Honing a brand new straight razor to shave ready

I bought a dovo Extra Hollow round Prima Klang. Lovely razor and you can shave out of the box but it isn't as good as it could be. I have an #8K naniwa, and aprepared balsa crox strop plus a normal leather strop. My quandry is, How many stokes on the stone, checking sharpness. Do I use the balsa with CRox, then the normal strop. I'm a bit confused. I'm a new SRP member, I may be in the wrong place. I'd love a point in the right direction. The rezor out of the box is pretty darn sharp, and shaves, but pulls a little..I'm just not sure?

Bobski,
Apparently most new razors are not truly shave ready as you would expect, I can't say for myself as mine are all vintage items.
But if you look in the honing area and maybe search refreshing a blade or Naniwa 8k or similar you should be able to find the correct info if not in video also
See how you go

Not all Dovos come shave ready. The come almost shave ready from Dovo, and then some of the better retailers bring them up to shave ready. Sometimes mistakes get made. You should first check to see if the retailer had sharpened it to shave ready. If they have not and this is the very beginning for you then you should get it sharpened by someone. In the classifieds section there is member services. Check there. Another really sensible plan is to see if there is a senior member in your area that will show you the ropes and mentor you. If it was suppose to be shave ready you might want to have a dialogue with the retailer. Depending on your experience you may also want to consider if your technique is all that. THere's my thoughts. Have a great day!

Thanks for your Wisdom,

The 1st razor I bought is in the reliable hands of Havachat45 and he's doing what I cant! This 2nd one I have now, I'm thinking of trying to get it right, but I think, as all agree is not as easy at it may seem, just by watching u tube! I'll wait till the naniwa #4000 arrives to make a decision. cheers

First step away from the hones. if you are new and know little don't ruin your new razor. Send it out and practice with junk razors.

You need to assess the edge. First examine the bevel, if it's not right honing will be a waste of time until it's right. if it's OK you might just need some passes on the CrO or a few passes on the 8K or higher. personally I'd do maybe 10 strokes and then test.

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

First step away from the hones. if you are new and know little don't ruin your new razor. Send it out and practice with junk razors.

You need to assess the edge. First examine the bevel, if it's not right honing will be a waste of time until it's right. if it's OK you might just need some passes on the CrO or a few passes on the 8K or higher. personally I'd do maybe 10 strokes and then test.

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The Prima Klang, out of the box was really sharp, but not shave ready. I gave it say, 20 strokes on the #8000, then another 20 lightly on the balsa crox, followed by 40 linen and 60 leather strops. I then passed the 'tree tops test' with some ease, popping off the top of the leg hair I targeted. so, now I will today have a go at a shave. Interesting thing, the 1st of the klangs, Is on it's way back from honemeister havachat 45 so i'll be able to compare whether or not I've done well or not. In the end, I like many others want to become proficient at honing, and preparing dullish razors to shave ready razors. I know it takes time....lots of it, and the right equipment. I'll know in the next couple of days if I have achieved or not. here's hoping! I also have a few mates that are sending me old razors that have resided in drawers for years, that will be perfect for getting the technique right......cheeers guys!

From what I have seen, dovo razors are pretty sharp out of the box. In fact many would probably be satisfied with the edge after a good stropping.

I personally find that all is needed most of the time is some 10 passes or so on chromium oxide followed by a good stropping on plain leather.

It is good to have a bench mark of what is " shave ready", Have you shaved with a "shave ready" straight razor before?

Hey Badgister

I've pretty much done as you have and it's certainly given a good no pull shave, which is what it's about I guess. I looked at it under a 15 x lens and it's straight, no nasties, smooth even bevel, consistent on both sides, the length of the blade. As far as getting a pro honed razor to compare it with, I have an identical razor arriving in the next day or two that has been done expertly, by a professional, so I can look and feel the difference. If it's a huge difference, then the one I honed is in the mail to the professional, but you have to start learning sometime. Thanks for your input, it's appreciated.

Looking forward to reading your observations.

Moving to "Honing"

bobski

Sounds like you have a very sensible approach to learning to hone. From what you have said of your shave after touching up the Dovo I am guessing you are on your way to being able to maintain an edge. I hope when you get your other one back you get a pleasant surprise and see you are not that far off the mark and I think you will. I'd be interested to hear your comments on the differences between the two.

Bob

Hey badgister,

I shaved with the pro honed razor. (Honed by member havachat45 who is here in Australia). Wow what a difference. He did a colossal job and I now know what I need to attain, when I get the right stones etc to have a go at getting it right myself. I must say though, I've a long way to go compared to havachat45's work. I have a naniwa #8000 and I am getting over next two weeks a #1000k and a $4000k. This I hope will get me in the ballpark. The only question is, do I really need to go to 10k or 12k? I'm lucky I can chat with our honemeister, but around the world even on this site, views vary widely from the choice of stones, lapping, polishing, pastes.....it gets a little confounding! I do however like pure Cr O2 the type that only pottery glazers use. (No 15% crayons) on balsa. I think, with my limited knowledge that it's grit (@20-30k) is a nice polishing finish to any waterstone. I'm probably in a vague area here, but balsa blocks 3 x 3 and the crox $6 for 100g (enough for a thousand strops) is a lot cheaper in this country at least than a 12k naniwa. (above $150). But I must confess that none of us on this site are overly cash conscious, being more driven than most people!

Bobski it sounds like your paying too much for hones. Check the down under section there ate a couple threads of where to get stuff in oz and where to import from.