Thread: need help with dull razor

i am new to wet shaving and i recently got a slight bur on the end of my dovo straight razor that was scratching the leather on my strop. i bought a 4000/8000 hone and honed the bur away. 4 to 5 passes on each grit is all it took. after honing i stropped about 20 to 30 times and shaved. when i shaved my razor was so dull it was pulling the hair instead of cutting it. so i stropped some more and more and more and i cant seem to get it sharp now. anyone have any advice?

The burr you describe sounds like a nick in the bevel. It's happened to me before. You may have to re set your bevel. You have 4/8k hone. Do you have 1k? In any case, your razor needs to be properly honed....

Welcome to SRP. Going by your post count I assume you are new to the forum ? If you've been around long enough to have the Dovo and the 4/8 perhaps you've seen the SRP Wiki honing guide here. You'll find a lot of info and videos in there to start you in the right direction.

Obviously you bought the hone because you want to maintain your own razors. With that in mind I would suggest that if you have an ebay or flea market special or two practice on those. Maybe send your Dovo out to be professionally honed ....particularly if it is your main shaver.

This will give you something to shave with and to compare to your efforts on the other razors you are honing. That is how I went about it and it worked well for me.

I tell you what, if you don't want to spend the money right now on another stone, just send me the razor and if you pay for postage both ways, I'll hone it for you free of charge. Give me a PM if you do. Take care!

way to go ray. that is what srp is all about.

Originally Posted by rrp1501

I tell you what, if you don't want to spend the money right now on another stone, just send me the razor and if you pay for postage both ways, I'll hone it for you free of charge. Give me a PM if you do. Take care!

thanks for the offer but i want to learn how to do it myself and i'm just not sure what i'm doing wrong. honing seemed easy. i think maybe i'm stropping wrong. how do you know how much to strop? and how do you know how to tell when you blade is sharp enough?

Originally Posted by nicwaymire

thanks for the offer but i want to learn how to do it myself and i'm just not sure what i'm doing wrong. honing seemed easy. i think maybe i'm stropping wrong. how do you know how much to strop? and how do you know how to tell when you blade is sharp enough?

If you look in the SRP Wiki you will find tutorials on tests for sharpness, honing, stropping, preparation and shaving with a straight razor. All kinds of good info in there. Right of the bat the TPT (thumb pad test) is one good test.