sharpness & ATG Shave

[mouscacha]

I've been shaving with a DOVO razor from straight razor designs, and have a few questions.

1.) The razor came in saying it was honed, and just needed a strop to remove any burs and what-nots. Has anyone had experiences with honed razors from here? Are these run through a quick pass, or really sharp

Question 1 leads into question 2.
2.) I'm pretty sure my stropping technique has changed from the start. In the beginning I could have rounded the blade somewhat. Should I get the blade re-honed even though it's only been a couple weeks since I started, or should I keep practicing? I'm sure my stropping will continue to change, but I just can't get the blade to be REALLY sharp. I have tried the hanging hair test, and it is NOT that sharp...

Which leads me into my final question.
3.) While doing an ATG pass, my blade tends to skip over my beard hairs somewhat. I'm thinking this could be a sharpness problem, but the "finer" hairs seem to get loped off pretty easily. Is this why people use conditioner on their beard hairs?

 

[holli4pirating]

I've been shaving with a DOVO razor from straight razor designs, and have a few questions.

1.) The razor came in saying it was honed, and just needed a strop to remove any burs and what-nots. Has anyone had experiences with honed razors from here? Are these run through a quick pass, or really sharp

It said what now? Can you please quote exactly what it says. I do not believe that a razor from SRD would say in the instructions that burs need to be removed. Wipe off the oil, strop (if you know how - if you don't than don't strop), and shave. If I'm not mistaken, Lynn hones every razor that SRD sells, and, as far as I am concerned, he is the first and last word in honing.

Question 1 leads into question 2.
2.) I'm pretty sure my stropping technique has changed from the start. In the beginning I could have rounded the blade somewhat. Should I get the blade re-honed even though it's only been a couple weeks since I started, or should I keep practicing? I'm sure my stropping will continue to change, but I just can't get the blade to be REALLY sharp. I have tried the hanging hair test, and it is NOT that sharp...

If you think you have damaged the edge, have it rehoned. Any time you are not sure of the sharpness, especially when new, you should have the blade rehoned by someone you trust. Otherwise, the edge will be an unknown/variable, and the goal is to eliminate as many of those as possible so you can focus on your shaving technique.

Which leads me into my final question.
3.) While doing an ATG pass, my blade tends to skip over my beard hairs somewhat. I'm thinking this could be a sharpness problem, but the "finer" hairs seem to get loped off pretty easily. Is this why people use conditioner on their beard hairs?

If you think it is sharpness, have the blade rehoned. It is very possible that you damaged the edge with poor stropping or poor shaving technique. That said, I wouldn't suggest shaving ATG until you are comfortable with your stropping, prep, WTG, and XTG techniques. When you go ATG, you have another learning curve to climb.

 

[mouscacha]

First off, excuse my reiteration of what was stated on the razor. I'm not really sure.

Thank you very much for the explanation and verification to my thoughts. I'll probably need to buy another straight before I send this one to get honed.

Seems there is much to be learned!