New Dovo

[S4m]

I got a new Dovo last week and was aware that it probably needs to be honed first but thought id strop it and give it a try, unfortunately it was useless! couple of strokes and i have up and finished my shave with my £4.oo shavette that works fine. I have a 12k hone but having never honed anything before im paranoid about wrecking my lovely new straight! if im careful is it something that i could get right or is it a must to send it off and spend more money?

[HardCase]

Without seeing the bevel I can't answer that question specific to your blade. I would suggest sending out to be pro honed, then use your stop and 12k to maintain a proper edge.

[sheajohnw]

Recommend a pro honing/stropping to start. You will then know what to expect later from your own stropping and refreshing..

12K is good for a refresh later. Go slow, about 6 strokes then strop and test shave. Repeat! If necessary. Too many strokes on high grit hones can degrade and cause a harsh edge.

You can also refresh on a pasted strop followed by regular daily stropping on an unpasted strop.

HTH

[gugi]

Your hone is unlikely to bring your razor to shape. If it is a fast hone and you have experience it may be possible, but you don't have the experience, hence I'd wager it won't work.

That being said the damage you can do with your hone is also smaller, so you could give it a try if you feel so inclined. Watch some of Lynn Abrams honing videos, and be careful - keep the spine of the razor on the hone and do not exert pressure. Raising slurry speeds the honing process, which you'll most likely need.
In the off chance that it works try no slurry for 20-50 laps, if no progress create slurry and do 50-100 laps then dilute the slurry and finish with no slurry.

If that doesn't do anything have it honed by somebody with experience and skills. The idea of giving it a try even if it fails is that you'd get a little bit of feeling what honing should be like, and as long as you don't use pressure or lift the spine you can't really damage the razor.

[eddy79]

Get it pro honed then you know it is done properly from bevel up and will know what shave ready feels like

[Sterm]

Try to hone it with tape on the spine, if the edge is almost there the tape will help your 12k to complete the job. It might not work then you know that you either need a coarser stone or (better) a professional