Thread: Dovo’s honing method

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

Not sure if this is true but I heard Dovo send their razors off to the Ningbo Razor & Scissors Manufacture Co and are honed by Master Shifu...

Bob

Post 2356 here:

https://theshaveden.com/forums/threa...8#post-1760459

Glen’s seen it too.

Originally Posted by Steve56

Post 2356 here:

https://theshaveden.com/forums/threa...8#post-1760459

Glen’s seen it too.

I wonder what happened to the pic from the post


Found it and replaced it


Dear #Dovo

Stop trying to be cute with your honing
Bad enough you cannot hit Shave Ready on most of them, but your BS routine is putting out mostly frowned edges

Factory Black Star today




#honetowardasmile

Enough already

This should be one of the first test you do on a razor about to be honed. Just like looking at where the edge ends on shouldered razors.

Once you know the issues the razor has, then you can correct them, then hone properly without fighting the razor.

On Dovo’s like these I lightly bread knife, (you do not need to remove much material,(it is thin), correct the heel, ink the blade and see if you are making full contact.

Heels are another common problem, even with new razors. Moving that corner forward a ¼ inch can save you a lot of grief.

There are several techniques to help with weak heels. A rolling x-stroke is best if it works, no special ‘tools’ needed. Sometimes you have to lift the toe up a little on the worse ones during that x-stroke. Sometimes a layer of tape seems to help the hone hit a weak heel, even thin Kapton.

Bill (BucaXXXX) used to put a short piece of electrical tape on the spine at the nose of Gold Dollars, effectively raising the toe, and creating a ‘hybrid’ edge, the tape had little effect on the angle at the heel then transitioned to a taped edge at the toe. But he was, at the time, prepping Gold Dollars to support noobs, so his goal was similar to Dovo’s goal, just get the razor out the door. Unlike Dovo’s razors though, Bill’s would shave!

We've all got to remember that the pinnacle of straight razor manufacturing has come and gone. When you had dozens and dozens of companies about in the 19th and early 20th century making blades, you also had a hell of a lot of men with who possessed immense skill and knowledge passed on down the generations. I imagine at places like Dovo, old timers are thin on the ground now and who knows how much the replacement employees have picked up, speaking as someone who would still be considered somewhat young(ish) many people my age that I know don't seem to have good manual skills, certainly nowhere near the intuitive use of tools my fathers and grandfathers generation have. Add in all the other externalities in trying to run a successful business in a niche market and we can't really be surprised at such things.

When quantity goes up....quality goes down. Typically.

The problem with Dovo is they refuse to walk away from a failed idea

It is bad enough that they can't hit shave ready but they continue to insist on the stupidity of using a Convex hone and are frowning about 50% of the razors

How to fix them

Just did this 2 months ago at the request of some of the guys on the FB page

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d_ymq0TmVI&t=19s

The Solingen Masters and a Convex hone Wooooohooooo

Yes I have no issue calling them out, this is a simple fix.... Learn to HONE, enough already