Thread: Hello everyone! And a few newbie questions...

Hello everyone! I have been lurking here for a short while, and thought it time to say hello and ask a few "newbie" questions...

So, my straight razor shaving journey began about a week ago, with a couple of initial purchases, and some mistakes to go along with them. My first shave was with a straight sporting a disposable blade. This turned out to be, well, not so good for me or my face. (I think some lessons just have to be learned the hard way.) I wised up a bit and got a sight unseen from Whipped Dog. This "real" razor worked out much better, and by the end of the week I was getting shaves that I consider to be quite good with minimal blood loss. My enjoyment was also significantly better with this new razor. I am using a bay rum and witch hazel pre/post shave lotion that seems to be doing well for me.

So, that's the story so far, now on to the questions...

I have also purchased a Wade and Butcher Special that is in excellent condition. I sterilized and cleaned it, ran it over my strop, and it seems to be ready to shave with just like that. Is it likely that I don't need to have this honed? (Honing is an area I am not ready to tackle just yet.)

My stropping technique continues to improve, but in a fit of overconfidence and speed, I stropped with the razor facing the wrong way, slicing the leather. (I'm somewhat embarrassed to say that a pint of home brew was a major contributor to this incident.) Is it safe to continue using this same leather, or will it hurt my blades due to the inconsistencies?

Finally, I have a Dovo on order which should arrive today. Will this need honing before use, or should I expect to just strop and go?

Thanks, and I hope to meet a bunch of you around here in the future.

- Rod

How bad is the damage? If you left a tag sticking up on the edge it can probably just be trimmed off

There were three tags standing up which I trimmed off. There is also an area of about a square inch where the top layer of leather is missing. I was concerned that the uneven surface might produce I'll effects on my blades. Perhaps I shouldn't worry about that? Thanks!

Rodney, as has often been lamented in the hallowed halls of these forums, friends don't let friends strop drunk! I should know, I'm addicted to stropping!!
Re: your W&B, you could try to shave w/it as is just to gauge its current condition -- I probably would do so just for grins and giggles. At least you could compare it to your whippeddog razor, which you received as a truly shave ready razor.
As far as your Dove, from whom did you purchase it? The seller actually has a lot to do with whether or not it is indeed shave ready. For example, if you bought it from SRD, it really is shave ready. Other sellers may not have so prepared it for you.
See you in the trenches, buddy!

If you post a photo of the strop we may be able to suggest how to fix it. I suspect that generally, in reality, the average straight shaver doesn't have a LOT of experience in repairing nicked strops. I certainly don't, I've only nicked mine thee times; only once requiring a sanding. I've been SR shaving for only one year, but that's still a lot of stropping. I'm about to buy a good strop only now, though my Dovo strop wasn't cheap.

Welcome, Rodney. Since we use an X-stroke in stropping, your blade won't always pass over the same faulty spots. But let this be a lesson, don't drop strunk!

Thanks to everyone for the words of advice. I'll chalk this up to a lesson learned. I have ordered a new strop, as the sheer amount of trauma that this one suffered has rendered it less than acceptable to me. Onward!