Thread: Lots of questions from a newbie

Been wet shaving for about 20 years but only recently started using proper wet shaving techniques.

Bought my first Merkur HD DE safety razor 9 months ago and have been hooked ever since... but have recently had a look at straight razors.

so i would like to ask some questions before i plunge into Straight Razors.

1 . how many razors do i need ? i saw a vid and this guy said that you need to rest your blade for 24 hours before your next use ( to cool down the blade he said ) ?? true or false
if it's true , then that would mean a min of 2 blades to be kept at all times..sounds a little bogus to me as i haven't heard of such a thing on this forum.

2 . with so many different sizes of blades , which one should i start with and why ? 5/8 seems the like the most talked about size .

3 . how long do i have to go before i have to hone my blade again ? i guess that depends on how many times you shave, but lets consider shaving every other day with a min of 2 passes and sometmes 3 just for fun. The reason i ask this as i can see that i might become lazy and not wish to prep my blade for 1/2 an hr each time before shaving.

4 . Strop i assume is for keeping your blade sharp inbetween your visits with the hone that you have bought .. correct ?

5 . lastly if i was to venture into Straight razors , DOVO or Thiers-Issard ( TI i guess for short )
which one is better ? i read the reviews on TI and Dovo , and it seems that TI is the sharpest but the finishing touches not as good as others ... but isn't sharpness the most important aspect of a blade anyway ?

anyway , thanks for answering these questions from a newbie

First off, welcome to SRP. I hope your venture into straight razor shaving is sucessful and enjoyable.

Now to attempt some answers to your questions.

1. You need only 1 razor. The entire resting the blade thing has never been an issue in the nearly 8 years of straight shaving for me. That being said there is a really well documented mental disorder called Razor Aquisition Disorder. If you start on this path your likely to aquire it and will no doubt end up with more than 1 razor.

2. The size of the blade is mostly preference, but does have some practical application. Larger blades 7/8 and 8/8 can hold more lather, meaning you have to rinse your blade less frequently. For me this has always meant nothing at all. 5/8ths is my size of choice. The reason I like 5/8 and 6/8 is that I can more easily shave my upper lip. 7/8 and up and it's harder for me to shave my mustache. Best thing I can say here is that if you have a really long upper lip, or a really short nose, then starting with something larger than a 6/8 would be fine. Other than that I'd start with a 5/8ths and if you wish you can experiment later with new and different razors.

3. How long you can shave between honings depends on more than how often you shave unfortunately. If you have a very thick wiry beard you will have to hone more frequently than a soft thin beard. This varies WIDELY, some people need to hone every 15 shaves, others need to hone once a year with their daily shaver. I need to hone my straights about every 3-6 months depending on how often I shave. Prep time for a blade should usually be just a few minutes to strop, preferably with lather on your face softening up the beard while you do it.

4. A strop realigns the edge of the blade so that you have a very straight sharp edge when you shave. It doesn't actually sharpen the blade though, just aligns, and to a lesser degree polishes, the edge. A strop is what takes care of that cool down the blade stuff.

5. Dovo and TI both make excellent razors. TI does have a special hardening process allowing for a slightly stronger blade. That being said I really do prefer Dovo. My Dovos shave much better and much more comfortably than my TIs. This is really a personal preference though. There are plenty of people which would say the opposite. IMHO I'd start with a Wapi. Try the well honed razor at this link

Welcome to TheWellHonedRazor.com

They are excellent razors to start off with and they wont set you back an arm and a leg. All in all a good way to start.


Hope this helps,
post with any other questions. Everyone here freely shares information and experience.

Patrick

thanks so much Patrick ...

i think you answered all my questions .

so there really isn't any excuses for me not get into Straight razors

thanks again

Mark

I hope this helps...

Originally Posted by travelwell72

Been wet shaving for about 20 years but only recently started using proper wet shaving techniques.

Bought my first Merkur HD DE safety razor 9 months ago and have been hooked ever since... but have recently had a look at straight razors.

so i would like to ask some questions before i plunge into Straight Razors.

1 . how many razors do i need ? i saw a vid and this guy said that you need to rest your blade for 24 hours before your next use ( to cool down the blade he said ) ?? true or false
if it's true , then that would mean a min of 2 blades to be kept at all times..sounds a little bogus to me as i haven't heard of such a thing on this forum. Resting the blade is a myth. you can get by with 1 blade, but I recommend having 2 in case you dull the first on accident.

