My First 2 Shaves with Dovo Pearlex

Use a straight. You know it makes sense.
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Esoteric83
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Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:16 am
Location: Ottawa, Ontario

My First 2 Shaves with Dovo Pearlex

Post by Esoteric83 »

OK, so I got the blade & strop from Jim at Vintage Blades on Tuesday. Excellent vendor BTW - Great communication & the razor was at my door in under a week. Needless to say he's got another loyal customer in the works.

So, Wednesday morning - I did a couple passes on the linen side of the strop to get the feel of it. The razor came honed by Lynn Abrams, so lord know it was SHARP enough. Then I did maybe 10 passes on the leather side - I was kinda all over the place and wasn't really counting out of nervous anticipation.

Anyway to the shave...I did have to work that morning so time was kinda limited and I was really under doing the angle of the blade which was my first mistake. I started on the side burns and side of the face. Needless to say I was having tons of trouble keeping a flush & proper angle while navigating the blade. I did a couple areas of my neck and cheeks before I broke out my Futur and made my way to work.

With what I learned from my mistakes the first attempt and another read of Chris Moss' guide, I just finished what I will classify as my first TRUE straight shave. By that I mean I actually looked like I shaved, despite some stubble on the chin area.

Anyway, tonight I lathered some T&H soap & did 10 linen passes and 20 on the leather. I was also very careful to keep a 30 degree angle - This made the world of difference.

My dexterity still sucks and my left side of the face was tricky but I pulled it off with minimal stubble and no burn at all. The right side of my face was smooth and my jaw-line and side chin weren't BBS but presentable.

Surprisingly, my entire neck up to the jaw-line was as close and smooth as I've ever shaved with my Futur - Adams apple included. I even pulled off an ATG pass with no blood.

My chin was the hardest part, especially directly underneath and down. My upper lip was OK although I took it very easy and can still feel some stubble.

Moving forward, areas that I need to work on are using my left hand, skin stretching and maintaining a general flow of the shave.

My rant for the night...Spritzed on some Hammam Bouquet and feel pretty good.

Cheers!
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kaptain_zero
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Post by kaptain_zero »

Well done! It sounds like things went quite smooth for you, much better than my first few shaves until I finally got a shaving sharp straight.

The left hand thing will take a little time to get comfortable with and some simply don't bother as they can manage with the right hand only.

I've finally learned not to be so obsessive about getting everything bbs. Lord knows it makes no difference for my appearence and when I do go out of my way to get everything perfect, I end up not having to shave the next day because there's hardly anything there, so now I just do a nice 2 pass shave and that way I get to shave again the next day.

Christian
Previously lost, on the way to the pasture. Now pasteurized.
sebell
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Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 10:59 pm
Location: Calgary, AB

Post by sebell »

Well done indeed. I actually have the Dovo #41 Stain-
less in a pearlex handle as my daily shaver. Do stick
with the straight, and with patience and a lot of trial
and error, you will be able to achieve the ultimate in
shaving comfort and closeness.

Good luck!

- Scott
Esoteric83
Posts: 702
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:16 am
Location: Ottawa, Ontario

Post by Esoteric83 »

Thanks guys, this was definitely the confidence booster that I needed. I think I am going to experiment using my right hand only, leading with the point closest to my ear on the sideburn area. I also find it easier to see what I'm doing as well.

Question for the chin, should I be using the portion of the blade closest to the heel or the point?
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kaptain_zero
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Post by kaptain_zero »

Esoteric83 wrote: Question for the chin, should I be using the portion of the blade closest to the heel or the point?
I tend to use the point and center portion of the blade myself but it really depends on what is most comfortable/secure for you. It also depends a bit on the size and shape of your blade and of course your chin! :lol:

The heel of the blade with it's rounded end can get into hollows quite well but so can a round point.. I have to stay away from true spikes as they just don't work for my face... I need a slightly rounded tip (square points work fine, french points even better) so I can *dig* into some intricate areas on my face.

I guess what I'm saying is that you will just have to try different things and see how they work for you, there is no right or wrong.... it's more like either it works great or "Damn, I shouldn't have done that!" :twisted: Remember, if it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't!


Regards

Christian
Previously lost, on the way to the pasture. Now pasteurized.
Esoteric83
Posts: 702
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:16 am
Location: Ottawa, Ontario

Post by Esoteric83 »

Ok, 3rd shave went pretty except for one slip-up of darwinian proportion...Oh well, chicks dig scars I guess 8)

Not that bad, but nicked my self pretty good on a sideways pass. styptic pen cleared it up nice and good.

