Thread: Dovo honing issues

So I have mentioned before that I have a newer (maybe NOS?) Dovo. You can see it on classic edge, some gold and tortoise scales. I will add some pictures later....

So, had some less than stellar shaves (5-6) after receiving this "professionally" honed, from a website not affiliated with anyone here that I am aware of, I decided to hone this bad boy myself. It has been honed twice (once from classic edge and once "professionally") now there is some serious hone wear in the toe and heel. They also decided to ruin the nice round heel, flattening it out. The toe seems to have a whole lot more bevel. At least the middle is flat, let's see what we can do. So, tape 'er up to prevent more wear and lett'er ride. I planned to do my 5,8,12 naniwa then vermio progression. Since those are all I have and it worked well for my other razors. One side, got some nice even bevel. Can see the 5k stria, nice and even. Patted myself on the back. Flipped it over, and I cursed. A lot. New stria on heel and toe sections, but tapers away towards the bevel.

So I set it down and contemplated. I have no faith in what the second person did and now the GF feels like crap, knowing how much I like the two razors she sent out. It originally came from classic edge sharp enough to split atoms. I could spend a year honing it down on both sides till the one is even. It will take a while, will probably end up losing a bunch of steel. Hmmm. But it doesn't frown.

I would prefer not to get this professionally honed. I would like to do it myself. Contemplating a 1k specialty stone to speed up the process...

However, I realize more experienced honers might have a better plan.

Grateful for any help,

John

Hi John, without seeing the razor its hard to make a call.
A bevel set on the 5k is doable. Tape the spine and ink the bevel, do a few light laps on the 5k so you can see where the edge is in contact with the hone. If the ink is removed all along the edge your good if not your going to have to do different strokes. 45°heel leading x strokes works wonders on a lot of problem razors.
Uneven bevels on new Dovos are not unusual.

^^^^^ Exactly what Mark said

The only difference I would recommend is to start with 2 layers of tape, this will lessen the effect of the possible wonky spine, and give you an idea of where the bevel can end up

Speeding up at this point is actually counterproductive, go slow and learn the gymnastics that it takes to correct the bevel, then getting a 1k later will help after you know the moves...


JMHO

It may take a while to get a bevel set on the 5K, however it is not certain that you need a bevel set. Have you got a loupe? I always try to remember to look before I leap. My best weapon in my honking arsenal is my loupe. By looking first and checking some of the pictures in some of the threads here you can see what the issue is. Here is a good thread with some good pictures.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...estions-3.html

If you ever have the occasion to venture west, I'm in Rochester and RandyDance is in St Paul. Some one on one time in person might be helpful for you.

Other than that I agree with Glen's agreement with Mark.

Over lunch I threw on 2 pcs of 3M 33+ (I think that's the one it is, whichever is thinner between 33 & 88) electrical tape, did a few 45 degree heel leading strokes and within 10 strokes could start to see the middle getting contact. Going to continue with 2 layers on 5k later today, probably replace them a couple times along the way.


For reference, this is the razor's picture from Classic Edge. When I received it, the condition was identical to the one pictures. Notice bevel at the toe and the shape of the heel.


Here you can see the toe wear, almost surprised the whole round point wasn't sharpened....


spine wear on opposite side


Uneven spine wear, lines perpindicular to bevel on the spine are scratches from "pro" honing


2 pieces of tape after 3 passes each side, can see marker lines where bevel not hitting the stone.

@Rezdog: I have a 5x loupe (workhorse) and a 60-120 microscope(for fun). There were some small chips out of the edge, barely visible w/ 5x. Strop is new from SRD, treated with some face oil (wash my hands frequently and little to no oil) and I check it for contaminants (maybe stropped with it 30 times). From the first shave it just didn't feel right, figured I'd give it a chance with few shaves and strop session, with a few passes on crox for good measure. It didn't get any better. At this point I'm more of the "I want this edge to be all mine." Probably due to my stubbornness...

@Utopian: I will definitely keep that in mind, pretty packed life right now. Have to take a vacation or lose it in the next 9 months, so might do a razor roadtrip....

Have you checked it for a frown? I've seen a few newer Dovo's with frowns over the last 5 years

I checked it a few times, particularly on the side that wasn't wearing evenly on the hone. My thinking was that maybe the grinding process or the grinder itself got a little wonky in production and that was worked around in the original honing. It does not have a frown though.

As long as you can hold it perpendicular (edge down) on a known flat stone and see no light coming through underneath, you should be ok

That much spine wear from a single honing, I think would remove any claim to the title of "pro". I find that upsetting and it's not even my razor. Luckily, you have some actual experts here to help.