Thread: Shave Ready?

I read a lot about getting a shave ready razor for one's first straight. I purchased a Dovo Bismarck from SRD and it says on their site that their razors are profesionally sharpened before they are shipped. I also know that Dovo too says the razors are "Shave Ready" when they leave the factory, but I have also read a lot of people saying they are definitely not shave ready. So I wondering does SRD just move these straight to the customer or do they actually hone them and make sure they are truely "Shave Ready". What do the people that have bought from SRD think.

Thanks for any help.

PS I am in no way trying to tarnish or question the integrity of SRD or Dovo just simply wondering if I need to have my razor sent to Lynn before using it.

SRD is lynn. Well Lynn and Don to be more specific.

I have not purchased any razors from SRD yet, but have a razor honed by Lynn. I am very happy with it.

Originally Posted by funkadelyk

I read a lot about getting a shave ready razor for one's first straight. I purchased a Dovo Bismarck from SRD and it says on their site that their razors are profesionally sharpened before they are shipped. I also know that Dovo too says the razors are "Shave Ready" when they leave the factory, but I have also read a lot of people saying they are definitely not shave ready. So I wondering does SRD just move these straight to the customer or do they actually hone them and make sure they are truely "Shave Ready". What do the people that have bought from SRD think.

Thanks for any help.

PS I am in no way trying to tarnish or question the integrity of SRD or Dovo just simply wondering if I need to have my razor sent to Lynn before using it.

if it came from SRD theres a good chance it was honed by lynn so no point sending it back to him.

while they do come from dovo sharp, the edge is not as refined as it could be, so a futher honing is required to fine tune the edge,

+1 on the above. As it was proberly lynn that actually honed your razor.
So good to go.Happy shaving and let us all know how you get along.

Factory sharpening consists of sharpening the razor on a grinding stone and stropping it before being boxed up. If you search DOVO razors on youtube you'll find a video clip of this.

The honing that Lynn and Don do is by hand on a succession of finer hones, then stropping, test shaving and restropping before the razor is sent out to the customer. So there really is a world of difference between the edges..!

I have a Boker Edelweisse and a Kamisori that I got from SRD and both are ludicrously sharp. If you put your ear close to the edge you can hear oxygen atoms being torn asunder..! Both razors have incredible edges and are definatley shave ready. I'm very pleased with both of these razors, and I use them regularly.

It is considered common courtesy to read the FAQ as a beginner. Case in point is this section of the Frequently Asked Questions - Straight Razor Place Wiki.

Whether SRD, or any of the other reputable vendors who offer "pre sharpened" (or whatever the buzzword is) razors, they do two things: (1) QA the razor, (2) QA the edge and, if required, bring it to shave readiness.

Regards,
Robin

Thanks everyone that pretty much settles that.

I've bought quite a few razors from Lynn and Don and all have been as shave ready as you can get. Good question though. I was curious about that when I first came around too.