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Ouch!

Hello there, and thank you all for hosting and posting this helpfull site. :001_smile

Well I am new to wet shaving, I picked up a new straight razor last week. YAY me!
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:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

Anyway, for some reason my new razor is intent on hurting me. I have read and reread several instructional sites on wet shaving and am following most of them to the T. I am following all the pre-shave prep and stropping instructions. I am currently using Williams shaving soap although I just recently placed an order for Portugese Musgo as it came highly rated from another website.

What I am having trouble with is I can't seem to shave any more than a half inch or so at a time. It is alot more painful than I expect it should be and no where as effective as it should be. Quite often it requires multiple (read close to a dozen) strokes over the same area to get all the hair. :eek: The effect of this leaves my face raw and is causing a acne breakout of sorts. As well as leaves stubble in certain areas.

I am shaving at roughly 30 degrees, though I find 45 degrees to be slightly more efficient. I do have rather hard to shave hairs (mach III blades last 1 maybe 2 sessions at the most). But I find this rediculously painful and tedius. It takes roughly 30-45 minutes to shave (not including prep).

My guess is that I am not stropping correctly and the blade is not being sharpened enough (this is due to a surprising lack of blood for a begginer). However I am following all the instructions I have read so far and can not for the life of me understand what I am doing incorrect. :frown: Do new blades need to be stone sharpened or professionally honed before use?

Any hints, tips, comments or advice would be greatly apreciated. Thank you.
 
Unless you specifically ordered it that way, I am pretty sure that your razor didn't come shave ready.

+1

I have seen some dovos that are dull even by pocket knife standards at the cigar shop I frequent.

I would suggest you send it off, or try out honing for yourself.
 
Wow, thats a beautiful razor. Your story sounds too familiar. DOVO razors don't come shave-ready (like most other razors out of the factory). They might have something of a bevel, or they might have been honed against a coticule stone (which is a polishing stone) but that just isn't enough. This was the case with my first Dovo razor. You either send the razor out to a honemeister or DIY. Best is to create a bevel on a Norton 4000/8000 grit waterstone, then polish it with a higher grit stone like a Coticule, then stropping it. You can see if a razor is ready when it cuts hairs on your arm (without scraping the razor over your skin!)
 
straights scare me :bored:
I've heard someone say: If you can lather up a balloon and shave off all the cream without bursting the balloon, then try it on your face. :001_smile

Of course if the blade is blunt then that's no challenge anyway, so it's only difficult if it's a sharp straight :lol:
 
I don't think shaving a balloon is a good comparison. If the blade should cut skin, our heads don't collapse with a flubbery whistling sound.
I know. I've cut a bunch of guys on the face to see if their heads deflated. They tend to kick you over and over again while hooting in rage.
 
Thank you all so much for your input. I went back to the store and they offered to sharpen it for free since I bought it there. They were under the impression that either they should come shave ready or they should have offered to sharpen it prior to sale. So all is well as long as they do a proper job honing it. :biggrin:

Now I just got to wait a week to shave. :mad:

Oh well.
 
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