Shave #2 not as good as #1

Well I tried to shave again with my new Dovo Stainless 5/8.

The first go went great (see shave of the day). Today's shave was awful though. The razor dragged way too much and didn't really cut anything. It was honed barely last week.

I stropped it last night on my home-made strop (bought from a member of the group here). It seemed fairly sharp then, but I ended up re-stropping again this morning for 30-40 laps all to no avail. The razor picked up some black-coloured dirt in doing so (which I wiped off gently). I also noticed the strop has two sides - one is black ('naked' leather), whereas the other has what looks like a green-coloured paste (crayon-like marks) on it. Which side am I supposed to strop on?

Basically, not sure what's wrong but this was a bad shave that I couldn't get half a cheek shaved. I had to finish with my not-so-close DE safety razor. What am I doing wrong? Have I ruined the edge on my razor?

I didn't mention this but I think you only want to strop on the leather side.

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Originally Posted by LX_Emergency

I didn't mention this but I think you only want to strop on the leather side.

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OK, I will avoid using that side for now. Is my razor in need of honing again?

I put some Chromium oxide on the reverse of that strop. I should've mentioned that, apologies.

Did the rather pick up the black coloured dirt along the edge?

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Originally Posted by rum

OK, I will avoid using that side for now. Is my razor in need of honing again?

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It's hard to say; it's certainly possible, you wouldn't be the first guy to dull their razor on the strop - I did this to my first razor. If your stropping technique is off, then stropping on the chrome oxide side would hasten the damage. But try stropping on the leather side, paying careful attention to technique, for 40 laps or so and see that doesn't bring the edge back.

if it's a truly new strop and the leather is black then you might just be picking up leather dust which isn't a problem. It'll stop soon. Bad stropping wil fail to align the edge for shaving and in the worst case will ruin the shaving edge.

If ou picked up residue from the pasted side then you may have overhoned the razor which would make shaving a terrible chore every bit as uncomfortable as a bad disposable blade.

Strop gently and carefull on the leather only side with a less pronounced x motion for about 50 laps and try it again. If you're still having trouble, you may need a touch up ona stone. PM me if you want and I can do it for you.

X

I think logically if you shave one day and get a great shave and the next day a poor one and the only thing that happened is you stropped then that's where the malfunction ocurred. I think X is on the money you either overstropped on the CrO or messed up the edge stropping with the plain leather. Take X up on his offer.

Thanks for all your replies people.

Well it looks I may have over-stropped on the CrO side or maybe even incorrectly stropped on the 'leather-only' side. I think I've got CrO and also leather particles, which I can gently wipe off (does wiping in any way dull the razor or less effective when shaving?).

I've stropped it a few times, but it doesn't feel OK when doing the test. I will probably try shaving with it tomorrow, if I have time, but as I am expecting some stones to arrive soon (got some Belgian waterstones) I may try to 'touch it up' a bit as you say.

Anything else I need to do or be aware of?

Apply light pressure to the spine of the razor during stropping, and the edge will take care of itself. Flip the razor over the spine, so the spine remains in contact throughout the stroke.

What test are you using?

There may be some dust from the reverse (suede) side, but there shouldn't be any from the smooth side. If the razor is picking up black coloured material on the smooth side it may be nicks to the edge scraping off material.

So, basically, as I see it when I strop the blade edge needs to barely sit on the leather? i.e. it's only gently touching it and the spine has to take most of the weight?

Test I'm doing is dicing a single hair on my left hand. It seems to take it eventually, but not as soon as the blade touches it.

Yes, I suppose it could be tiny nicks. If as you imply I am stropping by applying too much pressure, then this could be the case. I suppose the less pressure I apply, the less leather residue I'll see on my blade?

If it needs a rehone send it back to me free of charge. I'll redo it for you. One should get more than a single good shave out of a razor. It'll only cost you shipping and that's somewhere around 2,5 euro's or so.
Let me know if you'd like that. Offcourse you could always try to hone it on the stone you'll be getting soon.

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Originally Posted by LX_Emergency

If it needs a rehone send it back to me free of charge. I'll redo it for you. One should get more than a single good shave out of a razor. It'll only cost you shipping and that's somewhere around 2,5 euro's or so.
Let me know if you'd like that. Offcourse you could always try to hone it on the stone you'll be getting soon.

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Thanks, Alex.

I'd like to give it a go myself first and then I suppose if I'm still not having any luck, I might just take you up on that - you make a good job of honing, I'd rather try it out myself though and see how it goes.

Sure thing, Hope it works for you. Honing really isn't that difficult as long as you know how sharp it's supposed to be and a few "do not's".

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Originally Posted by LX_Emergency

Sure thing, Hope it works for you. Honing really isn't that difficult as long as you know how sharp it's supposed to be and a few "do not's".

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Thanks, Alex. As I've just posted in another thread, here's an update:

I tried to strop again and despite doing quite a few laps, either I haven't got it right yet or I need to do it a bit more on the stone before I can use it.

After stropping it all those times, I was able to touch it with my (dry) thumb and run it all the way up my arm without a single hair coming off - I didn't feel any 'sharpness' either in doing so. Something is still not right.

Don't mean to hijack your thread but I'm curious if you might share some of those "do nots" you mentioned.

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Originally Posted by LX_Emergency

Sure thing, Hope it works for you. Honing really isn't that difficult as long as you know how sharp it's supposed to be and a few "do not's".

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uhm...sure.

DO NOT:

- flip the razor over on the edge
- lift the spine during honing. The spine of the razor should always be in contact with the stone.
- hone with circles. You can later on if you know what you're doing but for now just keep to a simple x-pattern.
- Use a stone rougher than 4k grit. This will cause scratches on your blades and it's really not needed to use a stone that rough.
- use your stone without water. (scratches again plus the honing will be less smooth)
- Use oil on your waterstone. It isn't called a "water"stone for nothing.
- Use non-waterproof sandpaper on your waterstone. If you wish to lap use waterproof paper otherwise the grit from the sandpaper will get mixed up with the grit from your stone and that wouldn't be good since your stone is much finer.

I'm sure there's a few other people who could chime in here. These are just a few off the top of my head. You could probably also find quite a bit in the Honing subforum.

an addition Never shave with your pants on.