Shavette or Straight razor - First time

designbydan

Hi all,

The gf was asking me what I wanted for my birthday the other day as it's coming up soon, I've wanted a straight razor for a while but I'm unsure if a shavette or a proper straight razor would be better for starting off.

I'm also conscious about the price, as neither of us are rolling in cash right now and she's not exactly in love with the idea either, thinks I'm going to slice my neck open, So I highly doubt she's willing to pay hundreds for what she thinks is a hospital trip. ...

From browsing on this forum I've seen that you can order a straight razor that's already honed along with a strop for around 130 USD , which seems like an ok price if I was buying it for myself, but I'm not.

But the Shavette seems to only cost around the 40-50 mark. which is more reasonable,
But is the shave worse and would it be a waste in the long run?
Or is it better to start out with a Shavette and learn the skill of shaving properly with it then move onto learning about honing razors and get the more expensive option later.

Bit lost on the whole thing as everyone I know uses Mach 3 razors or some equivalent.

One last thing, I'm not sure if it makes a difference to the choice, but my beard is very course, and I don't shave every morning. I have a (longish) goatee, about 3" from my chin. So would only be shaving the sides of my face and my neck


Any help would be , helpful

uncle_sam_ie

I've been looking into this my self. The consensus from what I've been reading is that your better off not going with a shavette because it's not the same. I was also put onto this website as a cheap place to get all the gear I'd need, http://whippeddog.com/ . I've been using a DE razor for a few months and it's taken me a while to get the hang of it. Going to straight would take it too the next level. The work that's involved keeping it sharp with stropping and Honing is what's putting me off the whole thing. There is a lot of maintenance that comes with shaving with a straight razors.

hitemfrank

Maintaining a straight razors edge is not really that difficult. With a flat surface and a sheet of lapping film (1 micron or 0.3 micron) you can pretty much be set for life as long as the edge doesn't degrade too far or you damage it.

Learning to hone from scratch is what is likely to be the biggest barrier for new people thinking of trying it out. There are a large number of different ways to hone a razor and it can get very expensive depending on what route you take.

Vote 4 Pedro

I also wanted a straight but i was put off by the overall cost so i bought a Dovo Shavette instead at around €30.
I thought it's basically the same so i'll give it a go.
This was a mistake as it's very unforgiving and totally different than what i was expecting it to be,
I've been using a DE for over a year now without any trouble at all, not even a nick and i would consider it a very easy indeed,
but the shavette is totally different altogether.
Maybe it's just me but i cannot seem to master it and i wish i'd have gone straight to the straight or not bothered at all.
I'll stick with the DE from now on, it works well and i doubt i could improve the quality of the shave much anyway.

tunney

I was in a similar position some time ago. I bought a Parker shavette and butchered my face for a few months until I could get a reasonable shave with one. I found I could get badly irritated though. So I got a Thiers-Issard straight. I found the techique needed to change a little but most of the skills where already there.

I now don't use the shavette and have bought a DE for week days and keep the straight for treats.

Just my experience, whether its useful or not who knows

hitemfrank

From what I've read about them, shavettes are very unforgiving. They don't provide enough feedback to you that you're about to cut yourself apparently.

With a straight razor I've found that normally you get some indication that you're about to cut yourself so you can adjust or stop you are doing before anything bad happens.

I kinda want to try out a shavette to see just how different they are but I don't really want to buy something I'm probably just going to use once or twice.

Vote 4 Pedro

hitemfrank wrote: »

I kinda want to try out a shavette to see just how different they are but I don't really want to buy something I'm probably just going to use once or twice.

I'll send you mine if you would like to try it out as you were very good letting me your injector razor,

hitemfrank

Vote 4 Pedro wrote: »

I'll send you mine if you would like to try it out as you were very good letting me your injector razor,

Yeah, sure. Thanks.

Do you still have my address in an old PM or should I PM it to you?

Vote 4 Pedro

hitemfrank wrote: »

Yeah, sure. Thanks.

Do you still have my address in an old PM or should I PM it to you?

PM sent

hitemfrank

MadsL

I've shaved myself and others with both a straight and a shavette. I finally found a good shavette I like without the massive cost of the Feather.

However my advice would be go for a straight. Plenty of reasonably priced partial restores for sale in a shave ready condition.

http://www.whippeddog.com/products/find/straight-razors-1

http://www.ebay.com/sch/tmg1147/m.html?item=251693085502&hash=item3a9a13b33e&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

designbydan

Thanks for all the info and advice guys, Madsl thanks for that ebay link,

I think I'll just straight out ask the better half to buy one of those blades, It means I get the type I really want without her breaking the bank, I can buy the rest of the supplies myself then.

I love the look of the Clauss Shear CO. Acorn Scales that is on the list.

Does anybody know if this would this be a good blade for a beginner? I'm guessing the rounded edge might be slightly more forgiving than other more blades with angled corners. .

But I may just be telling myself that because I really like how it looks .

Again thanks for the advice,

hitemfrank

designbydan wrote: »

Thanks for all the info and advice guys, Madsl thanks for that ebay link,

I think I'll just straight out ask the better half to buy one of those blades, It means I get the type I really want without her breaking the bank, I can buy the rest of the supplies myself then.

I love the look of the Clauss Shear CO. Acorn Scales that is on the list.

