Thread: Advice needed

Hi,
I have just taken delivery of a Dovo 5/8 Forestor and it has not been made shave ready, it's not been opened since it left the factory.
it is certainly not going to be able to shave with and as I live in Singapore there are no handy honers to call on for help.
So I'm going to have to jump in at the deep end and do it myself!
I have 4 Japanese wet stones in excellent condition in grades 1000, 5000, 8000 and 10,000 grit. Also new leather paddle strop, ch ox paste and a second leather strop with leather, but it's more a box strop which I would rather use chrome ox on.
My question is shall I start on the 10K grit to 'refresh' the edge or try a pyramid then move to the 10K. Or Should I start on the paste then move to stropping.
Bearing in mind that it's a brand new razor so the bevel should be good I was thinking of giving it six or seven laps on the 10K then on to paste and stropping.

I am absolutely new to this so any advice on grits paste together with pressure etc will be most gratefully received.

im going to be jumping in at the deepend and need your help to stop me drowning!

Thanks in anticipation of your advice,

Duncan

I would lather one side of my face and do a few test strokes to see if the edge needs work first before doing anything else.

Bob

Hi Duncan,

Congrats on the Dovo 5/8. I assume that you tried it and you're saying it's not shave ready because of your experience with it. If you've never honed before, I suggest watching Lynn's video on refreshing a razor. He is using a Naniwa 12K stone but your 10K should work. He goes into applying the CrOx paste as well. No pressure on the 10K, start with 10 to 20 laps and try it. Less is more in terms of pressure. I would say, get it shaving well on the 10K and once your happy, couple more finishing laps on the 10K and then get it comfortable on the pasted box strop. Strop on the clean leather every day before your shave after that. If you can't get it shaving well off the 10K with feather light pressure - keeping the spine flat on the stone - you may have to go to the 8K, then progress back up to the 10K and the paste again. From the factory, I don't imagine it needs much.

I'm still learning honing but the 8 or so razors I've worked with have taught my a lot. The feather light touch on my 12K, and smoothing it with a 1K after lapping with a 220K stone has made quite a bit of difference in the comfort. I don't even paste it for a finish anymore - because I get such a good edge off the 12K. I have a pasted leather paddle strop but I don't notice a difference from the 12K these days with or without a CrOx finish so I just shave off of the 12K.

Take your time, set up your body position relative to the stone (Lynn talks about that), and just enough pressure to keep the spine flat on the hone. For me, shaving arm hair is a good indication of a correct bevel set but really does nothing for me in helping me assess whether it will shave well. I have to actually put it to my face.

Good luck - and hopefully some more experienced guys will jump in here.

Adam

What Bob said and if it doesn't pass send it to someone to hone for you, which is unlikely in your case, but perhaps you can find someone closer than you think. I do understand being geographically isolated from the rest of the wet shavers. If you are going to try to learn to hone, be sure to get your ducks lined up well for it. Pick your favorite instructional video presenter and stick with one persons videos. A loupe is super important and often overlooked when ordering stuff to learn to hone with. Get brand name synthetic hones. A 4/8 and a 12K are likely going to be your best bets.

What brand are your hones OP?

Each person has there favorite brands of hones. I watched Lynn Abrams videos on honing and have used the naniwa SS. It does seem that the naniwa supper stones are easier to use for me than the Norton. Like Rezdog said pick one video and stick with it. You'll do fine. just remember it's not a race take your time.

What does the edge look like under magnification? Do you have a loupe? You should get an idea of where you have to start by looking at the edge and trying to figure out how deep the scratch pattern is, if there is one, and how polished the bevel is. More scratches that are deeper means start with a lower grit and work up. Minimal scratches with higher polish means start with your highest grit.
Good luck!

Pete <:-}

If you have quality stones, capable of honing razors (not all wet stones are) and a true 10k synthetic stone, properly lapped flat and edges rounded or beveled, you should easily be able to put a finish edge on a new razor. The bevels should be flat and very close to the proper plain needed to produce a shaving edge, very close.

Do get some magnification, a lighted 60X loupe can be purchased for as little as $2 and you will need it to see, if you are making progress or if you have damage that will require more aggressive stones.

Read the first 3 post in the Honing Forum and the Honing a Razor in the Maintenance section of the Library. If you do not have any major edge damage, the edge should come together in as few as 20-30 laps. Looking straight down on the edge will tell you when you have achieved a straight fully set bevel. Strop on Chrome Oxide 20-30 laps, then 50 on leather. Make sure your Chrome Oxide is pure and razor quality or you will undo all your work.

What you will learn honing razors is very small adjustments can produce dramatic results, and you have to do what the edge needs. And that is the problem of teaching your self, learning to identify issues and determine if you are making progress, each step builds on the previous step.

An hour of hands on with a mentor will shorten you learning curve.

Don't rush into this. Take your time. Watch the videos - Lynn, gssixgun, YouTube, etc. There are lots of good videos. Watch for strengths, weaknesses, most importantly commonalities. Get more equipment, stones, if necessary. Get your knowledge right, equipment right, technique, skills, results will follow.

I've got Naniwa stones, 5K 10K and have just spent a while watching Lynn Abrams circle technique and trying to follow to the letter what he does. It has made a huge difference to the edge and will be testing the SR out after I've given it a good stopping, I'm a bit nervous of putting it to my face, but I've got to learn to hone as I'm geographically isolated in Singapore.
Just ordered a Shapton Glass set from SRD, any particular tips on using these, how do they differ from Naniwa etc.
Thanks guys.