Thread: I owe Lynn a apology.

About a month ago I recieved my first straight razor, a 5/8 Dovo Best from Vintage Blades. The razor was honed by Lynn himself.

On my first couple of shaves this razor was not shave ready! It left wiskers, tugged, and gave me alot of irritation. I was thinking that Lynn gave me a poorly honed razor.

Funny thing, as my skill level got better the razor seemed to get sharper. In fact, I now get BBS shaves with it with almost no irritation. I still nick myself regulerly but I am getting better.

The moral of the story for all us noobs is that as long as we are using qualit equipment the problems we are having are likely our lack of skill and not the products.

Lynn, please forgive my ignorance. I'll never doubt you again.

Therein lies the reason for taking the razors actual shave readiness out of the equation by having it honed right first time. That way you know it isn't the blade that is at fault.
We all make mistakes mate. We just have to man up and apologise, as you have done, then move on.


Mick

A noble thing to do, indeed.
Mistakes and missjudgements are all part of any learning process.
The good thing is that you are getting the good shaves you wanted.
Now, Keep Buggering On!

I just subscribed to this thread, just so I can link it for people to read when they are having trouble....

Thanks !!!

thats a good post and it brings up a very important point for those who sell honed shave ready razors to first time users , ya just know there gonna blame the razor every time if things dont go perfectly ..hehe ! only natural I spose but it does make it frustrating when it happens no doubt . I would think if Lynn cant get it right who can .... way to go on the appology my hat off to you sir .

It's normal reaction. Most guys who pick up a straight razor for the first time, can't use it correctly, angle is usually to blame..As the other's said, it takes a man to apologize...
good 4 you....

Danricgro,

By doing what you have done in your post, i think it's safe to say that a gesture like THAT (making apologies) is a deed of a true gentleman!!
My respect to you, Sir!!

Regards,

RazorBack

Thank you!!

I think expectations sometimes outweigh the fact that we all have to start from the beginning when are learning something new.

The main thing is to learn straight razor shaving correctly and enjoy it forever.

You guys may not know this, but years ago and way before I had a shop, I begged the big shops to sell honed razors to people. The thought was that it is hard enough to learn to shave without having to learn to hone or wait to have your razor honed. This forum will always be dedicated to your success. It truly is the spirit of this house. Your post makes it all worthwhile.

This was very kind of you and I do hope that some of the new people coming into our world will learn from you.

All the best,

Lynn

Kudos for this post. The learning curve hasn't been that easy for me - especially honing. Every time I think I get it, I learn I'm clueless. That's hard. You're right though - we need skills. I only wish I could shave more often than once/day so I could accelerate the learning. The quality and pleasure of the shaves keep me at it. As I've said - Perseverance or Stupidity: they both work (being too dumb to know when to quit).

Originally Posted by Danricgro

About a month ago I recieved my first straight razor, a 5/8 Dovo Best from Vintage Blades. The razor was honed by Lynn himself.

On my first couple of shaves this razor was not shave ready! It left wiskers, tugged, and gave me alot of irritation. I was thinking that Lynn gave me a poorly honed razor.

Funny thing, as my skill level got better the razor seemed to get sharper. In fact, I now get BBS shaves with it with almost no irritation. I still nick myself regulerly but I am getting better.

The moral of the story for all us noobs is that as long as we are using qualit equipment the problems we are having are likely our lack of skill and not the products.

Lynn, please forgive my ignorance. I'll never doubt you again.

I had a similar experience but I did think it was the way the razor was attached to the ground. What got me it shaved so easy the first three or four shaves then the trouble began. I tried another new shave ready razor and it was worse then the previous. As time went on they both started shaving smoother.