Aside from that the chin went much better today. I primarily used the center of the blade to the point for my chin area with very small strokes to keep the blade flush around the round areas.

The right side of my face, along with my neck are coming along very well. The chin is slowly coming along. I'm still having trouble with my left side, especially closest to my ear/sideburns. I'm going to keep working on using my left hand as it feel the most natural, despite the fact I need some work.
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kaptain_zero
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Post by kaptain_zero »

Esoteric83 wrote:Ok, 3rd shave went pretty except for one slip-up of darwinian proportion...Oh well, chicks dig scars I guess 8)
Err.... don't forget to keep some recent photos of yourself at the ready should you need to take an otherwise unscheduled trip to the ER! :shock:

Yes, a straight soon reminds you to pay attention if you start daydreaming... and no, I won't tell you how I know that!

Sounds like you're off to a stellar start and before you know it, you'll wonder what all the fuss was about in the first place.

Christian
Previously lost, on the way to the pasture. Now pasteurized.
Esoteric83
Posts: 702
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:16 am
Location: Ottawa, Ontario

Post by Esoteric83 »

I do have a stropping question for you guys. Is it OK to strop the night before or does stropping right before the shave have more of an effect?
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Squire
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Post by Squire »

Before.
Regards,
Squire
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kaptain_zero
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Post by kaptain_zero »

When to strop is your choice. Some of us prefer to lather up and then strop, just to have something to do while the lather soaks in. I've done it both ways and it makes no difference.

Christian
Previously lost, on the way to the pasture. Now pasteurized.
Esoteric83
Posts: 702
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:16 am
Location: Ottawa, Ontario

Post by Esoteric83 »

Ok, been making several improvements over the past couple weeks. Shaves I'm getting now are comparable to what I get with a DE when rushed.

First off, my dexterity has improved 10 fold but I'm still a tad shaky with my left hand.

Chin is getting better, but I still need work. My XTG pass along the jaw-line, which gave me nightmares at first, is actually a strong point of the shave along with my neck.

Now to the next stage, maintenance! The razor came stropped by Lynn and I'll run 20-30 laps on the linen and 30-40 on the leather before each shave.

For blade maintenance I'm thinking the paddle/paste method will be best option for now. I'm most likely going to buy the 3" wide TI paddle from Classic, but I'm not sure about what pastes to buy along with it.

Any thoughts? I think this is going to become quite the habit!![/i]
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kaptain_zero
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Post by kaptain_zero »

For maintenance as long as the blade hasn't gone too far dull I'd suggest chromium oxide. It's also a great final polish after honing up a razor. If I may be so bold, I would suggest instead a 4 sided paddle strop from Tony Miller if you are going that the pasted strop route. Now, understand that I do not have one of these, I only use a home made single sided pasted paddle strop and a hanging pasted paddle strop, both with chromium oxide and if my blade needs more, I'll go to a Swaty barbers hone and that's usually all it takes for me. Swaty hones are getting a bit pricey and there are others out there but I don't really know enough about them to suggest what to look for. If I were looking for a barber hone today, I'd probably go to www.theperfectedge.com/belgian.shtml and get a smaller belgian coticule from Howard which would serve you very well for years to come. I have a large one myself but still use the little Swaty on a regular basis.

Getting back to paddle strops, Tony could set you up with just about any style and size you can dream up and have them pasted with your choice in diamond pastes/chrome paste. Tony's strops are very well made and come highly recommended by those who use them. Tony can give you better advice as to what pastes to go for and won't try to up sell you just to make a buck. His website is www.thewellshavedgentleman.com but it appears he's a bit under the weather with the flu so his webstore is not open this week. Tony posts here regularly.

In the meantime, if you have not already read the "linen thread", you might want to check that one out. Perhaps boosting the number of laps on the linen to 50 or so might just keep your blade going a bit longer.

Regards

Christian
Previously lost, on the way to the pasture. Now pasteurized.
sebell
Posts: 457
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 10:59 pm
Location: Calgary, AB

Post by sebell »

If you are looking to use pastes to maintain your razor's
edge, look no further than green (chromium oxide) paste.

You can purchase paste from Keith at HandAmerican.com,
or get a pre-pasted from from Tony at:

www.thewellshavedgentleman.com

In my experience this applies an extremely fine edge to
the razor -- great for maintaining a smooth shaving blade.

Once you get into honing, I would say that a fine (>10k)
hone will deliver all you need for sharpness, and a good
linen strop will keep that blade shave ready for months.

- Scott
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