Thread: First straight shave

I've been wet shaving with a DE for about a month and reading the shaving boards for just about as long. Of course, as soon as I discovered the boards, I found SRP and the straight shaving community. I was immediately intrigued, and it didn't take long to know I would have to give it a try. I ordered three Wapi's and had them shipped directly to Josh Earl for honing. In the meantime, I found a new Dovo Special at an eBay store that was advertised as shave-ready, so I ordered it, too. The Dovo came first, and I tried my first shaves over the weekend. If it is, indeed, shave-ready, then I don't think I will like straight shaving. It pulls like crazy, particularly on my neck. It seems to catch on whiskers without cutting them. Even on my cheeks, where my beard is much less coarse (it's not what I would call really tough anywhere), the shave is less than ideal. Anyway, I shaved the easy parts of my cheeks and neck, but I did not want to risk razor burn or a nick, so I finished up with a DE. My Wapi's arrived today, so I'll try one of them out in the morning. That should give me a pretty good frame of reference. The eBay merchant says he will pay for return shipping to put a more thorough honing on the Dovo if I'm not happy, so I have that option if the Wapi's appear to be much sharper. I already know that I will want some new scales on the Wapi's if I keep doing the straight thing. They weigh a ton compared to the Dovo.

EDIT: I meant to post this in the beginner's forum. Mods, feel free to move.

Kyle, I'd say give yourself a couple dozen shaves (with a truly sharp razor) before deciding that you don't like straights. It takes time and practice to develop effective technique. Be patient with yourself and enjoy!

Jordan

If you're talking about a brand spankin' new Dovo fresh out of the box, I'm not surprised that it shaves the way you describe. If the guy you bought it from honed it already, I'm not sure I'd be too confident that it'd be much better the second time. Anybody can make a mistake though. In my experience, new Dovo's are not actually that far from shave ready. The few I've experienced have never had a good edge, but they've all had great bevels. Establishing an edge hasn't been tough.

Good luck with the other blades. I predict you will learn a lot in a few shaves.

X

After using the Wapi for a few days with good success, I moved back to the Dovo this morning. I did about 30 laps on .5 diamond paste and then about 20 on the paddle strop. It seemed to make a big difference -- of course my technique and experience of just how straight shaving feels could have effected my shave as well. Anyway, I was very pleased with how it went. I'm doing very well with my cheeks, neck and even my upper lip. The area around my chin is more problematic. The beard is thicker there, and there are no real flat areas to take advantage of. I'm kind of feeling my way through it and cleaning up with the M3. The tip of my chin is especially difficult, where each small stroke seems to cut about one whicker at the time.

Originally Posted by Kyle76

After using the Wapi for a few days with good success, I moved back to the Dovo this morning. I did about 30 laps on .5 diamond paste and then about 20 on the paddle strop. It seemed to make a big difference -- of course my technique and experience of just how straight shaving feels could have effected my shave as well. Anyway, I was very pleased with how it went. I'm doing very well with my cheeks, neck and even my upper lip. The area around my chin is more problematic. The beard is thicker there, and there are no real flat areas to take advantage of. I'm kind of feeling my way through it and cleaning up with the M3. The tip of my chin is especially difficult, where each small stroke seems to cut about one whicker at the time.

The tip of the chin is one of the tougher spots. Take your time and figure it out. I now use a horizontal stroke from the jaw line into the middle of my chin to get this area. I do this during the second pass and it gets the area BBS everytime.

Jordan

It also might help to take small, short strokes downwards and move
horizontally across your chin -- this will allow you to really focus on
the blade angle and not worry about adjusting it as you complete
your stroke.