My new dovo is dying. I must be doing something wrong.

I recently switched from a shavette-style straight to a Dovo Best Quality 5/8 full hollow ground and the shave i get from it is amazing.

However.

As soon as I got it, I took it to Ross Cutlery in Los Angeles (it was recommended on Yelp) to get it honed. I got it back and it looked good, but I'm not a good judge of these things. It shaved well.

Then, after a few shaves I started noticing tiny chips in the blade. Then more. Then the blade is not perfectly centered when I close the scales. It hasn't been a week and my poor Dovo is suffering. I'm not abusing it, nor have I dropped it. I strop it on linen and leather before and after each shave and set it down gently on a folded towel on my bathroom counter.

I know this is not much to go on, but where might I be going wrong? :thinking:

Sharpening Prices
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310 SOUTH BROADWAY
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reviews

Ross Cutlery & Sharpening Service - Downtown - Los Angeles, CA


They supposedly sharpen SR's there according to the reviews, anyone talked to them ????

Let's see if any of our resident Califorina guys know about this place :) Honestly when something says Grind and Hone I get shivers :( especially when they have pics of Knife Grinders at work

If it is ruined due to them misrepresenting their abilities, I'm sure you can put together a great case for your "honing" money to be returned and probably a replacement razor.

Not saying this is the case but in the future, I would be sure to find someone who specializes in straight razors. I hope everything turns out alright, it may just be due to lack of experience since you are just beginning.

Ask them HOW they honed it. Specifically, ask if they used any sort of moving wheel or if they used flat hones. If the former, ask for your money back. If the latter, ask them what kind they used. You also might want to ask if the person who honed it has ever used a straight razor.

Is it possible that your are closing the razor into the scales and that is damaging the blade? Check for little bites out of the scales at the same points where you see chips in the blade.

I would also agree that the honing may be a variable. Also, out of curiosity, if the razor was giving you great shaves, why did you take it to be honed.

I'm not sure it was the honing, I just threw that in there to be complete. I know it's not closing the scales on the blade, as the chips don't line up and it's not THAT off center.

Another possibility is the stropping. Maybe I didn't break in my Fromm strop?

Your stropping may not be up to snuff. But I think it would have to be really really off to cause that kind of chipping.
And about the Fromm, it could very well need breaking in, but I find it hard to believe that to be the culprit.

I would, as others have, suggest to get it properly honed by someone who knows and use a straight razor.

I cannot imagine stropping causing chipping. I wonder if you had a bit of a wire edge and it is deteriorating while you shave.

*I have never managed to put a wire edge on a razor, so I am guessing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ats200

If it is ruined due to them misrepresenting their abilities, I'm sure you can put together a great case for your "honing" money to be returned and probably a replacement razor.

Not saying this is the case but in the future, I would be sure to find someone who specializes in straight razors. I hope everything turns out alright, it may just be due to lack of experience since you are just beginning.

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I'm 2 weeks from getting my law degree, so as an unlicensed and incompetent attorney, I can tell you it's more trouble than it's worth.

My damages are 25 bucks for a bad hone and 5 bucks to correct the damage when I get it rehoned by a SRP guru. (I needed my razor honed anyways so I can't calculate in the base costs) It costs 50 bucks to file a claim in small claims, not to mention the time. The only realistic remedy is to not go back and leave a review on yelp.

Not to disagree but wouldn't the fact that grinding an expensive razor can possibly ruin it factor in? If they ground it too much and it just can't be honed?

you are right though, in the end if they are uncooperative, it would be a lot of trouble.

If they ruined the razor, that would be different.

If it were me, I'd send my razor to Lynn and have him work his magic. In the meantime, I would practice with my strop using a butter knife. Going slow, not turning my wrist, just using my fingers to turn the blade. Consider all of this a lesson learned and go on to have some great fun using your repaired ST8.:D

Okay, how 'bout the wife? Dog? Kids? Neighbors? Anyone else had access to it? These things draw a lot of attention, you know. Be sure to keep your doors locked. And take a really good martial arts course! You may have jealous people sneaking in for quick shaves!

I hate that when it happens!

Bruce

So are you saying the chips appeared more and more after shaves? have you been nicking yourself with it? or just stopped using it altogether.

Did you buy it shave ready? just wondering as you said you got good shaves before you sent it for honing.

I would do what the guys are saying and send it to lynn.

FWIW as a noob, i also favour the turning in the fingers thing over turning the whole wrist. just works for me

Just looked at the website for ross cutlery, specifically their barber supplies page.. The pic of their honing service at the bottom is ironic right?

http://www.rosscutlery.com/

because if my barber pulled a machete out to cut my hair..

The chips have been appearing after a few shaves, but they have not been nicking my face. they may be cosmetic.

I got the razor new and unadulterated from the factory. I was told that you have to hone new blades so I did so without shaving with it first.

