Thread: Point or Round?

Originally Posted by cwilbourn1

Is it shave ready if I buy it from classic shaving? Does it need to be honed? Stropped?

Yes if their description says PRESHARPENED, no if it does not. For those that are not presharpened they have a sharpening service ($19.99).

Originally Posted by cwilbourn1

Thanks for all the replies. I decided to go with a new Dovo spike from classicshaving.com. I ordered it yesterday. I am so excited. It will be my first straight razor.

Congratulations on taking the plunge!

Don't expect stellar results off the bat. My first shave, the razor just bounced across the skin, causing lots of irritation, pulling, and not a lot of cutting. After all the anticipation and build up, I felt really disappointed and foolish for spending all that money.

I've since learned how to give a pretty darn good shave and am very happy with my results. I've figured out all these errors on that initial shave made it horrible: blade angle (way too much), pressure (too much), stropping (too little and very poorly), lather (too much water), skin stretching (too little). Slowly correcting all those errors, and I now look forward to shaving, and even shave on the weekends because I love the experience, when before I would go without!

So don't expect a great shave right off the bat, but stick with it, ask tons of questions here on the forum, and it will get much better!

Cheers,

- HJ

Originally Posted by cutalot

a word on stroping, it will make or break your shave. go light and go long

My limited experience so far is I need a bit of pressure to effectively strop... at first I was using too much, then backed off until it was no more than the weight of the blade. I still wasn't getting a good result... after rewatching a few stropping videos, I now use a moderate amount of pressure and now it's much better...

Originally Posted by cutalot

spike or round buy the best razor you can afford & get it shave ready from one of the members here.plus a good strop if you struggled thru a shavette you are gona love a real straight.

+1, So true! When you start crusin' for razors, you will get the best deal you can, regardless of the tip. Yes, you will have a prefrence, maybe, but in the long run for now it dosen't really matter.

I like round tips!

Steve

I started out a few months ago with round points but now find myself going toward the square or spike because of what others have mentioned about getting to the sideburns or closer to the ear.

+1 I dont think it matters.I think guys just step up to squares as a macho thing.Newbies get the impression that rounds are for the beginner.I started with a spike and I have rounds in my rotation.It all depends on how a razor shaves for me. That only my opinion.

Originally Posted by zepplin

+1, So true! When you start crusin' for razors, you will get the best deal you can, regardless of the tip. Yes, you will have a prefrence, maybe, but in the long run for now it dosen't really matter.

I like round tips!

Steve

Originally Posted by VeeDubb65

My experience is still very limited, as I'm still working with my first straight, but it's a square point, and I can tell you what I like about it, and what I don't.

I wear a neatly trimmed beard, and I find that the square point lends itself really nicely to trimming in neatly, especially where my beard and sideburns meet.

What I don't like about it, is that the growth pattern on my neck makes it so a true ATG pass would be horizontal from the outside to the center, and it can be a little tricky to make that pass without that point doing ugly things to the underside of my jaw. Of course, I'm not sure that a round point would be any better.

I agree that a spike point will do a great job of trimming the edges of goatees and mustaches. But I don't wear those, and I do have that sideways growth pattern on my neck. The round points work quite well on the horizontal strokes there. The square points I have just don't get used as much; I even prefer the looks of the round point. My favorite razor not only has a round point, but a sloping shoulder as well.

I like the way the round looks, but like a more exact point. I split the difference and bought a french point.

-Chief

Appearance wise, I have some roundpoints that knock the socks off my squares IMO.

But I don't own razors just for their looks.

I like both square point and round point. Whether or not it's actually true or significantly different, square points do give a feeling of precision. They do occasionally "kiss" my ears where the lobes connect to my cheek whereas round points never do. Not a biggie.

Here's what round points do for me that spikes can't:

The toe edge of the round point allows me to make a final excellent downward pass in the curved "trough" of my upper lip area under my nose. The tip fits in that area and cleans it up perfectly and comfortably on a second pass without even really having to stretch the skin there. It'd be slice city if I even tried that with a spike.

Round points "ride the tube" from my jawline down to my neck easily. Square points are fine there, but occasionally, I'll nick that area lightly (more of a scratch really) from a spike.

I actually like having to be more aware when shaving with a spike, but both have their place in my arsenal.

Chris L

A round point is a bit more forgiving than a spike point (although you mentioned a square point). However, many of our members started successfully with square and spike points.