Did I dull my blade?

Hi, my name is Mike, and I'm new to the forums, and straight razor shaving.

I recently purchased a Dovo Full hollow carbon steel 5/8 along with a boar brush, and $10 horsehide strop. The manufacturer said it was shave ready, and I eagerly stroped it, and went through the pre-shave routine. My first shave was okay, and after several okay shaves experimenting with my technique and angles I started to fear my "shave ready" blade perhaps wasn't sharp enough.

I was never able to take off my beard as cleanly as the people in the instructional videos. Plus my eyes would water whenever I went around my lips. Mind you I've spend hours at this point watching videos on how to shave, strop, and hone. I know watching videos doesn't make me any expert, and perhaps the shaves I had prior didn't give me enough experince but I decided maybe I'd try and hone my razor. I purchased a Norton 4000/8000 water stone.

I feel like the process went okay. I followed the videos as best I could, and then stroped my razor when finished. So that was a few days ago, and I needed to shave today. I stroped my razor, and lathered my face, and approached my face at the angles that had given me an okay shave only to have a shave that was worse than ever! I'm worried that perhaps I've honed the razor incorrectly and perhaps dulled or damaged it. I'd love to hear the opinions and suggestions of the people here.

Welcome to SRP and the Deep End of Honing.

First you should add your approximate location to your profile so someone nearby can help you out.

Second did you test the razor off the 4k?

Third consider sending it out so that you know what a shave ready edge feels like.

Jonathan

While I think Dovo makes some very fine quality razors, they are definitely not shave-ready coming out of the factory.

I'm certainly not an expert, but I'm sure there's really no way of any of us answering that question with 100% confidence; however, the guess would be you probably dulled it a little. I would definitely heed Datsots advice about sending it out to get it honed by a pro. I bought my first razor from SRD and am so glad I did because I doubted the keeness of that razor every shave. I convinced myself every day that it couldn't be the razor; it had to be my technique. It ended up that it certainly was. I'd eliminate that variable as well. I'd focus on stropping well...with just enough pressure to keep the blade on the strop (I went to light in the beginning). I went to a hone-in within weeks of starting shaving and it helped tremendously. It allowed me to confirm the things I was doing right and receive corrections for the things I was doing wrong. YouTube is a tremendous resource; however, I'd take you hundreds of videos to make up for a day of one-on-one or ten-on-one lessons.

Hi Mike

Welcome to the forum. You quite possibly had a razor that was not totally shave ready in the first place. Sadly I think with most new manufactured razors the edge is not truly shave ready from the factory. Secondly, it is very easy to dull a razor with stropping when first learning how to strop. Thirdly, it might not be the best idea to undertake learning to hone on top of everything else you have to learn in the beginning.

It might be best at this point to send the razor out to be professionally honed. If you do that, when you get it back do not strop it before the first shave with it. What that will do is allow you to feel what a truly sharp razor feels like and on subsequent shaves you strop the razor and find it is not shaving as well as the first time you have a hint that your stropping may not be all that good. Leave the honing stones alone till your shaving and stropping techniques are good enough that an edge will last you a while before needing to be touched up.

When you want to learn how to hone I would get a cheaper used razor to practice on first.

It all just takes a while to learn at the start and you just want to eliminate as many variables as you can.

Bob

Thank you all for the replies. Yes, I agree I'm most likely taking a little too much on at once. I've just been eager to ditch my cartridge razor. I was thinking about sending my razor out to be professionally sharpened so I would know exactly what it should feel like but again, didn't want to wait. It is sounding like the razor probably wasn't as sharp as it could have been when I got it. Now I'm thinking it may be worth the time and investment. I live in Queens, NY. Do I just google knife sharpeners, or do most people contact individuals through these forums?

-Mike

IMO the 4k is not coarse enough to set the bevel on that dovo the first time. My first dovo needed almost an hour on a 600 dmt till the bevel was set. If you equate 1 hour on a 600 with hours on a 4k, I think it would be 3-4 hours. Definitely send it out. Afterwards, you can use the 4/8 to work that razor. Once you are comfortable with the 8k edge, you might want to consider a finisher like a naniwa 12k or lapping film. Good luck.

I just found my way to the private ads and contacted Lynn about sharpening. I think I will feel better after I know its shave ready. In the meantime just have to work on my stropping.

Browse through the Member Services. They are very good honer's.

Someone local to you may come along and offer to help you out.

Jonathan

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Originally Posted by bill3152

IMO the 4k is not coarse enough to set the bevel on that dovo the first time. My first dovo needed almost an hour on a 600 dmt till the bevel was set. If you equate 1 hour on a 600 with hours on a 4k, I think it would be 3-4 hours. Definitely send it out. Afterwards, you can use the 4/8 to work that razor. Once you are comfortable with the 8k edge, you might want to consider a finisher like a naniwa 12k or lapping film. Good luck.

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An hour on a 600 with a hollow grind razor? I'm surprised you didn't end up with a toothpick. Factory edges are usually not shave ready however I would't automatically be redoing the bevel. usually they only need some touch-up. I have many Dovo's and I think only one needed bevel work.

Whenever folks start talking hours on a low grit home except maybe a full wedge in bad shape makes me nervous.

Yeah, I spent a long time on lower grits and it never ended well.

I find the quality of the factory edge of dovo razors quite decent. The ones I have opened out of the sealed box only needed a touch up on chromium oxide, or a few strokes on a finishing hone.

In my limited experience Dovos have one thing you can count on. They are fairly consistent. On rare occasion you may get one that will give you a satisfactory shave right out of the factory but most need a little honing. Fortunately, most sellers, like SRD will hone them for you before shipping them out to you.

While I don't know what their typical honing routine is on a new 6/8 Dovo, for example. My routine is usually; Slight bevel finishing and general honing on perfectly lapped hones.

Example; 40 circles each side medium pressure on 4,000 grit followed by 15 X strokes medium pressure on same grit. Then 40 circles no pressure and 15 strokes no pressure again on 4,000. Test (shave arm hair) If so far so good I go to 10 X strokes no pressure on 8,000 grit and re-test for improvement. (if no improvement I will do a modified pyramid on 4/8K and re-test). My next step is 10 X feather light strokes on 16,000 grit. Then test; at this point edge should pick up hair mid length (I use my lower leg instead of my arm, lol). If this passes then I do about 5 laps on Chromium Oxide treated felt strop then 5 laps on 0.25 diamond spray felt strop (feather light strokes VERY important or you can make the edge sharper but 'harsher' feeling) Retest. Then 70 laps on a leather strop. All of this is thanks to Lynn. If he hasn't honed my new razor for me I at least use one of his methods like the above.