I'm going to try it again because I really like it over my parker shavette and I'm procrastinating sending it to lynn because of the 2-3 week turn around time.

i also tested it by lightly running a pin over the sides of the blades. It sticks along one side, which as the youtube guide suggested, may be indicitive of a wire edge-- meaning bad hone.

If you are interested in getting a proper result from your new razor it will have to be honed by someone highly skilled and experienced. I would suggest biting the bullet and sending it out right now. The reasons for wanting a truly shave ready razor are well documented and numerous, so you might as well get it over with and get off to a good start. You will eliminate a lot of doubt and frustration as you learn to use your razor.

If you are really anxious to get going and have a low tolerance for delayed gratification you could get in touch with Don at SRD and order a shave ready razor (Lynn honed) from him. Then you would have a rotation and wouldn't be caught short if you need to send one of them out for honing. Not trying to spend your money unnecessarily but.....you do have optons.

+1

always good to have at least a few razors

+2

Because of your experience you may want to go the absolute safe route and order from SRD but there are many cheap alternatives such as the classifieds and whippeddog.com

EEEEEKKK!!!... GRIND!! and hone $25???? I may be kinda new at this but grind spooks me!

From old threads that I remember, the guys at Ross Cutlery use coticule to hone razors. I'm sure a search on the forum would bring up those old posts. Of course we can all speculate what may or may not have happened, but the best thing at this point is probably to find somebody experienced with straight shaving and honing who is local to you and see if they can help you.
Or you can call them or visit them and see what they say.

If you can't do that you can mail me the razor and I'd take a look and fix it - shipping/insurance options are up to you, I'm only doing the actual pro bono work and not assuming any liability for damage/loss during shipping.

I really appreciate that offer gugi, but I wouldn't want you to go pro bono. I'd be willing to pay the standard honing fee.

Sorry, can't do that :) I don't do pro honing, just trying to help here and there as I have the time. I've gotten plenty of help myself when I've needed it, and sooner or later you'll help somebody else. That's the point of having this whole community :)
Of course there is plenty of need for professional services too, and we have those, but that's just not for me.

Just drop me a PM if you decide to go this route and I'll send you my address. Mail takes about 2-3 days each way and I'd budget 3-4 days with me so that I can check what happens to the edge after 2 shaves (I don't shave every day), so it should be about week and a half to two weeks.
But you'd get much much more out of a hands on interaction if you can arrange that, so that'd certainly be the better option. I don't really know who's in socal, may be put in your location in your profile so that other members can see if they're nearby.

Ok, I have a solution. I just ordered a razor out of the SRP classifieds. As soon as it gets here I'm going to ship my Dovo off to Lynn. I figure I should have it redone correctly by the Hattori Hanzō of straight razors. Before I ship it out I will take pictures and post them here so you guys can critique the Ross hone/grind.

Good info John. I was actually at Ross' last weekend and was going to drop off my Dovo astrale that was in need of a honing. I think I'm going to investigate other options in terms of pro honing.

im no sharpening expert, but i know anyting with the word grind in it means moving wheel, and a lot of metal coming off, ive sharpened quite a few hatchets on grinding wheels but id never touch a razor to it unless i really dispised the guy that owned it.

I guess you just have a beard that consists of titanium wire John...! :dropjaw:

I can't see that your stropping is responsible for actually chipping your dovo. The only thing that will likely happen with incorrect stropping, is that you will dull your blade, and worst-case possibly be rolling the edge of the razor ever so slightly.

Any visible chipping that you can see with the naked eye really can not be from stropping. It can only be a fudged-up honing job in my opinion, or maybe you have a 1 in 1000+ defective Dovo, but that is quite unlikely.

The only weird thing is that you actually are able to shave with it comfortably! Personally, any minute chips in an edge really leaves my skin pretty tender, even chips that I can only see under the microscope.

Ask the gardener not to trim the roses with your straight razor any more. :chop:

OK, time for pics. This is the current state of my razor.

And yes, I have a titanium beard of epic manliness.

Is it just my eyes, or does the last 1/3rd towards the tip of your blade look really Fudged up, and in real need of a low grit hone to re-set the bevel properly....?

It may just be the way the photos are taken, but there appears to be some real chips visible with the naked eye....that is pretty much impossible to be done by incorrect stropping, it really looks like a bad honing job to me, but my eyes could be deceiving me.

With those photos, I can't see the bevel, much less any chips.

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Originally Posted by Utopian

With those photos, I can't see the bevel, much less any chips.

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You're right, it's not very clear in these photos, but this is what I am looking at. As I said, could be just the photos.

Attachment 69025

Attachment 69024

Any chance for some better photos of just the bevel of the blade?

You're right. You looked much more closely than I did, but the edge on view is a dead giveaway that the edge is not in optimal condition.

Yes, there are chips and the blade shows shows grind-marks. I will post more pics when I get home.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JohnJ

Yes, there are chips and the blade shows shows grind-marks. I will post more pics when I get home.

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It looks like the regular factory finish. Here's one of mine

Attachment 69033