Thread: Sharpening razor

I searched the forum for a link to a sharpener for my Dovo. I live in Tulsa, came up with several sites that said straight razor shaving but did not offer sharpening. When i got it it said shave ready but pulls so much im all most ready to give up on shaving with it. Surely this is not what it is supposed to feel like. Am i doing something wrong!?! I would really appreciate a reputable straight razor person. Google just pulls up BS sites. Does Tulsa Oklahoma not have a single person that can sharpen a blade?

Welcome Kaine!

Did you get it at AOS?

You can always send your razor to one of the honemeisters here...
http://straightrazorpalace.com/class...wcat.php?cat=4

Try this for your questions:

Welcome to SRP. Dovos are known to come non shave ready though they state that they are. I'm not sure about Oklahoma but if you look in the classifieds section here you will find quite a few reputable honers that will put a masterful edge on that blade for you. Might I recommend gssixgun or Lynn? Both do restoration work and honing, are very reasonably priced, and will put a wicked edge on that razor!. Just check the classifieds.
Hope that helps,
Tony

Originally Posted by KaineF

I searched the forum for a link to a sharpener for my Dovo. I live in Tulsa, came up with several sites that said straight razor shaving but did not offer sharpening. When i got it it said shave ready but pulls so much im all most ready to give up on shaving with it. Surely this is not what it is supposed to feel like. Am i doing something wrong!?! I would really appreciate a reputable straight razor person. Google just pulls up BS sites. Does Tulsa Oklahoma not have a single person that can sharpen a blade?

Sounds like you are just starting out with straight razors. Stropping and shaving are two skills that have to be developed. Some get down pat in a few shaves and others may take a year to get a great shave. Myself, I dulled my first couple of razors with bad stropping. Then months later finally got desired results when I shaved.

Your mileage may vary.

I'm also curious as to where you got the razor and if it is a factory edge.

Very few razors come shave ready and will require honing before use. If you pop a thread in the honing forum someone local might be able to help out.

And even when a razor does come shave ready, bad technique/poor angle can lead to a feeling of pulling and tugging. Patience and practice. You'll get there.


Mick

I might add: don't strop your razor after you sent it out to be honed and got it back. As stated before, you can dull a razor by bad stropping and to eliminate that possibility, just don't strop the first time

Good luck and enjoy! Don't give up, it's not your fault that razor is pulling.

Originally Posted by Laurens

I might add: don't strop your razor after you sent it out to be honed and got it back. As stated before, you can dull a razor by bad stropping and to eliminate that possibility, just don't strop the first time

Good luck and enjoy! Don't give up, it's not your fault that razor is pulling.

Yes, as I found out from my visit to my honemeister...after a year, thought my stropping was at least adequate...but it turned out I had rolled the edges on a few of my blades!! And once that happens, until fixed, the rest is just moot.

As he recommended, I'm going to use the bench strop I have for awhile in order to go back to the all important fundamentals - basic stropping skills! From my experience, until you get all the fundamentals down, adding in to many additional factors just takes away from learning the basics!!

Start stropping slowly and keep an eye on the razor to ensure it is completely flat on the strop. Both the spine and edge in contact at the same time. I had issues with raising either the spine up or not having the edge in contact with the strop when I first started out. Take it slow. Gain the muscle memory of correct stropping, and then work on stropping faster. Also keep in mind that you want to roll the blade over the spine before you get to the end of the stroke, and before you stop the motion. this will ensure that you don't inadvertently nick your strop. The same applies with the start of the movement. Get the razor moving before laying the edge down on the leather. Speed comes with practice.


Mick