dovo White Paste

They arrived last Thursday, but work kept me too busy to take the pics. Here they are now:





The background for the above is some vegetable tanned leather. A trip to the local Tandy Leather store provided some D rings and Chicago Screws for making some of my own strops. That should let me practice a bit for destroying the nice one. And, I can add some paste to one of them.


As mentioned for the above photo, it's good to not destroy a nice strop. It's good to not destroy my face either. Some electrical tape folded over the sharp edge will let me get used to handling the razor and practice scraping off lather without risking my face in the process. Once the lather scrapes smoothly and evenly off, I can remove the tape and try it for real. Doing these practice passes at the start of my next few DE shaves should help me start to build the muscle memory so I'm not guessing as much once the blade is exposed.

Tim

Hi Tim,

Good looking stuff. Good luck with that strop build. I'm not too sure about the tape over the edge. Getting it off without damage to the edge may be a little dicey. Also, you don't want to leave it on the blade. Water will collect along the edges and under if there's a wrinkle. It will cause rust in as little as overnight or quicker. You'll need to dry and then air dry after each use and depending on climate maybe a light oiling. My weather here is on and off for humidity, but air conditioning does fairly well for humidity control. I don't oil my daily user, or it's backup, also kept out, but anything going into even short storage gets a light coat of oil and long storage gets Renwax. Truth is, early on I thought of doing the same tape job with my first razor, but worried about getting the tape off, so I didn't. Good luck, and you'll do fine, just take it slow and easy at first and don't go past your comfort level, which will grow daily!! Start on your cheeks, from basically sideburns down to the jaw line, WTG. Get the feel of the razor and then finish with the DE. As you get used to that, add a little more and start to try other strokes as your comfortable. You'll do great!!

Regards,

Howard

Edit: I couldn't quit thinking about that tape. Don't just try pulling it off. I would probably give it a good WD40 soaking and try to loosen it a little at a time. The lower part of your blade is very thin, and there's no shoulder for added stability. Also the edge is as thin as foil and delicate. Gentle!!!

Originally Posted by SirStropalot

I couldn't quit thinking about that tape. Don't just try pulling it off.

I've done it once already. It wasn't difficult. I was aware of the thin edge risk and accounted for it. If you loosen/roll both sides of the tape edges, you can grasp the tape on both sides of the blade at the same time and pull it that way. Just work gradually from one end of the blade to the other. It comes off cleanly with little risk of sideways pressure/damage to the edge. Thanks for the warning.

Tim

Hey, not a problem. I kind of thought you would know, but then, you never know!!
I would still worry about the edge though. Good Luck!!

Howard

Originally Posted by SirStropalot

I would still worry about the edge though.

Besides the method of removing the tape, the other trick is to not leave it on very long. The longer it stays on, the more stuck it becomes and/or the more residue will remain. Keeping the duration short reduces the risk. Thanks, again.