Thread: What Hones required to shave-ready a store bought Dovo?

Hey Austy, welcome to the world of straight shaving and SRP. You might find this thread interesting, http://straightrazorpalace.com/down-...-supplies.html in the Aussie forum.
Grant

Thanks for the replies guys

Would this be suitable for working up a slurry on the 4000 stone?

Nagura Cleaning Stone : CARBA-TEC

Cheers,

Aaron.

The Dovos that I have bought were pretty close to shave ready. In fact you could shave with them, although it would not be the most comfortable shave. To touch up their factory edge a little barber hone would be fine. I'm sure you could dig up a Swaty or something similiar in AUS.

Would the 8000g Norton do the job?

8K is fine for getting the edge ready for final polish. ( starting out a small barber hone or paste is fine for the polish) It is very easy to invest a small fortune in hones that one might not really need. However, that final polish is a MUST for a smooth shave. I recommend investing in Lynn" DVD and really watch and study the section on honing. Over time you might work out your own process, but Lynn has done an excellent job of laying out the basics for new and old shavers alike. Best regards and Happy Shaving, wildhog

Originally Posted by austy

Talking to myself here (I guess you blokes must be all asleep, seeing as you're in the wrong part of the world...)

Just thought I'd update:

I've located and ordered a Norton 4000/8000 for $134AUD. It appears it's going to be something I'll require whether or not I buy a pre-honed blade.

Is this all I'll need to get a factory Dovo razor ready for use?

Cheers,

Aaron.

FWIW --

I use a Norton 8K, followed by a CrOxide (roughly 0.5 micron) pasted strop. That's sharp and smooth enough for me to shave with. I haven't yet been able to shave off the Norton 8K alone; my technique needs improvement.

Other people have "finishing stones" of 12K and higher, rather than (or in addition to) using a pasted strop.

Charles

PS -- you should be able to find CrOxide "honing compound" or "honing paste" in Australia. It's commercially useful, not just a toy for nutty craftsmen like woodworkers and razor honers.
CHarles

PS -- since Lynn gets to sharpen a lot of factory Dovo's, his opinion will be definitive.

I'm a Master Barber, when I sharpen my straight razors I will use a 5000grit ,8000 grit, and 12000 grit water stones. Look at --www.classicshaving.com------www.japanesewoodworker.com
I paid USD---62.00 for the 1000/8000 grit, 90.00 for the 5000, 45.00 for the 12000 grit.
Also buy a good leather and canvas strop. This is around 35.00 from a Barber supply.
Go slow--you can not put metal back on after you have taken it off.
Contact some Barber Beauty supplies in OZ.
Gary

What area are you located in Aaron? I'm in Brisbane just before Redcliffe. If you are around that area, let me know, I'll be glad to help. Hones can be had for reasonable prices from Carba-Tec. Razors and shave gear can be bought in Australia from Himage.com and Mensbiz.com. Shave shack is in the middle of changing it's location but they will also be a good source of supply. I bought my hones from King of knives and classicshaving.com, but that was a costly mistake as I paid too much. What I use in terms of grit are 1000/6000 combo, a 3000/8000 combo and a C12k (Carba-tec call them 'Natural Waterstone').
Shaver shop, in my opinion, are a big waste of time.

Carba-Tec are out of stock of the C12K right now (Aug 1st) but tell me they should have some more in this week some time. (I screwed up my order, so they rang me and we had a bit of a chat. Seem like pretty nice people.)

There are sellers in japan who will ship to australia.

There's a guy named Stu Tierney who runs a site called "tools from japan", who either has or who can get just about anything other than natural stones in japan.

He's an aussie who somehow ended up in japan - I'm sure he ships to australia.

I have not bought anything razor related from him, but I've bought scads of woodworking-related stuff from him. His favorite brand of stones are sigma power, who make stones through about 1/2 micron (like a shapton 30k). They are well regarded among the folks who have bought them, and seem to be preferred by the high end tool dealers who carry them. The ceramic versions of the Sigma Powers landing somewhere between the soft stones (nortons) and the somewhat hard shaptons.

So Yamashita also sells the sigma powers, I think he's in australia. He's got his website shut down from time to time to catch up with orders, though, and I think he might be a few bucks higher than Tierney.

Apologies if I'm talking about people who are already known, I'm fairly new here, but I have a serious problem resisting hones.