Ahoy from Melbourne. Questions about first purchase.

A

ajnslng

Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Hey all you clean shaven humans,

I'm tired of using the standard off the shelf disposable Mach3 bollocks. I want something that defines me, something that will last, something I can take pride in. I want a cut-throat razor.
Only thing is, I have no idea what I should pay for one.
I figure what I'll do for my first set is purchase cheap-ish, because I'll no doubt bugger up the edge with sloppy strop technique. So, I want something on the cheaper side from a reputable brand. Once I get some solid form going and decide that I want to continue with the whole thing then I'll drop some serious money and buy a real quality razor and strop.

I've had a poke around and Dovo seems to be respected among others. I found one for $50 from an online shop, would that sound about right?
And what should I pay for a strop? I've seen them go for $100 but I'm not sure I want to spend that much right off the bat. Can any one recommend anything cheaper? Or even where to look?
I've spent an afternoon googling (in between wasting my life on youtube) and it seems there aren't a whole lot of local retailers in Melbourne. So I'm probably going to get most of it online. Any special places I should visit? I did take a peek in the vendors area of the site but didn't have much luck. Everything seemed really expensive or out of stock. Also gonna need a brush and some lather...

Thanks for any and all help in advance.
 
Hello and welcome. Mach 3 to a straight...you're obviously not one to muck around. There are a few straight shavers here who can give you some decent advice. I'm not one of them!
 
Welcome mate!

Sorry cant help re: straight razors.

Have you considered DE?

Anyway someone with some straight experience will be along soon to help!
 
Welcome. Nice to see another Melbourne bloke finally! You're certainly jumping in the deep end going for a straight.
 
Another welcome, from another NON-straight user.

DE and SE for me - much easier than straights (said by somebody who has never tried a straight but knows he would stuff it up!)
 
Well... If you're looking for a traditional straight razor the main thing that you'll need to be concerned with is Sharpness. If you're buying New, the don't really come out of the box Shave Ready. You have to make sure that the place you buy it from can Hone it to be shave ready. (Doing it yourself is another whole book)
Option: Feather Artist Club type razor. The main advantage here for a beginner is that you used Feather disposable blades. You always have a sharp blade to shave with. Buy the Feather Proguard Blades with it. Only the Proguard! Less chance of cutting yourself up and you'll have a very nice experience.
My ideas on straights.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
As a DE shaver who had a crack at straights, it ain't as easy as it looks. I gave up after much frustration.

Simply having a sharp blade doesn't mean it'll be a cinch. DEs are just as sharp. THat's a good place to start and the set up costs and learning is far less.

I do have a nice dovo in the for sale forum if you're interested, but again, I'd suggest not jumping right into it.

As others have said a new straight will NOT be shave ready, so you'll need to send it be sharpened. That isn't something you can do yourself without experience.
 
The straight shave is now the best shave i can get but its been 12 months now and lots of sweat and blood.

I suggest a shavett to start this adventure.

Honing will take a few months to figure out. I have all mine done by myself now and so just need a barbers stone. But i needed to get a set to start it all off (hones).

Straights are the best but cost a lot of time and dollars. Get a shavett or DE first and try not to go crazy!

Straight starters kit from mensbiz is good. dovo best 100 bucks a strop 80 and some hones. Sharpton are good!! Say 1k 4k 8k and 16k maybe 30k and some crome oxide paste for the non leather side of the strop. If you get into this you will end up here eventually.
 
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. I have to say, I'm gonna have to go against my better judgement and the cautioning of others and go straight for a straight straight away. When I open up my carotid you can all say "I told you so!" :p
I'm fully prepared to devote some serious time to learning how to do it properly, after all if I wanted to learn this just so I could shave my face there are much quicker options. I want to learn this as a point of pride. As a hobby. And I know it's going to be a long process. I don't expect to be anywhere near proficient until this time next year. I'm thinking of popping in to a barber next week and getting a straight shave, just to see it in action.

Ybbor that kit looks perfect for starting out. One question about that shop though, do the razors ship shave ready? Or will I have to send it away to get it honed?
I have sent them a question on their website, but I thought I'd check here too.

Thanks again everyone. I'll no doubt pop into the Doc's office with a million questions as soon as I get my kit.
 
ajnslng said:
..........I'm fully prepared to devote some serious time to learning how to do it properly, after all if I wanted to learn this just so I could shave my face there are much quicker options. I want to learn this as a point of pride. As a hobby............Or will I have to send it away to get it honed?........
Click to expand...

If that's the case you'll have to start looking in to stones. Not sure what grit sizes you need for razors but I'm sure it'll include some fine ones, i.e. 5-10K. They're not cheap!

Of course then you'll be thinking why you've got these nice stones and only one razor to sharpen so you'll start searching for more razors. Then you'll discover that a lot of older razors need new scales so off you go looking for scale material (ivory, mammoth tooth, bog oak, ebony, zany acrylics.....you name it) and all the tools needed to make new scales and before you know it this little hobby will take over your whole life. You're not married are you?

Just get a double edged razor to start with. At least there's a chance you'll have a life.
 
Last edited:
Hey er'body,

So my pack came from MensBiz today. And bugger me didn't I go and shave this morning with my Mach3 before it had arrived.
Anyway, unpacked everything, and I'm not sure whether I've bought the wrong thing or just am a real tit and can't figure out how I'm meant to fit the razors into the Dovo Shavette.
I bought a 5 pack of Gillette 7 o'clock Super Platinum (because I thought I'd better start somewhere) and I don't know whether I'm meant to bust it in half and just use half, it seems really small for the sleeve, or is there something I'm just not getting?

I figured I'd leave this in the welcome thread seeing as posting a stupid question like this in the help section seems a good way to get laughed at!
 
Hmmmmm..don't know. I've seen them at barber shops and they just snap a DE blade in half and absentmindedly, whilst checking out my acres of voluptuous locks of hair, plonk it in.
 
Last edited:
Welcome, nice to have you onboard.

Yes, sounds a tad late now but the cheap (but cheerful) Shavette from DX may have been exactly what you were chasing. I'd try and track down some of the Permasharp SHavette refills as if they're anything like their normal DE blades they'd be fantastic.

Best of luck anyway. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top