Does anybody know if this would this be a good blade for a beginner? I'm guessing the rounded edge might be slightly more forgiving than other more blades with angled corners. .

But I may just be telling myself that because I really like how it looks .

Again thanks for the advice,

The rounded tip will be more forgiving than than a square tip. That's the shape of blade that is normally recommend for people starting with straight razors.

Gran Hermano

The usual recommendation for starting out is a round point and 5/8 hollow grind.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_razor#Point_type

I have also found it easier to nick myself when using a shavette than when using a straight.

uncle_sam_ie

Gran Hermano wrote: »

The usual recommendation for starting out is a round point and 5/8 hollow grind.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_razor#Point_type

I have also found it easier to nick myself when using a shavette than when using a straight.

How long can you go with a straight until it need honeing?

hitemfrank

uncle_sam_ie wrote: »

How long can you go with a straight until it need honeing?

It depends. The angle you shave at, how you strop the razor, how coarse your beard is and some other stuff will cause the edge to degrade at a different rate than someone else.

Once you've noticed a change in how the razor feels, it just needs a very minor touch up of the edge. If you stay on top of this and don't let the edge degrade too much, just a touch up should be all it will ever need (just needs to be done often).

If the edge degrades too far it will need a bit more work but shouldn't really need a full rehone. A full rehone is normally only needed if the edge gets damaged or complely ruined.

Gran Hermano

Thanks HeF, as always will leave the honing/straight advice to those of you with vastly more experience than I.
I've used both shavettes and straights for a while in the past and found the straights easier to use.
I just don't have the inclinations to maintain them for daily usage, unfortunately.

A friend of mine who's used a wide variety of DE, SE razors and shavettes is very happy with his feather artist club 'shavette'. I haven't tried one and I think they're expensive for what they are but some people seem to like them for both performance and ease of maintenance.

hitemfrank

The Feather shavettes always seem to get good praise but I've always thought they seemed expensive.

There is a much cheaper version that pops up on ebay every now and then for about 40 quid. It's branded somthing like CJB. They get pretty good reviews but don't come up often

hitemfrank

After using Vote4Pedro's shavette for a week I thought I should post my impression of it.

It was a Dovo shavette for those wondering. First off, it's really light. Like, feels like a toy light. That's the only main fault I have with it. Using it was really easy as I'm used to using a straight razor. I could see those not used to using a straight razor using too much pressure quite easily.

I tried using both the long blades designed for shavettes and a half DE blade. The half DE blade was sharper than the other blade but felt slightly awkward compared to the long blade.

Overall it was good but I would still personally suggest a real straight as opposed to a shavette for those interested. But for those not wanting the upkeep of a straight a shavette will give a pretty good shave with some ease once you get used to using it. Just really pay attention to using little to no pressure.


Thanks for loaning me the razor for the last week V4P.

Gran Hermano

Cheap as chips
http://www.banggood.com/Stainless-Steel-Barber-Razor-Folding-Knife-Shaver-With-10-Pcs-Blades-p-956778.html

Anyone feeling brave?

hitemfrank

The brave part of that is obviously using the Dorco blade.....

Actually looks like it would be just fine. Probably really light but shouldn't be too much of an issue really. That said I still don't want it, even for $3.19

Ryath

tunney wrote: »

I was in a similar position some time ago. I bought a Parker shavette and butchered my face for a few months until I could get a reasonable shave with one. I found I could get badly irritated though. So I got a Thiers-Issard straight. I found the techique needed to change a little but most of the skills where already there.

I now don't use the shavette and have bought a DE for week days and keep the straight for treats.

Just my experience, whether its useful or not who knows

This is going to seem a strange question to those who don't frequent the Triathlon or Cycling forum. About to take the plunge and get a DE and was just wondering which do you find best for shaving the legs? Don't have the money for a straight at the minute is the shavette any good for them or would you stick with the DE?

Gran Hermano

Ryath wrote: »

This is going to seem a strange question to those who don't frequent the Triathlon or Cycling forum. About to take the plunge and get a DE and was just wondering which do you find best for shaving the legs? Don't have the money for a straight at the minute is the shavette any good for them or would you stick with the DE?

Can't speak from a personal experienced re: the lkegs but would imagine a DE would be your best bet.

Gillette even offered a suitable model in the 60's and 70s
http://mr-razor.com/Rasierer/One-Piece%20solid%20guard%20bar/1973%20(T1)%20Lady%20Gillette%20Blue.jpg

designbydan

Hey guys, just posting an update on here, Yesterday I was given this guy



I can't wait to start using it, although I'm pretty nervous if I'm honest.

I was given a voucher for a hot towel shave in the Waldorf in town, so I think I'll use that and hopefully get an idea of how the razor should feel on my skin before trying it myself.

The razor came shave ready but I need to buy a strop so if anybody knows a place I can have a look at them rather than just buy online that'd be great.

One question though, the blade is oiled slightly, I assume to stop it from rusting? Should I wipe off the oil before using it or keep it on there?

hitemfrank

Looks like decent razor you got there. Wipe the oil off before you use it. It's just a protective coating as you thought. Just don't store the razor in the bathroom or anywhere else humid and you should be fine.

Knights Barber shop in Stephens Green have strops you can look at.

Also don't be surprised if the razor isn't really shave ready. Many brand new razors leave the factory with a sharp edge but not one comfortable for shaving with.