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Acquiring a true "Shave Ready" Razor

Hey everybody! I'm fairly certain I'm asking a Question/Questions that has been answered in the past, so I apologize in advanced :)

With that out of the way. Recently I have started putting together some kit for SR shaving, I have a Tony Miller leather strop coming this week as well as materials to make some balsa strops as that seems to be the best method of maintaining a sharp edge. So now the only thing left is the Straight Razor, I actually bought an entry level DOVO from Razor Emporium not too long ago that claimed to be "Shave Ready" However, after a couple of shaves with it I don't really think it was as it pulled and tugged like crazy. No dirt on Razor Emporium though as it definitely could have been (probably was) my technique, and the content they provide is very helpful.

Anyway, from what I have gathered on this forum and others is that a nice vintage razor with a Shave Ready edge from a trustworthy Honemeister is to be the best way of getting into SR shaving. Ideally something under or around $100 as I'm sure my shaving technique needs some work, and if/when it needs honing not too much is on the line. I can move onto the fancy razors when I get the basics down. What's a good way to go about getting a razor like this? I've searched through some of the vendors on the Honemeister thread and they have some good offerings (although a bit pricey). And I scour Ebay looking at razors, I know the term "Shave Ready" is thrown around pretty loosely on there, but can you get a proper shave ready razor from the old Ebay? I've seen some listings that seem trustworthy and provide nice pictures and descriptions as well as how and with what the razor was honed, I'm assuming these are probably a safe bet. Any feedback and/or recommendations are greatly appreciated, I look forward to hearing from you all!
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
As well as a set of diamond pasted balsa strops, also put together a lapping film setup. That shouldn't cost much more than about USD 50 and should be good to hone up your first 50 or more straight razors.
 

Legion

Staff member
I have bought dozens of "shave ready" razors off ebay, and none of them were.

Of course there a degrees to it, and I might be a bit picky, but usually the sellers use the term to get hits, without any real understanding what it actually means.

My first shave ready razor came from a member here, who had it honed by a professional. I am very glad I had that as my starting reference point.
 

Steve56

Ask me about shaving naked!
Probably the best route if you want to keep prices in check is to buy a decent common razor on eBay, with a sound edge, IOW no chips or frowns, and with little wear, and have it honed. Avoid the rust buckets too.

Where are you located?
 
Knowing your location would be a big help.
Probably the best route if you want to keep prices in check is to buy a decent common razor on eBay, with a sound edge, IOW no chips or frowns, and with little wear, and have it honed. Avoid the rust buckets too.

Where are you located?
Hot and humid North Carolina U.S.A

I think having one honed up is the best route, the only problem is once I receive it in the mail I don't know if I have the willpower to send it off again. My impatience would have me camping next to the mailbox :)

As per @rbscebu I will also be acquiring some lapping films in the near future, honing is a whole other skill I'm excited to learn.
 
I’m ‘next door’ in Tennessee, be glad to give you an edge for return postage.

Once again, a very generous offer from a well known and respected Hone-Meister.

Well, that's an offer I can't say no to

I concur. Steve has tackled an edge for me that I struggled with and I've been honing for years. You will receive a true, shave ready edge from Steve. That I can put my money on.
 
Get a straight from @zon..., one that uses feather/kai blades and try it/them out.....this is a sharp edge for sure....you can learn with it.....
 
If you decide to purchase another razor at some point I recommend either the Dovo Bismarck or the Barbarossa. They’re both soulderless razors so there’s no shoulder or stabilizer to deal with when it comes to honing provided there’s no underlying geometry concerns.
 
If you decide to purchase another razor at some point I recommend either the Dovo Bismarck or the Barbarossa. They’re both soulderless razors so there’s no shoulder or stabilizer to deal with when it comes to honing provided there’s no underlying geometry concerns.
I have my eye on both of those, I think my next razor will be the Bismarck from TSS. Gonna get the basics down first before I start playing with higher end blades
 
I actually bought an entry level DOVO from Razor Emporium not too long ago that claimed to be "Shave Ready" However, after a couple of shaves with it I don't really think it was as it pulled and tugged like crazy. No dirt on Razor Emporium though as it definitely could have been (probably was) my technique, and the content they provide is very helpful.

It is probably a case of your Dovo being sent not shave ready, as my first traditional SR is Razoremporium's entry level Gold Dollar razor which also arrived with a blunt edge, thus requiring me to learn how to hone much sooner than I expected. I'm not complaining about Razoremporium as their Honemeister must have a lot of razors on his "to do" pile, thus can't afford to spend the time required to get every one of them sharp enough to pass a hht test on at least 6 points across the blades lengh*.

On the plus side other than the fact that it arrived blunt, my Gold Dollar is a beautiful Razor with no geometry issues that once made shave ready, now routinely provides excellent shaves.

I recommend that you get yourself some stones and use that dovo to learn how to hone, while you learn how to shave with that Vintage Sr.

*that btw is my standard of shave Ready
 
My first straight was a “shave ready” vintage from Razor Emporium. My hats off to them for offering the vintage option, but I agree, it was not a great edge. There are some eBay vendors where I have bought “shave ready” and quite happily shaved with them half a dozen times. Maybe I’m just really inefficient, but for me honing is a multi-hour activity, so I’m not at all surprised that people that do it for a living (e.g. at factories like Dovo) rarely seem to do a good job of it. Though some of that is that I’m mostly honing eBay beaters where 60-80% of the time is spent just trying to find clean steel for the bevel set.
 
On eBay, "shave ready" seems to mean "yes, this is a razor."
Ahahahaha, this doesn't seem too far off. I did manage to find a blade from a member on SRP, a nice old DOVO. Waiting for some Acrylic from TAP Plastics to make some Balsa Strops and I will be on my way. Thanks all for the suggestions!
 
On eBay, "shave ready" seems to mean "yes, this is a razor."

Looks legit ...

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