honing a new Dovo

Hi all,

I have purchased for a while a very nice new Dovo Solingen 6/8'' razor along with a Solingen russian type XL cowhide strop from amazon UK. The blade was untouched delivered as out of the factory. I have tried to shave but I couldn't. I must learn how to use it, but also I think the blade is not sharp enough when it is out of the factory. The reason I feel it is not sharp enough is just my (unexperienced) opinion and the fact that classicshaving.com delivers these babies "presharpened". They explicitly mention that they are honing the blade in the US prior to selling them.
So... I have decided to hone the "baby". Up to now, today:

- I have ordered the Straight Razor World DVD from Lynn
- A Coticule yellow stone from Belgium

Questions:

- Do I need to order also a Belgian Blue Whestone?
- Do I also need to order strop paste?

I am sorry, but I am total beginner and I have no one to ask. Also, nowhere to hone the razor here, I must learn how to do it myself.

Thanks,
Codrut

if your in the UK then theres honing options
Introduction to razors

No i dont think you need the blue but im not a coti user
you dont need paste but diamond paste or croox can be a big help

Out of the factory needs to be honed more to be truly shave ready. If starting out, why not give it a professional to hone and they are on the classifieds of SRP. You can mail it to them, and they will mail it back when they are done. This way, you know what a honed shave ready razor feels and looks like as a reference for when you start honing.

Also, the vendors on SRP sell straight razors professional honed and truly shave ready.

Welcome to SRP and Straight Shaving.

Pabster

yes your blade needs to sharpen before use. i am sure we have enough people from UK can do the job.
check out Members MAP
You will find them.
enjoy with straight.
gl

Quote:

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Originally Posted by codrutoctavian

Hi all,

I have purchased for a while a very nice new Dovo Solingen 6/8'' razor along with a Solingen russian type XL cowhide strop from amazon UK. The blade was untouched delivered as out of the factory. I have tried to shave but I couldn't. I must learn how to use it, but also I think the blade is not sharp enough when it is out of the factory. The reason I feel it is not sharp enough is just my (unexperienced) opinion and the fact that classicshaving.com delivers these babies "presharpened". They explicitly mention that they are honing the blade in the US prior to selling them.
So... I have decided to hone the "baby". Up to now, today:

- I have ordered the Straight Razor World DVD from Lynn
- A Coticule yellow stone from Belgium

Questions:

- Do I need to order also a Belgian Blue Whestone?
- Do I also need to order strop paste?

I am sorry, but I am total beginner and I have no one to ask. Also, nowhere to hone the razor here, I must learn how to do it myself.

Thanks,
Codrut

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Before you start trying to hone the razor, maybe you should read up on the different sharpness tests available. If then you say, yes it needs honing I would advise you to send it to a pro, basically to let you feel how a properly honed razor shaves.

If you decide to hone yourself, you'll only need the coticule. There's loads to find on how to use a coticule both on this forum as on coticule.be.

Success !!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by decraew

Before you start trying to hone the razor, maybe you should read up on the different sharpness tests available. If then you say, yes it needs honing I would advise you to send it to a pro, basically to let you feel how a properly honed razor shaves.

If you decide to hone yourself, you'll only need the coticule. There's loads to find on how to use a coticule both on this forum as on coticule.be.

Success !!

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codru,

You can hone the razor yourself, but it's something that you will need to approach with some reservations and preparations. One of the preps should be watching others who know how to do it. One of the members from Belgium has a video , hopefully somewhere in the wiki, which shows how he hones on a coticule. The classic is Lynn's DVD which shows how he does it as he has more experience at honing than probably anyone else other than Pierre Thiers himself, and we're not sure of that :). I recommend buying Lynn's video and watching how he does it - and watch it a couple of times.

Establishing a shaving edge on a new razor is more involved than maintaining the edge and the hones you need can be different. For maintaining a shaving edge, you really only need something like a small barber's hone. To sharpen from scratch you need to make a greater investment in hones, but which may not be needed in the future if you limit yourself to maintaining one or two razors.

It's a moot point for those of us who have gone crazy buying razors, hones, strops, etc, but for those among us who are actually sane, the expenditures for getting and keeping a fine shaving razor are modest. You just need to figure out which path you want to take. :)

One of my first razors was a DOVO and if I have my details straight, that razor is still in the whisker removal rotation. So your start out has fine chances of success.

good luck, good shaving

:beer2:

Thanks to all for the immediate answer. Well.... it seems I have a lot to learn.
I am not from UK, so I must learn how to hone the blade myself. I have already ordered Lynn's DVD. I was only wondering what do I need in my arsenal. Up to now I have my Dovo blade and a strop. Today I have ordered the Coticule and Lynn's DVD. Beside the knowledge, anything else I need to get me started in my arsenal? Specifically I wanted to know if I need a Blue Belgian and strop paste, but reading the answers it seems I don't.

Thanks,
Codrut

Codrut
i have to say.
it is very important to you your first blade been sharpened by pro.
Trust be it will help you a lot in long run.
let me explain why.
1 you don't know how sharp blade suppose to be .
2. will take time you to learn how to use your stones.
hope this helps you to decide.
gl.
Lastly let us know your location.

Trying to think of who is close to you..
Because the advice the Hi_bud_gl / Sham is giving you is dead right, you really should start with a Pro-honed blade THEN learn to hone after you learn what a Shave Ready razor feels like...

EU guys:

Leon
Bart

and then the UK guys...

I can't think of anyone closer...


If you are going to try the jump right in method, and do it using the Coticule then without a doubt you want to read Bart's methods, he is without a doubt one of the best with that stone....
It won't be easy though, just warning you up front, you'll have a ton of things to learn....

Okay, I will try to contact the EU guys, I am located in Romania (Eastern Europe). Thanks to all for the advice. I have never seen such a good welcome on any other forum. The straight razor community it's a very nice one ;)

Regards,
Codrut

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gssixgun

Trying to think of who is close to you..
Because the advice the Hi_bud_gl / Sham is giving you is dead right, you really should start with a Pro-honed blade THEN learn to hone after you learn what a Shave Ready razor feels like...

EU guys:

Leon
Bart

and then the UK guys...

I can't think of anyone closer...


If you are going to try the jump right in method, and do it using the Coticule then without a doubt you want to read Bart's methods, he is without a doubt one of the best with that stone....
It won't be easy though, just warning you up front, you'll have a ton of things to learn....

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There is a lot to learn, and it wasn't as easy to learn for me as other methods. However, the payoff was worth it to me. :)

For new guys, I'd recommend going into it with a cheap razor and a lot of patience