2 . with so many different sizes of blades , which one should i start with and why ? 5/8 seems the like the most talked about size . There are a lot of options with size and grind, many people jump into a full hollow because it sounds cool, but I think a wedge or 1/4 is better to learn on. as for size, a heavier or larger blade slides easier IMHO, but larger means less manuverable in areas like under your nose or chin. Generally a 5/8 or 6/8 is ideal when starting.

3 . how long do i have to go before i have to hone my blade again ? i guess that depends on how many times you shave, but lets consider shaving every other day with a min of 2 passes and sometmes 3 just for fun. The reason i ask this as i can see that i might become lazy and not wish to prep my blade for 1/2 an hr each time before shaving. If you have only 1 razor, and you use it daily, depending on the razor's hardness, and degree of sharpness, and the thickness of your hair, you can get on average between 2 and 4 months between honings. If you have 2 razors, each razor will last twice as long.

4 . Strop i assume is for keeping your blade sharp inbetween your visits with the hone that you have bought .. correct ? The strop is used before every shave to align the edge, it doesn't sharpen, it just keeps things where they need to be.

If you add a pasted strop to your geer, that will sharpen the edge some, but you will still need to send your razor for honing once or twice a year. (depending on how often you use it) Keep in mind a pasted strop is not something you use daily, or even weekly. It should only be used occasionally.

5 . lastly if i was to venture into Straight razors , DOVO or Thiers-Issard ( TI i guess for short )
which one is better ? i read the reviews on TI and Dovo , and it seems that TI is the sharpest but the finishing touches not as good as others ... but isn't sharpness the most important aspect of a blade anyway ?

Dovo and TI are both good, but the difference really isn't in sharpness.
The difference is in the feel and look. TI's feel much smoother to me. they can also be a bit tempermental, and I tend to lean towards the styling of the dovos more.

Dovo offers a High carbon steel blade as well as stainless, where TI is only the HCS,

It really comes down to what you are looking for, and what you are willing to do for your blade. I strongly prefer the feel if my Ti's, but they are also notoriously easy to stain/rust, so you have to be very good about drying and storage. The feel of a Dovo isn't as smooth, but they are easier to maintain.

Dovos (and TI's) can be very nice, or very cheap depending on the one you chose. If I was traveling a lot, and there was a chance I would not have time to properly dry my razor, I'd want something in stainless.
If I want an ultra smooth shave, and am not in any hurry, I would reach for a TI. Both will shave equally close, and irritation free.

Keep in mind that this smoother feel that I'm talking about is not something a beginner would notice.
My opinion about TI is that it is a great razor to upgrade to. because it is smooth, and needs proper care, I would say get a vintage, or something inexpensive to learn on, and save the TI for something special. Wait 6 months, use an inexpensive razor off B/S/T, or a Wapi to make your mistakes with. When you think you've mastered your first (or second) straight, then buy yourself a nice middle to high end TI.

anyway , thanks for answering these questions from a newbie

Hi Mark

Welcome to the forum (late I know). Good to see the Gents have already given you some great advice. I hope you enjoy your stay here.

Hi Mark, and welcome to the forum.

It looks like you have had most of your questions answered and the advice has largely been spot on. A few things though....

Originally Posted by Mike_ratliff

2 . with so many different sizes of blades , which one should i start with and why ? 5/8 seems the like the most talked about size . There are a lot of options with size and grind, many people jump into a full hollow because it sounds cool, but I think a wedge or 1/4 is better to learn on.

I would disagree with this. I have only one razor- a Dovo 5/8 Black Star full hollow. Its the only stright i've ever used and have had no major problems. Granted i've never used a wedge or a 1/4, but why fix what isnt broke? There are more important things to note which you have not covered in your questions.

Whichever one you decide to buy, get the best one you can afford. Quality of razor is everything. If you go with a TI or Dovo you cant go wrong. And when you decide which to get, get it honed by one of the honemeisters either from this site or via Lynn at classicshaving.com. I cant stress how important this is. Many companies and ebay sellers will say their razors are honed but there is a difference between factory honing and properly hand-honed. Check for a honemeister in your area. If you need help on this PM me and I can help you find someone.

