Thread: Are new dovo's shave ready?

Hello,
I am new to this and have just purchased a new dovo 5/8 silver steel ebony straight razor.
The razor has not yet arrived but after reading a lot of the wikis and posts on this site I am concerned it will no be shave ready (starting to wish I had purchased from this site).
Is this the case, if so what will need to be done to get it shave ready?
If it needs honing should it be taped, is that what they do when setting the bevel in the factory?
Hopefully someone can help me out here, what an awesome site. For anyone looking to make their first purchase, do this site in detail first.

Looking forward to getting into real shaving!

Cheers

welcome to srp

out of the factory they rarely are.
if it's not you should have somebody with hones and the skill to use them do it.
no point of taping it, they come with a spine wear from the factory already.

Originally Posted by gugi

welcome to srp

out of the factory they rarely are.
if it's not you should have somebody with hones and the skill to use them do it.
no point of taping it, they come with a spine wear from the factory already.

This pretty much somes it up!

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

This pretty much somes it up!

I agree...Wholeheartedly. Don't attempt to hone the razor yourself. Find a person who has experience/skills with honing to make your new Dovo shave ready.

You won't be disappointed.

Thanks everyone I will track someone down and get the job done properly.
I think I saw someone in aus on the classifieds on this site.
Cheers

Imagine if you went to buy a new car and after driving 1 mile all the tires blew out and you were told oh you need a new set of tires at your expense.

That's how I feel about dull razors being sold new. We shouldn't tolerate it. Back in the day they didn't.

Everyone else is right you will need to have it honed.

Welcome to the SRP! I would have to say that many razors sold as new are dull as a butter knife. My first straight had a minimal bevel and could not be used. I sent mine to Utopian and he did a great job. I would caution about buying off of ebay. Many of the sellers do know what shave ready is. I would send it off to be honed. I would suggest having the spine taped during honing as this minimizes the wear on the spine. I bought a Dovo special as my second razor and it was not shave ready either. I know the frustration. Good luck .

Originally Posted by Sweeney79

Hello,
I am new to this and have just purchased a new dovo 5/8 silver steel ebony straight razor.
The razor has not yet arrived but after reading a lot of the wikis and posts on this site I am concerned it will no be shave ready (starting to wish I had purchased from this site).
Is this the case, if so what will need to be done to get it shave ready?
If it needs honing should it be taped, is that what they do when setting the bevel in the factory?
Hopefully someone can help me out here, what an awesome site. For anyone looking to make their first purchase, do this site in detail first.

Looking forward to getting into real shaving!

Cheers

The real answer might be that it depends who you ordered it from. Some of us, when we're starting out, are so ignorant (I was) we don't even know when we've done something RIGHT.

I ordered a dovo from a merchant and then regretted it because I thought it wasn't hand-honed. But I went back to the site and found their policy statement and sure enough, they hand-honed their razors before shipping them to the buyer. One site lists the same razors as either "factory honed" or "professionally honed."

So no, it's not shave ready from the factory. But if you ordered it from a vendor who includes a honing with the price, you might still be okay. If the vendor is a mass-market source like Knifecenter.com or the like, it's just the factory edge I'm sure. But some of the specialty websites do hone the razors they ship.

Ask the vendor, or check their site, before you have anything done to the razor.

Originally Posted by Sweeney79

Hello,
I am new to this and have just purchased a new dovo 5/8 silver steel ebony straight razor.
The razor has not yet arrived but after reading a lot of the wikis and posts on this site I am concerned it will no be shave ready (starting to wish I had purchased from this site).
Is this the case, if so what will need to be done to get it shave ready?
If it needs honing should it be taped, is that what they do when setting the bevel in the factory?
Hopefully someone can help me out here, what an awesome site. For anyone looking to make their first purchase, do this site in detail first.

Looking forward to getting into real shaving!

Cheers

This search is what ultimately led me to SRP. I purchased a new Dovo 5/8" Full Hollow Ground from The Art of Shaving at Woodfield Mall (Schaumburg, IL). Cocobolo Dark Wood Razor: Straight Razors From The Art Of Shaving

I'm new to SR shaving and totally took a leap of faith with this product. I have tried it out a few times in small areas and feel a lot of tugging and irritation. Despite the agitation of not having a comfortable shave yet, I remain excited and eager to keep on trying it after a visit with a honemeister.

Originally Posted by iFly

This search is what ultimately led me to SRP. I purchased a new Dovo 5/8" Full Hollow Ground from The Art of Shaving....

My understanding is that razors from TAOS, are rarely if ever shave ready. You'll want to send it to someone to be honed properly.