Thread: I got the dull razor blues...

When i first got in to all of this business with str8s i wasn't sure if it would pan out or not so I sorta cheaped out.Or so I thought.I went to the local beauty supply shop and bought a Personna Magic "straight" razor.It's just a little plastic scaled blade holder that holds one half of a DE blade.Learning how to shave with those sheet metal blades was interesting,nerve wracking and a little bloody at times.I became very close with my styptic pencil during these times.I almost named it but knew it's life would be short in my care so did not commit to a lasting relationship with it.Everything seemed to be going well and i was enjoying the new found skin health benefits of str8 shaving immediately.So I jumped in head first and bought a "shave ready" Dovo Best Quality razor in a very complete kit and commenced to stropping away.Very disappointing.The razor pulled and tugged and was very noisy as it cut my facial hair.The DE blades are so sharp that you never hear the hairs "breaking off",they just slice off nice and smooth without a fuss.I was chalking up my disappointment to bad technique and inexperience. Along this time I stumbled across a very nice looking W&B in an antique store for $15.I got it home,disinfected it,stropped it and shaved with it as is.No honing!It shaved considerably better than my "shave ready" Dovo I paid much more for.Not cool.Well,the W&B was doing good but I could still hear it struggling thru the hairs and never shaved as smooth as my disposable razor.Much less clumsy and a lot more fun/satisfying to shave with.But BBS just wasn't happening.So I sent it out for professional honing since my hone collection basically does not exist.That,plus I just wanted it right.When it came back home I was very pleased with it as it shaves much smoother and quieter than before,but I still cannot get BBS with it,or even close.Not even my sideburns will go completely smooth with it. So my question is this:can a straight razor,a real solid blade razor,not one that holds refills,actually be made as sharp as a DE blade?It is very annoying to own these two beautiful razors(the W&B and the Dovo)yet I use my $7 Personna Magic "blade holder"with Wilkinson Sword blades every night to touch up because i refuse to shave only to finish with 5 o'clock shadow.What am I missing here?

I'm not sure if a straight can ever be as sharp as an industrially produced blade, but certainly I get a daily shave from a straight, every bit as smooth as anything else I've used (DE, Cartridge). For me this does involve three passes, one of which is ATG.

This is something that I honestly didn't think would be possible when I first started shaving with a straight razor.

I have both real straights and a "Shavette." It is nice to know what sharp is from a new, half DE blade. However, I can get my straights as sharp or sharper than the "Feather" or "7-o-clock yellow" that performed best in my shavette. The straights will dull eventually and need to be touched up where the disposables just need to be replaced. I get better shaves from my straights.

Your lather, beard prep or lather could be at fault as well as the razor not being sharp enough.

But I've tried synthetic setups, a coticule and a Jnat (2 natural stones) and all give superb shaves.

Oh I do actually remember a post that mentioned why DE's feel sharper but are actually just easier to shave with because of the safety frame creating the optimum angle against your face, Lower the angle of the razor and don't try and remove all the stubble in the first pass.

regards Alex

Although a disposable blade is hard to match it can be done, I would bet the Dovo can go there I don't know if the W&B can but they are two different animals and the resulting shaves from either should be Close & COMFORTABLE!!! Note the emphasis on the comfortable

The real difference in the disposable edge and the SR edge is in the Coating -vs- the Stropping not in the initial sharpness which will be within microns..

The disposable relies on a coating (Teflon) to impart smoothness, a SR relies on your skill with the strop to burnish the blade to impart smoothness read AFDavis /Alan's thread on stroppping and watch his vid on the front page of the forum.. this is where you are missing (assuming the honing starts the edge right)
It is obvious that you like a Wicked Sharp edge if you send me the Dovo I will take it there on the Shaptons and strop it in for you so the first shave when it gets back to you will be as good as that razor can get.. After that shave if that works for you, then you can see how your stropping effects the edge..

PM me if you want to try this out I cover the honing you cover the shipping, I don't know where yer at in the world so if it ain't the US let me know, as I have a few friends on here that know how to hone across the world, and maybe we can get one of them to help out

Thank you very much for your offer Gssixgun,but i wouldn't expect you to hone anything for me for free.Just out of curiosity,why do you feel that a Dovo can rival ad DE edge,but a W$B probably can't.Blade thickness perhaps? Again,thank you for your offer,but I'll gladly pay for your services.PM sent.

Originally Posted by justalex

Your lather, beard prep or lather could be at fault as well as the razor not being sharp enough.

But I've tried synthetic setups, a coticule and a Jnat (2 natural stones) and all give superb shaves.

Oh I do actually remember a post that mentioned why DE's feel sharper but are actually just easier to shave with because of the safety frame creating the optimum angle against your face, Lower the angle of the razor and don't try and remove all the stubble in the first pass.

regards Alex

Thank you for your reply.Just to be clear on what I am using when I refer to a DE is this.I do not own an actual DE razor,but all of this straight business has me considering it.But to be away from disposable things was the first reason in using straights to begin with.Time will tell...

I would also recommend working on technique here. If the stropping is going well with 50-60 strokes before shaving, then the razor should be shaving well at a 30 degree or less angle. Most guys bend their wrist back when starting which you can get a way with on a disposable razor, but generally not on a real straight razor. They are definitely different animals.

Have fun.

Sorry for the mix up, I started with a cartridge razor as well, they shave differently though as Lynn says, a lower angle should improve your shaving

I hear alot of talk on here about the 30* angle,but that seems way too steep for me.I usually end up holding my razor with the spine just barely off of my skin.Probably only an 1/8" or less.At times the spine will even touch.At 30* it feels to me that the blade is just scraping across my face rather than slicing hairs off.I stropped the dickens out of the W&B and the Dovo tonight.100 passes on both sides of the strop on each razor.I was almost too tired to shave after that! First pass with the W&B wtg and then atg with the Dovo.Somewhat better,but i did end up touching up with the Personna in a few spots.Don't get me wrong,I am getting better shave with the str8s im complainig about than i ever did with a machlll.I suppose i am just overly picky sometimes