Best of luck and welcome to the group

thanks guys for all your feed back ..

Mike , i am leaning towards a full hollow , there was a vid that i saw that described what that meant and the guy said that because of the hollow / tapered the way it is , it gives a sharper edge and therefore a better shave .

i was going to buy a Ti but i'm thinking about a Dovo now .. there was a review and some of the guys were saying that there are some good reviews for Tis and there are some bad reviews for TIs but there are very rarely any bad reviews for the middle to high end Dovos.
which i do concur from reading the razor reviews.

i was thinking about the DOVO Extra Hollow Ground "Singing" Razor, 5/8 South American Violet Wood

do you think that this could be a little much considering it's gonna be my first Straight razor .

i made a similar mistake with my DE and bought a Futur and found later that HD was much much better and suited me far better than the more expensive Futur.
would this extra hollow be too aggresive for a beginner ??

hmmm, just read the end of Mike's post ... about buying an inexpensive razor to start with ...

but that singing razor sure does look good

The razor your referring to is Dovos Prima Klang. I have 1 in redwood and 1 in south american bocote. Same blades as the one your looking at, different scales. The are great razors. Easy to hone. Great shavers. You can't go wrong there. I do have to disagree with full hollow ground razors always being better than 1/4 1/2 or wedge. Good steel is good steel, and regardless of the grind you can make any good steel razor into an excellent shaver. Different grinds do have a different feel to them though. Less grinding produces a heavier razor. Some people find this easier to start off with as they let the weight of the razor do the work for them. Full hollows are very light, and what that means for a beginner is that you have to be very aware of how much pressure your using to shave. It should be very very light. Just enough to guide the razor gently over your skin. If you get any razor burn, its most likely because your using too much pressure. I'd still recommend a cheap wapi for your first razor. Its much nicer to make mistakes with a 50 dollar razor than a 160 dollar one. But if you decide on the Prima Klang, you will definately own a high quality razor.

Only other thing I'll add is a recommendation to buy it from someone that will have it shave ready. Straightrazordesigns sell all their razor honed up and ready to do. Good luck.



Patrick

Originally Posted by travelwell72

i made a similar mistake with my DE and bought a Futur and found later that HD was much much better and suited me far better than the more expensive Futur.
would this extra hollow be too aggresive for a beginner ??

There are differences how different razors feel, and of course there's the aesthetics. You will not be able to tell what you like best until you get fairly proficient with (any) decent razor. Buying a new razor costs more money, but if your budget allows it, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this.
Most people prefer to buy several cheaper razors, which may not be the best lookers, but which will give them an opportunity to decide what kind of blades they like before spending the big $ on a really nice looking razor. In any case I think at first you should first stick to just one, and after a month or two you can try something slightly different.
It's pretty much the sams as the example with your DE razors - how did you know that the HD is better for you than the Futur? You tried them both and found out, somebody else will much prefer the Futur to the HD....
I would start with full hollow.

As far as your hollow being sharper than a stiffer grind, if that's the case it means that the person who does the honing isn't very good at it. It is a bit easier to hone a full hollow, because there's less metal to remove, but properly honed razor should be sharp enough to shave, regardless of the grind.

Mark,

First off, great questions! I'm just starting out as well and learned alot from this post. Similarly, I posted a while back for advice on a beginning razor, leaning towards a nice vintage from SRD, and received this advice:

"I've been drooling over the vintage razors at SRD as well. It's very common when starting out to compromise the razors shaving edge to some degree or another; worst case - chip or ding the edge...not so worst case-bring the edge out of true shave ready status when learning to strop correctly.

I would certainly assume that all razors on SRD are sold shave ready. But, because of the fairly high probability of reducing a shave ready edge to something less acceptable when starting out, I recommend you either or also post a Want To Buy (WTB) thread in the Buy Sell Trade forum here asking for an inexpensive SHAVE READY razor. That way you have two if you decide to buy one from SRD.

My intent is not to discourage you or set you up to assume you're going to compromise your edges. You may very well be OK. But, it doesn't take much for a straight razor edge to go from keen to something else. Sometimes it's just incorrect stropping and a very good, proper and thorough stropping brings a shave ready razor back. Having more than one razor to start keeps you shaving if one, for whatever reason is out until the problem is fixed.

Chris L"

Hope I helped!

Very Respectfully,
Scott