Thread: Dovo Chip

I'm about to move into uncharted waters and would welcome any reassurance and advice. I've checked through the FAQ's and various dvd's but I'm still a little uncertain of the correct approach on this. It's time to put my 4k, 8k and 16k Shaptons to good use. My Dovo Bismarck has suffered a small chip, about mid length, just evident by thumbnail and pad of finger. I have successfully honed a Wade and Butcher to pass the HHT so I'm OK with the basic pyramid technique as suggested. Now I'm in a dilemma. The Dovo has a goldwashed spine. Does that call for tape during honing? I plan to work some circular strokes on the 4k with marker ink just to get a picture of the bevel before working the chip out, then standard pyramid down to 16k.

I'm a little hesitant as this is a good blade and a new experience for me. I could get a honemeister on the case but I really want to progress with this and there's nothing quite like experiential learning for me at least.

A blow-by-blow account would be useful at this stage! Thanks - Moggs is moving up a gear...

Moggs I'd personally tape the spine , if your going to be doing a lot of work to get the chip out . I foolishly took a fairly big chip out of a pristine Dubl Duck on Friday evening after I jammed the blade in the scales ( long story ) ... I'm going to be going down to a 800 diamond plate first then onto my DMT Extra extra . I'm most certainly going to be taping the spine for this emergency repair work .
Keep in mind once you tape the spine , whenever you go to touch up the razor you'll most likely need to tape the spine again

good luck ..

Re: goldwashed spine and tape; Only if you want to keep the wash on the spine intact! If you can remember that you taped it whenever you do touchups, go for it.

Personally, I don't like using tape since I keep forgetting which razors I taped, and which ones I didn't.

Re: rehoning to shave sharp; If you got a W&B to HHT that's great. Was it a good shave? If so, I bet you could get the Dovo done.

My advice would be to start on low grits until that nick is gone, and then do what you did with the W&B. If the chip isn't visible to the eye, it shouldn't be that bad to get rid of, even with a 4k as your lowest grit hone.

I would bypass the circular strokes with the marker first, and try a few minutes with standard strokes to see if it come out that way. If not, then go for the circular or back/forth strokes.

Just be sure and take your time, put the razor down if you start to get bored/frustrated.

Good advice - thanks. The W&B dealt me a good shave - you've got me concerned - was I just very lucky? It certainly felt 'very'sharp on the TPT and was like a whisper against my face. Will try standard honing to attack the chip in first instance, taped methinks.

Update. Taped spine. 6 laps on the 4k and pyramid all the way down through the 8k to finish 10 laps on the 16k Shaptons. Dug out a very old Fisher Price (yes one of our children's long-forgotten toys!) to examine the edge. Looks uniform, no chips. Sharp. HHT success. I am well pleased. Earlier talk of Welsh slate hones and now plastic microscopes makes me wonder whether there might be a 'budget' approach to this. I ignored the chuckles from our visiting 26 year old daughter as Dad peered through the lens, as fascinated as she had been some 20 years ago

If you don't use tape with gold washed spines it will take it off and leave a fine bright line on the very edge of the spine. Naturally if you use pastes it's going to take off more and maybe not quite as evenly? (I don't really use pastes). I don't find the line on the edge of the spine unappealing or ugly and I definitely don't want to hassle with tape so I don't use it. With more hone wear the line will flatten a bit and become a bit wider. I still don't mind that at all since it's a "straight edge" effect and looks very precise. If you decide to go without tape after using it previously you have to reset the edge bevel since the angle has changed. Tape or no tape while honing does not make any difference while stropping if you were wondering if you would need to tape then if you taped while honing.

(so isn't stropping without tape over the midterm going to remove the gold wash?)

Originally Posted by Moggs

Update. Taped spine. 6 laps on the 4k and pyramid all the way down through the 8k to finish 10 laps on the 16k Shaptons. Dug out a very old Fisher Price (yes one of our children's long-forgotten toys!) to examine the edge. Looks uniform, no chips. Sharp. HHT success. I am well pleased. Earlier talk of Welsh slate hones and now plastic microscopes makes me wonder whether there might be a 'budget' approach to this. I ignored the chuckles from our visiting 26 year old daughter as Dad peered through the lens, as fascinated as she had been some 20 years ago

Good deal. Give it a shave and post results!

A good shave. As close as ever. I'm quite pleased with the results of the first 'real' need to hone. Very satisfying. I've noticed too that over the months, my skin has taken on a new softness which probably means that it's responding to the attention. I'll explore this elsewhere...

Thanks all for the advice.

Good to hear. All you need are a few dozen hones and a few dozen razors and you will be set.