New to the straights and would like some advice

[DoubleB]

Hey guys,

Yesterday my granddad gave me an old straight which I would like to restore. I found the tutorials on here and am on my way. Decided to let it sharpen by a honemeister since it is really dull.
This whole thing gave me the idea to start straight shaving! I'm thinking of buying a 5/8 DOVO and a strop.

I do have some questions about maintaning the razor.
The strop, is it essential to buy one with both leather and canvas? And does it needs yellow pasting?
Next, a hone. I know that I will not have to hone for a couple of months with a new razor, but do I need a hone next to a strop?

I have been DE shaving for some time now, but understand this is a whole new thing. Will keep you guys updated!

 

[Luc]

My recommendation would be to get a second hand shave ready straight, it will be cheaper than buying a brand new Dovo. If you don't like it, you didn't spend too much.

For the strop, buy a cheaper strop at first because you will nick the strop. If you nick a nice >$100 strop, it's a bit heartbreaking... You do not need a leather/canvas strop absolutely. You can get away with only leather. My observations were that canvas/leather maintains the razor sharper longer. As for the pastes, you could use them, I never do.

Hone, before you buy them, you need to stop and think on how you want to hone. Do you want to maintain the edge of your straight only or you want to be able to hone a razor that needs bevel reset? My suggestion would be to have a few straights honed by different people and ask them what they used. You might end up buying a simple barber hone. Some are very happy with those.

This page might help: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Straight_Razor_FAQs

 

[Shangas]

BRAND NEW straight-razors cost a freaking fortune. I doubt I would ever buy one.

A good-quality, shave-ready second-hand razor costs a fraction of that. And a razor that you can buy second hand and hone yourself costs even less (but don't do that until you're a bit more experienced).

It is not necessary to get a super-duper fancy strop. A good bit of leather is all you need.

 

[Legion]

+1 to a shave ready vintage straight.

A beginners type strop without canvas will do the job for you.

And if your razor is professionally honed you can keep it that way with CrO on balsa for a long time, as long as you don't have an accident.

 

[DoubleB]

Thanks guys, I will not buy a brand new razor but will look for a decent second hand razor!

Just a small question about the pastes.
The Dovo pastes come in multiple colors. Green, red and black are said to be sharpening pastes, to use on a paddle or hanging strop to sharpen the razor, instead of honing it.
The yellow paste is said to maintain the leather of your everyday use strop and has no grit and thus no sharpening qualities.
Is there really a value in pasting your everyday strop with yellow paste to maintain the leather or not?

 

[Brent]

Is there really a value in pasting your everyday strop with yellow paste to maintain the leather or not?

I've seen that you can just rub the strop daily with your hands and the oil from your hands will take care of it. I've been doing this the past few weeks since I've started and it seems fine. I think the same advice above applies here. You're getting a vintage in case you don't like it, use your palms instead of Paying for the paste for the same reason.

 

[Utopian]

If you feel any sort of sentimentality for it, then don't use your grandfather's razor even once until you are confident that you have figured out every possible way to destroy a straight razor. Practice with one you don't care about, and only pull out your grandfather's razor until at least a few months have gone by.

 

[NewBlader]

BRAND NEW straight-razors cost a freaking fortune. I doubt I would ever buy one.

No, not at all! You can get a brand-new shave-ready DOVO 5/8 for about $80 from some on-line stores. Amazon.com has them (albeit not professionally honed) for about $70. Brand new!

I've never bought a vintage blade but they seem to be popular choices also.

 

[Shangas]

Some of the online stores I've seen sell brand new razors for scary prices. I stick to vintage!

 

[DoubleB]

Thanks guys, got me a decent looking straight razor off the internet for 10 bucks. Only needs some polishing and ofcourse honing. Now I'm looking for a strop. To be continued!

 

[Luc]

Thanks guys, got me a decent looking straight razor off the internet for 10 bucks. Only needs some polishing and ofcourse honing. Now I'm looking for a strop. To be continued!

$10 straight? Is it a gold dollar?