Is my Dovo sharp enough?

Unfortunately, I'm another one of those suckers that fell for the Zeepk trap. Was gifted the 7 piece set for x-mas, and like I'm sure you've all heard before, got two letter openers and a heap of other junk instead. :boohoo:

So, went ahead and got a Dovo Classic 6/8 from classicshaving, a Straight Razor Designs 2" Red Latigo Strop w/ Webbed Fabric, and a 4/8000 Norton stone. I was so excited when they came in that I immediately stropped up the razor and went to town on my face. Other than absent-mindedly touching the very edge to my cheek at one point (lesson learned!), I didn't suffer any other casualties, other than slight razor burn, on par with what I got from usual shaving. It wasn't the cleanest shave, but I figured I would get better with practice.

Well, I went to shave again today (two days later) and it seemed harder this time. Quite a few nicks, and more severe razor burn. I'm not sure if it's sharp enough, or if my technique is just that off. As you lovely folk weren't in the bathroom with me, you'd be hard pressed to answer that second part though (no doubt I do have plenty of room to improve). My hopes are that I really just am a noob and need to learn to do it right.

My question, to cover the other variable, is whether or not my razor is shave ready or if it needs a good honing. Classicshaving advertised it as "Pre-sharpened"; does anyone have experience with razors from them and whether or not this means shave-ready to you?

Question number two is: If it needs more sharpening, should I try giving the stone a shot? I've been practicing stropping and honing with my zeepks, and I've gotten them from Greek strigil to slightly better than pocketknife sharp. I'm pretty good with details and a light touch (painter by profession), but I just can't tell if I should make the jump. I'd rather not send it out to be sharpened; I'd like to be able to do this myself as I got into straight razors for the sake or self-sustainability. At the same time, I don't want to own three dull metal sticks. Anyone have similar beginning stories? How worried should I be about ruining my Dovo?

When you got the Dovo was there a small sticker on there that said
"This razor has been professionally sharpened"

Or was the factory seal still in place????

There was a clear sticker that said that on the blade when it arrived, and the seal of the box had been broken, so it definitely was pre-sharpened by someone. I'm just not sure if "pre-sharpened" is the same as getting a blade that is "shave-ready". :confused:

Here are my thoughts, and I'm more of a newbie than anyone, so for what it's worth: While stropping, you may have rolled the edge which is very common in beginners. Also, you may have pressed too hard while shaving. Make sure that you let the razor glide across your face, and don't press it into your skin. Lastly, make sure that you are constantly keeping the razor at a 30 degree angle to your face. That may explain the dificulty. Hope this helps!

That razor is sharp enough. I bought the Best Quality 6/8 from SRD 3 months ago and I haven't even thought about honing it yet. Lynn Abrams hones those razors and you're not gonna do a better job than him out of the gate.

Have you stropped the razor since the last shave? If you have, I'd check your technique on that. Keep in mind that even a perfectly honed razor still needs to be stropped and used correctly when you shave. If it's between a razor honed by Lynn being sharp enough or your technique being off on your 2nd shave, the answer is your technique is off.

Give it a good stropping and focus on getting your shaving technique right. Obviously if the first shave went pretty well, you've got it in you to do it, it's just a matter of being consistent. Focus on good shaving and stropping technique for now, and you can worry about honing in a few months.

Good luck and welcome to SRP!

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Originally Posted by BingoBango

That razor is sharp enough. I bought the Best Quality 6/8 from SRD 3 months ago and I haven't even thought about honing it yet. Lynn Abrams hones those razors and you're not gonna do a better job than him out of the gate.

Have you stropped the razor since the last shave? If you have, I'd check your technique on that. Keep in mind that even a perfectly honed razor still needs to be stropped and used correctly when you shave. If it's between a razor honed by Lynn being sharp enough or your technique being off on your 2nd shave, the answer is your technique is off.

Give it a good stropping and focus on getting your shaving technique right. Obviously if the first shave went pretty well, you've got it in you to do it, it's just a matter of being consistent. Focus on good shaving and stropping technique for now, and you can worry about honing in a few months.

Good luck and welcome to SRP!

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Paul,

I think the razor came from Classic Shaving. The strop came from SRD. If the clear Dovo factory sticker was still on the razor when it was received, I don't think it was professionally honed by anybody. If that's the case, then the razor needs to be sent out to somebody to be professionally honed to make it "shave ready."

If it had the clear sticker on the blade, I would agree that it had not been sharpened. I have quite a collection of those stickers which are removed when honing the razor. When done, it only gets a coat of oil and wrapped back up.

Lynn

Given that your blade seems to be appropriately honed, all evidence seems to be pointing to your stropping technique. A poorly stropped blade may lead to an improper shaving technique. Your shaving technique is compensating for a poorly stropped blade. Cause and effect.


On the stropping issue. Keep it taunt and do not apply too much pressure. You should let the strop do the work, it is not a forceful job really. If you physically feel like you are applying pressure on the strop, back off a bit. It should be a very smooth operation to avoid curling the edge.

The difference between a excellent VS a poor stropping job can be dramatic. If you are not easily cutting your wiskers, you may have the tendance to work too hard while shaving, thereby applying too much pressure while shaving. The result will be a post shave condition as you are describing. If the razor does not feel good on your face, something is wrong and you should stop and go back to the strop.

EDIT: Ok, forget everything I said. Lynn just posted saying that the blade was likely not sharpened. Blade shapening supersedes my point.

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Originally Posted by jhenry

Paul,

I think the razor came from Classic Shaving. The strop came from SRD. If the clear Dovo factory sticker was still on the razor when it was received, I don't think it was professionally honed by anybody. If that's the case, then the razor needs to be sent out to somebody to be professionally honed to make it "shave ready."

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Oh Wow! My Bad! :gaah:

I must have read that wrong - I thought it said the razor was from SRD. Looks like Lynn came down to set me straight... :(

Sorry existart.

Now I feel like a dork. Went on the CS website and found one answer:

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As a customer service, the razors in our Dovo inventory labeled "PRESHARPENED" have been additionally honed in the USA by a ClassicShaving Sharpening Expert before being returned to our inventory. The razors without this description have been sharpened by DOVO in Germany and have not recieved additional sharpening.

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I did find the sticker, and it was the DOVO factory one warning not to touch the edge. However, I bought it presharpened so it was either honed with it on or replaced afterward.

I will most definitely take notice of my shaving and stropping technique and get back to you when I get to take another go at it. I have a feeling I might have been too aggressive with my shave; my second beard was more of a short stubble and I might have been too gung ho about getting it close (I tend to shave better when the hair is grown out a tad more). I'll keep practicing the stropping too, I've been obsessively cautious about rolling the edge but there might be something I'm doing wrong that I haven't noticed yet.

The good news is, I can't wait to shave again, I really want to get this right!

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. :confused:

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.

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Originally Posted by red96ta

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

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Yeah, that's my fault... :( I don't think I should be trusted with such responsibilities...

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Originally Posted by gugi

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.

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This is very true, and one of the reasons I'm leaning toward getting a new one. I'm afraid I might end up paying more by getting one from ebay and having to buy another stone for it, rather than just keeping up the edge on the one I've got with the norton. Is it reasonable to invest in another 6/8 Best Quality DOVO? That's another $90+ bucks out of pocket, but then I'll have a benchmark to work from, two blades (the more the merrier!) and a coupon for a free honing. :confused:

*edit*

Or, I could get this pretty thing for $50 and have it send in to have the edge cleaned up/honed.

http://www.vintagebladesllc.com/vsho...cat=107&page=1

Ugh, I caught the bug, now I want all the razors! Help!