Cut Throat Advice

Martin Walker

Hey all.

My better half got me a very nice Dovo Astrale Ebony for my 30th Birthday!
So im looking some hints. Basically im a Barber and have been using an open blade for quite some time. However because of the health and safety regulations ive only ever used disposable "feather" blades. Now that i have my own Blade i want to learn how to keep it properly. So advice on strops and how/ when to sharpen things would be great.
Thanks.

hitemfrank

Pick yourself up a cheap strop to begin with as you willl more than likely cut it a fair amount when you are just starting out. I have this one and it's a nice strop.

Once you get proficient enough at stropping to not cut it you can get something nicer.

When to sharpen the razor will depend on a few things. How heavy your beard is, how good your technique is and how good your stropping is (among some other things). It can be easy to roll the edge when you are stropping and this will dull the razor. It will get to a point where it just doesn't feel right when cutting the stubble.

To begin with the razor will only need a touch up with sharpening paste or on a barbers hone. You could also get The Poor Mans Strop Kit from whipppeddog.com as it has a strop and some sharpening pastes. He also sells barber hones. Eventually pastes and a barbers hone won't be enough and the razor will need a rehone. You can send it out to have someone do it for you or you could invest in some hones and do it yourself.


Do some reading before you get started shaving with it. Here are two links that should be useful. Straight razors Straight razor shaving

If you've any more questions ask away and I'll do my best answering them. There is definitely one other straight razor shaver here so he may offer some advice too.

MadsL

One more straight razor wiki/forum that is amazing is:

Straight Razor Place