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Have a new dovo best 5/8 hollow ground with a factory edge. will mow hair. have not stropped and shaved with it yet. have a norton 220/1000, 4000/8000, and chinese 12 k. what is the proper honing progression as a general rule of thumb. All advice, personal experience and words of wisdom is appreciated.
its sort of a hit or miss with dovo i would strop and shave if its pulling then try 50 laps with the 12 k and strop and try again. that should get her singing
Firstly, if you haven't already, read the tests in the wiki.
If it shaves already it sounds as though the bevel is already set, so I'd start with a few laps over the 8k, then do a Thumb Pad Test. It should feel sticky. If it passes, move onto the Chinese with slurry, & finally just with water.
Can't give a guide on the number of laps. I just move on when I feel I can't progress any more on the hone.
For the last 15-20 laps, keep the blade so light on the hone you'd think it couldn't be doing anything. I find this takes the blade from ok to passing the HHT straight off the hone. That said, don't feel that the HHT is the be all & end all. It's not. Also for these last laps, keep the movement over the hone slow. Sham once told me it allows far better control. He's right.
Interested in what the other's have to say too.
As you probably expect, being confident in your honing abilities, what to do depends on where the edge is.
For starters use only the 4000/8000 hone. Try 5-20 laps on the 8k side and if it is not working it would be good to use the pyramid method (look it up in the wiki, there are details on what to do).
It shouldn't take more than about 50 laps on the 4000 side altogether.