Thread: I just bought a Dovo Best Quality

What Bob said. I learned (as many others have) that sharpening a knife and straight razor are similar, but still worlds apart. A knife just has to cut smooth and clean. A razor has to do that while feeling comfortable to shave with. Sharp is one thing, shaving sharp is another. If you've got magnification you'll find yourself surprised at how small an imperfection it takes to ruin a shaving edge.

But on the bright side, you've got everything you need. Dovo is a decent quality brand, and the hones you have are good as well. Many here set their bevels with a King 1k, and the Norton 4/8 will give you a good comfortable shave. I used 1 razor honed on the 4/8 and nothing else for a good 6 months. All you need now is experience. And maybe some level of magnification if you don't already have it.

Give the Dovo a shave test. If it works, let it ride. If it doesn't, try your hand at honing it.

Thank you.

Yes I know that there is a difference. Thank you.

So, I take it was not advertised as “shave ready”? It probably was not fully honed, although a factory edge is close and often a good stropping or a pasted stropping will finish an edge. The trick is having your stropping down.

If you can sharpen a knife “regularly”, you can hone a razor, just keep in mind you will be using higher grits with lots less pressure. Pressure is an edge killer at the finish. Get an inexpensive 40-60x loupe or scope, they are only a few bucks on line.

At the factory, the razor was final honed with the spine slightly off the hone, to prevent scratching.

Tape the spine with one layer of electrical tape, the brand does not matter. Ink the bevels with a sharpie and put the razor on the 8k stone and do one lap with the spine and edge on the stone.

That will tell you how close you are and if you are honing close to the edge. A new Dove should be close and can easily have the bevel reset on a 4k hone.

If you are more than an 1/8 inch from the edge do a set of 20 circles with moderate pressure. Re-ink the bevels and do another single lap to see how close you are to the edge.

Once reaching the edge, do single strokes until you are honing completely across the edge, and all the stria are 4k stria. Lighten up pressure on your final strokes, then move up to the 8k and remove all the 4k stria. Do your final laps with light pressure.

If you run into issues, post them here and well get you to a shaving edge.

euclid440 wow that was a good read.

I have done the marker edge test.

What I have semi to be having is blade geometry issues. On one face of the bevel it looks very even all across from heal to toe. But then on the other side it doesn't have the same look. On the heel end the bevel starts the same thickness as the other side. The as you look along the rest of the face before you get to the toe it thins out and is agot 1/16th shorter then the other side or the heel or toe on the same side. So I'm thinking I still need to work that one side down a little more. But should I continue to work both sides at the sametime or just one side at a time?

Continue to work both sides equally. Does the bevel go all the way to the edge? That is all that matters. The width of the bevel is nothing but aesthetics but both bevels must meet in order to form the edge. The disparity in bevel width could be a grinding issue or it could be that your stokes are varying from one direction relative to the other. If the latter is the case, then the bevel may not be reaching the edge. Try the marker test on that area to try to get a better sense of that narrower region.

How does your bevel at the toe compare to the bevel that was there before you started?

Yes the bevel goes all the way to the edge.

Also check for a frown as I've seen factory fresh Dovo's with frowns

That is one of the differences between Razors and Knives and for the most part we do not put as much emphasis on the bevel width and evenness.

Because razors are much thinner at heat treatment, most are not perfectly straight and because of that alone the bevels are rarely equal. And it will not affect the shave.

You do want to try to do the same number of strokes on both sides to keep the edge in the middle of the blade.

Look at the first 3 threads in the Honing Forum, there is a lot of good information there.

Also, here is a good thread with good micrographs taken by the poster PCM
Second Try at Honing. He is honing a vintage blade with some issues, but all the honing practices are the same, with the exception that you will re-set the bevel on a 4k as opposed to a 1k.

Once you are honing to the edge, look straight down on the edge with magnification, if you see light reflecting, any shiny spots the bevels are not fully set. This technique is documented in this thread. The stria patterns should look like PCM’s at the various stones.

Originally Posted by FrankG28

Yes the bevel goes all the way to the edge.

Ok, that's great! As long as your bevels meet, then you have an edge. What about my other question? Does your new bevel at the questionable toe area appear to the same width as the pre-existing bevel?

If your bevel matches the previous bevel and both narrow at the toe, then it most likely is a grind issue, with the blade being ground a little more thinly there. On the other hand, if your bevel is thinner than the previous bevel, then it MAY be due to some slight change in your honing stroke