What's new

stropping and honing

i just ordered a dovo 6/8 as my first straight razor. i am mostly curious about how one maintains the blade. i know i will need a strop, but i'm not quite sure what the paste is for. also, if a buy a strop will i need a sharpening stone as well? i want to get this part right so i don't get discouraged. i know that you folks are probably tired of answering newbie questions, but if figure the sooner i get this out of the way the sooner i'm not a newbie and can start helping others with questions.

oh, and i'm transitioning from a merkur heavy duty so i already have the brush and soap....

thanks again all.
 
I too just got a new dovo straight as a gift and would like info on getting it shave ready. I tried to use it right out of the box and it seemed to hang up on my whiskers. I ve had a few barber straight shaves that seem to just glide on my face.
 
Strops are used for daily maintenance of a razor. Many people use them after shaving (after the razor has been rinsed and wiped clean) to heat the very fine edge and get all of the water out to prevent microscoping rusting.
Before the shave you'll want to strop to align the microscopic serrations (or "teeth") on the fine cutting edge in order to give you a much smoother shave. Paste is generally used on a strop that is not for daily use. Many people use diamond spray or chromium oxide paste on a dedicated strop to touch up a razor, or to give it a super fine edge after honing.
Honing is a wholenother skill in itself. Honing is the actually sharpening of a blades edge and for now should be done by a professional. Many people will buy a cheap razor to practice honing.

Hope this info helps, keep up your research!
 
Once you've got the groove down and have pushed past the pretty steep learning curve, you can use pastes to your taste about once a month and a touch up stone every 3 months.

For me it took quite a while to get there.

If you find yourself shaving and don't think your edge is as sharp as it should be, shoot me a PM.
 
I too just got a new dovo straight as a gift and would like info on getting it shave ready. I tried to use it right out of the box and it seemed to hang up on my whiskers. I ve had a few barber straight shaves that seem to just glide on my face.

Unless specified otherwise by the vendor you purchased it from, a new Dovo is not shave ready from the factory. It's nowhere near sharp enough to shave with from the factory. You will need to immediately send it off to be honed by a professional, before you will be able to use it at all.

i just ordered a dovo 6/8 as my first straight razor. i am mostly curious about how one maintains the blade. i know i will need a strop, but i'm not quite sure what the paste is for.

Your strop is used for daily maintenance of your edge. You either strop before, or after your shave. Stropping realigns the microscopic imperfections of the edge, that are caused by shaving.

A paste (usually the green Chromium Oxide) is used to restore a slightly dulling edge. You strop on the leather coated Chromium Oxide, or Balsa coated Chromium Oxide for about 10-30 passes, and this restores your edge to shave ready sharpness. It should only need to be done once or twice a month (depending on how often you shave).


also, if a buy a strop will i need a sharpening stone as well?

You won't immediately need a stone for sharpening purposes. You should be able to get by for a few months with just your strop, and some Chromium Oxide.

Eventually the edge will be damaged enough (through an eventual rounding of the edge by the Chromium Oxide) that the Chromium Oxide ceases to restore your shave ready edge.

At that point you can send it off for a new professional honing, or you can attempt to restore the edge with a Barber's Hone, or a high grit hone like the Chinese 12K.
 
Last edited:

Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
Welcome to B&B!

What was said up here...

Paste -> Maintain the edge, light honing.
Strop -> Maintain the edge, making it smooth
Hone -> sharpen the edge

You really need a strop to start with and a shave ready straight honed by a honemeister (if the straight is brand new out of the box, do not shave with it).
 
Top Bottom