Thread: Hi

Hi ppl, can i get some advise please, thx..
I have just received a straight razor (Dovo) as a brithday gift from my bro. He is quite new to straight razor shaving , so im asking u guys for some advise.
I made the switch to DE shaving about a year ago and i had about a 3 month learning curve with it so im not expecting anything less from my straight razor .
I need to know what grades of honing stones i need and how often does it need honing. My bro recons hone after every 14 shaves but that dosnt sound rite to me.
I wanna start shaving with it but im thinking i dont have the stones yet and what if it goes dull.
I have a leather strap but i know thats not for sharpening but for more like buffing..
Any advise would be welcome...cheers

I'm new myself. I've read a leather stropping before every shave will keep razor in shve ready condition for a very long time. I purchased a cheap strop from stropman. I also purchased his green and red compounds. The red compound has almost no "cut" to it. It mainly polishes. I have been using the leather strop and red compound before each shave. If I see it needs more work I will try the green more course compound. If that starts to fail then I will try one of the honemiesters on this forum. In short I think good leather strop should maintain your blade for many, many shaves.

First of all - welcome to SRP! There is an absolute wealth of information here. In particular, those starting out should definitely read these:

Beginner's guide to straight razor shaving - Straight Razor Place Wiki
First straight razor shave - Straight Razor Place Wiki

My first question would be where the razor was purchased? Some vendors will sell razors with factory edges. These are most often *not* shave-ready, and should be honed prior to first use. However it is possible that it was purchased from a vendor who puts a professional shave-ready edge on the razor. Best first of all to find that out. When I started I shaved for months with a factory edge and it was miserable.

Which brings me to point #2: don't think about honing it yourself yet! As you will learn there are many variables involved in straight shaving, and if you're honing it yourself you are simply adding another variable. I.e. was my shave rough because of my face prep, angle, pressure, or because I killed my edge when honing? My advice is to send it out to a pro (see the classified here for some honemeisters: Member Services - Straight Razor Place Classifieds )

And yes, use the strop before each shave for sure, and after each shave if you so choose. Plenty of strop and stropping info on the site here, especially in the Stroptober thread:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...st-2012-a.html

Take your time, have fun, and if you have any questions, ask away!

Good luck

Sorry - forgot to mention stones & frequency of honing...

There are a *ton* of different honing regimens out there involving anything from a single stone (for example the Norton 4k/8k - see this thread: http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...on-2012-a.html ) to a whole progressions involving different combinations of natural and artificial stones, glass plates, pasted balsa/strops, etc., etc... In short I'm afraid there is no one answer to that question. Again my advice is for a while at least to send the razor out to a pro to be honed. Once you are comfortable with your other technique, you will have had time to read up on honing, watch the videos that are available, etc., and have a good idea as to what you think will work for you.

Also forgot to mention that having it honed by a pro will give you a benchmark as to how it should feel when truly shave-ready. It can be very difficult to teach yourself to hone if you don't have that standard established.

For frequency, that too depends on too many factors to give a simple answer. It depends on your beard, on the razor, on your prep and technique, and most importantly on your stropping technique. Lots of folks rush into stropping and end up dulling rather than improving their edge.

IMHO you should expect to get far more than 14 shaves between honing jobs. But as said above, that all depends on plenty of factors.

BTW I'm not a pro honer and don't offer my honing services for $$, so I don't have any stake in advising you to send it out to be done. I just like to help people avoid the mistakes I made when starting out!

Cangoner pretty much covered it all I usually get 5 or6 shaves and do a quick touch up on chromium oxide paste. I have only had to resharpen my razors once starting on a 5k once in about 8 months. Though I do have pretty stiff wirey stubble, I am sure thats a contributing factor. I guess for refernce, I could only get 4 shaves out of a feather DE blade before it started to tug. Hope that helps some.

Thanks for the advise, the best being READ this forum
I wouldnt consider sending it off to be honed by a pro. I'd rather watch videos and learn how to do it myself.
I think first up i need to by a wider strop and some chromium oxide paste. After a few months i will just take my blade to my brothers and use his stones untill i buy my own.
My SE blade was purchased at Taylor of Old Bond Street in central London. I'm asuming its shave ready..

Yes, Cangooner gives excellent advise! As to the razor being "shave ready", never assume. Ask the vendor IF it was honed before shipping and how. I can understand the pride thing about not sending one out, but a first shave with an improper edge shall disappoint. Plenty of great edgemakers in UK, you can find them here. A benchmark edge to begin with and an example from which you can aspire to is highly recommended!
Good Luck!

Well after all it is your blade and your face, so ultimately it's your call as to who does the honing.

FWIW I'd highly suggest contacting Taylor of Bond Street to verify whether their razors are honed by a pro before being shipped. Their website doesn't seem to mention it, so I'd be hesitant to make that assumption. Perhaps some of our other members are familiar with them and their services?

EDIT: you beat me to it sharptonn!

I just texed my bro who bought it and has about 5 himself. He said that it is shave ready. He goes into the shop and buys them so there is no shipping involved.


I stand corrected.. Dovo hone their blades before selling,,so mine is honed up

Originally Posted by JOB15

. Dovo hone their blades before selling,,so mine is honed up

Oh! I see! Perhaps someday you will as well! Now, Get to shaving!