Thread: Is my Dovo sharp enough?

Oop, too slow for all those posts! Lynn, it was oiled when I received it, which seemed to be what was holding the sticker (more like non-adhesive plastic) to the blade.

I think that if you go back to the classic shaving site the pre sharpend only means by the factory. Its on that site somewhere I know I read it. A good Utube video to watch is one done by jockeys a shaving demo

The whole thing is both quite simple and complex at the same time, 1st of all, KEEP THE STROP TIGHT, Roll on the spine, go slow and don't try imitate the speed you see on the videos of the more experianced people in the wet shaving hobby. And lastely, you can find Lynn A.'s address in the classified section of this site, SEND HIM THE RAZOR and when you get it back you will know to a certainty of 4th place decimal that you've got yourself a shave ready razor. If not Lynn then there are many many great honmiesters on this site whose talents will serve well. The best advice from THIS source your going to get, for what it's worth.

Thank you for letting me bend your ear on this thread.

I still am, tinkersd Of SRP.

I'm in agreement with the other replies on checking your stropping technique. I'm a 4 or 5 month newbie and had the same exact thing happen to me when I started out. I bought a Dovo Bismark from SRD and it shaved perfect the first few times. The third time I went to shave with it and it didn't shave good at all. Being the eager beaver that I am, I didn't even try re-stropping and went straight to the hone. I never could get a good edge back on it and I left it set up for a while and used another str8. Since you want to hone yourself, you'll need to get a more course stone than the 4K. I suggest perfecting your honing techniques on your cheaper razors. I'm starting to get a good honing technique from buying vintage razors where the blades have been oxidized from age. When the blade's edge is oxidized, you can see every bit of progression on it as you hone. The biggest step for me came when I was honing on an old Wade & Butcher with the 4K and kept seeing the same blemishes on the blade's edge near the toe. I finally got my 220/1000 stone and did a few strokes on the 220 until the blemishes were gone and kept stepping up in grit finishing up with the 8K. When I finished, I had the best edge I think I've seen yet. It kind of scared to use 220 or 1000 in fear of doing more harm than good I must have rolled the edge badly from stropping on the Bismark because when I first tried honing on it, all I was using was the 4 & 8K stones and couldn't get the edge back. When I was so succesfull with the Wade & Butcher, I put the Bismark on the 220 and stepped up in grit finishing with the 8K...I have my Bismark back in buisness. There are some very helpful tips on stropping and honing in the Wiki. Hope this helps.

Sharpness of the blade is just only 1 of the factor to get a good shave. Some poeple expect from straight razor TO BE as sharp as DE. There is couple more factor's you have to consider before even thinking about touch the blade.
1. angle( when you shave please at first make small strokes to find out right angle). Example .perfectly honed blade will shave horrible if user user chooses wrong angle=happens mostly wedge blade because of taping.
2. preshave preparation. good soap. brush.
3.using straight razor. Please try to use scything motion . ( Don't use same as axe to chop the wood but use same as saw to cut the wood)
4.It will take time for your face to get used to straight razor .
5.stropping.
Please make sure all above have done right then think about touching the stone.
I understand you don't want to send it out to sharpen again but you want to learn .
i have nothing against learning honing .There is a way how to learn.
if you buy old useless razor from bay and train on them i would say great idea. will help you so much.
if you are going to use your brand new razor and learn how to horn sorry i would say NO NO.
My last advice will be.
After all you have done and still have a problem and your blade wasn't shave ready i would be gladly hone it free of charge. you need to buy postal stamp and include in package. This is just help from SRP member.
hope this helps.

well, lynn removes the stickers, but may be some of the clssicshaving honers don't, which could account for the difference.
give it a few more tries, strop carefully and take into account all the advice here and if you don't see any progress and think your razor is a problem i'll be happy to take a look and fix it for you if necessary.

You could have saved yourself a lot of trouble by ordering a "combo" package from SRD and got he Dovo and strop together for a great price.

*restraining the urge to say something I shouldn't*

I think that some of these posts are a little confusing....

fact: I know Lynn said that he had to drop Classic Shaving as a client to make more time for honing of other client's razors.

sooo...are the razors at CS:

1) honed by someone else
2) 'factory sharp'

Thanks again everyone for the feedback! Gave the razor a shot again today with slightly more success. Watched my stropping like a hawk, took a hot shower before the shave rather than just hot water to the face, and tried canned shaving cream to eliminate bad lathering technique. Lightened up the pressure of the blade against my face, and it burn a lot less/ hardly at all.

Avatar: You're completely right, I know where I'm getting my razors from now. I must have gotten excited by the free shipping on $100+ orders, though I probably would have made that back by getting the combo at SRD instead.

Once I get some money, I'm considering one of two things, just so I can know for sure what a well honed blade feels like: Either getting another DOVO from SRD for comparison when I want to hone my own, or sending the current one out for sharpening and getting an ebay/antique store special to take to the stone. Hmmm...

fixing ebay special with the norton only could be a bit challenging. i don't think i recall getting one without chips within the bevel and the amount of work the 4000 norton to hone these out is usually hours (may be slurry will speed it up a bit, i don't have a norton anymore to test it).
anyways, looks like you're making a bit of progress, so see how it goes.