Thread: How soon do you have to hone a shave ready Dovo?

"How soon do you have to hone a shave ready Dovo?"

The answer is: whenever it needs honing.

It's as simple as that. Too often we argue about how long a blade should last, and get caught in the mindset that a blade SHOULD go for months and months without seeing a stone. The reality is who cares? Your face will tell you when the blade needs honing. This could be after 5 shaves, or it could be after 55 shaves. Obviously, with more experience and better technique you will find you can prolong the time between honing, but don't worry about that now. If you find your blade is tugging, take the five minutes and do a touchup and problem solved.

If I didn't set the bevel, then the bevel is not set. If you have no honing experience, send it out for all the above reasons.

I would take it down to 3k, do maybe 30-40 circles, then 20 laps, then move to the 8K for 20-30 laps, then coticule, then Escher.

Otherwise, normal touch ups about once a month on an Escher. It can not be answered with any accuracy, as it depends how often you use it, and various other variables. Say, 15-20 shaves as a guideline?

Originally Posted by Ryan82

"How soon do you have to hone a shave ready Dovo?"

The answer is: whenever it needs honing.

It's as simple as that. Too often we argue about how long a blade should last, and get caught in the mindset that a blade SHOULD go for months and months without seeing a stone. The reality is who cares? Your face will tell you when the blade needs honing. This could be after 5 shaves, or it could be after 55 shaves. Obviously, with more experience and better technique you will find you can prolong the time between honing, but don't worry about that now. If you find your blade is tugging, take the five minutes and do a touchup and problem solved.

+1 Well stated.
I think the most difficult thing to learn is how to tell when
a blade is getting dull. We make a lot of noise on making a
blade sharp but knowing when it is dull and should be
refreshed on a hone is another skill. A tossable plastic
razor is a useful touch stone in this regard. Most of us
consider the tossables to have less than stellar edges yet
they shave millions of faces. So when a straight is duller
than a third shave tossabe and does not respond to the strop
it needs to visit a hone.

as it has been already pointed out the consensus is, hone when it needs to be honed. When I was learning though I had a tenancy to hone way to often due to poor shaving/stropping technique. My advice is to get a good barber hone from an antique store (I really like the Swatey Three Line) and give your razor a few passes every few shaves. Doing this I only really need to take my razors (including a new 6/8 dovo) every 4-5 months.

I have 3 Dovos. @ 2 were honed by gssixgun, Glen, & the other was bought from Lynn @ SRD...

All were honed about the same time... Dec 09'

Now they are in rotation with 6 razors and I shave 3 times a week. I didn't figure out the math but while I could tune them up soon I still get BEAUTIFUL shaves from them.

Honed right, & yours coming from SRD means it absolutly was, and good technique will give you a long stretch between honing.