Shave ready -- almost

Got in a new Dovo yesterday, the Pearlex one with the INOX blade that goes for $100 ballpark at any shop. Anyway, first to check if it would pop a hair with the hanging hair test. Nope. Next, I gave it 10 or so light passes on the Chinese 12k stone, dry, then 10 on the hanging linen, then 20 on the hanging strop. It's very sharp now, and it only took me about 10 minutes from the time I opened the box. Every mm of that blade will now pop a hair. I shaved with it this morning, and it was my best shave yet. I mean, I've had my other razors passing the hanging hair for a little while now, but this one seemed better, and not marginally, either. Luck of the draw with a new one I guess. Makes me see how much more work I need to put into my others. That's my new "first step" though when a blade needs touching up. Did my other daily users too, some light dry passes on the 12k and then finish with the strop and I like the results very much.

Thanks for the review. I see you use your waterstone dry. Is that normal practice with razor honing? Also, did you use figure 8 pattern on stone?

Thanks

I just use the 12k dry for light touch-ups. It's not as aggressive as it is wet. When I'm doing a full hone job, I start with an 8k waterstone wet, then 12k wet, then 12k dry, then linen and leather. Works for me, as long as the edge isn't too far gone to begin with. I need something more aggressive than the 8k for ebay specials and antique store finds. Those razors are on hold until I get a 5k or so stone. The 8k would do it, but I can't keep a steady hand for the hours it would take. I use the criss-cross method as illustrated in the animated gif avatar that someone here has. It's called "honing motion gif" in the permanent help files.