Thread: New AOS Razor

I'm still new to honing, and i gave up on my NOS that i got on ebay and antique stores. I ended up sending it to a honemiester on this forum. I got a completely dulled razor to shave hair off my arms and legs, but could not get it t comfortably shave atg with my norton 220/1k 4k/8k set up. All the razors came back to me incredibly sharp and gave amazing shaves.

For xmas i got two new razors, both dovos one from AOS the other from classic shaving. They both gave me great WTG and XTG shaves, but i dared NOT go ATG. Part of my gifts was also a naniwa 12k. so here comes my question. Knowing that i failed to shine a bevel past just shaving hairs on my leg, do you think i should attempt to polish a bevel set from Dovo factory. beyond that is a dovo factory bevel worth keeping?

I feel like after all i have done with straights i might be capable of polishing a perfectly set bevel on a completely straight blade. my stropping has kept a few razors shave ready sharp (and ATG worthy) for almost 12 months. Granted i only shave about 3X a week, i still think it is an achievement.

So if any any one with experience honing, can please answer the following two questions with as much detail as possible i would appreciate it greatly:

Is a dovo factory bevel worth keeping, and polishing or should it be reset?
What stone should i start out on, and is a pyramid too invasive for a dovo factory set bevel?

Last question:

I feel bad taking a new blade, and practicing by shaving metal/life expectancy off of it. Having the skills to strop, a blade into almost 12 months of life should i be able to do it?

Originally Posted by Jp1munoz

If you had posted in the more appropriate Honing section instead of in Hones, you'd have gotten responses faster.


My experience with the factory edges from dovo is that they have microchips and need more work than naniwa 12.
IIRC on the last one I fixed I used norton 4k with slurry for faster cutting, normally I'd start with the 1k as it's much more efficient.

my apologies. I did not look thoroughly enough.

Back to 1k, because of microchips not to reset a bevel? How many strokes on the 1k? and would a pyramid with the 4k/8k be ok? followed by how many strokes on the 12k?

I wouldn't automatically assume a certain brand of razor has bad bevels and you have to reset them. You need to look at it and make that decision for yourself. If you don't like the way it looks and think you can do a better job then do it. Also if the razor is doing it's job why reset the bevel. Why look for trouble?

I haven't had any recent Dovo's the last time I bought a new one was a few years ago and I thought the edges were in good shape. They needed honing, some needed bevel work but I never saw microchips on any.

I think the same about my dovo's. i have a prima klang that shaves fine, i just whipped it on my coticule. I would shave with factory edge . if its not qite how you like?, just try 10 laps on your 12k naniwa. I never had microchips. you could check the edge with a 30k loop

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I wouldn't automatically assume a certain brand of razor has bad bevels and you have to reset them. You need to look at it and make that decision for yourself. If you don't like the way it looks and think you can do a better job then do it. Also if the razor is doing it's job why reset the bevel. Why look for trouble?
. . . .

+1. Evaluate the edge with a loupe (or microscope) before starting to hone it.

If you don't have either tool, start with 10 or 20 light laps on your finest stone, and test the result. If it's no good, drop to the next-finest stone (or use more pressure). And so on.

If you had a pasted strop, I'd suggest starting with that.

You have a problem to deal with:

. . . You don't have _proven_ honing skills.

So do as little damage as possible -- which means using the finest stone that you have.

Charles

Yeah, the 4 out of 4 dovos with a factory edge I've honed in the last several months all needed bevel work. Shavingwise they were what I consider barely shaving, though I'm sure many new people simply struggle through with that and end up either suffering, giving up, or finding a way to get a proper edge. But that's a pretty small sample, somebody like Lynn who hones a ton of them all the time would know best what state they typically come in, though there will always be variations.

The problem with doing these things over the internet is that it's almost impossible to evaluate the edge of somebody's razor. Best course of action always is to find somebody local who's good at it and who's willing to help.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I wouldn't automatically assume a certain brand of razor has bad bevels and you have to reset them. You need to look at it and make that decision for yourself. If you don't like the way it looks and think you can do a better job then do it. Also if the razor is doing it's job why reset the bevel. Why look for trouble?

I haven't had any recent Dovo's the last time I bought a new one was a few years ago and I thought the edges were in good shape. They needed honing, some needed bevel work but I never saw microchips on any.

at the moment i do not own an optical device. I do not like buying cheap items because i find they cost more (aggravation/money) in the end than what i saved. I have seen recommendations for radio shack items, and other inexpensive items so that i can see what is going on with my edge. At this point all i have are my eyes. The edge looks fine, even through out and on par with the spine. it shaves really well WTG and XTG, but def. (a big definitely) not ATG. My bear is not dense, but it is tough so the fact that it is very comfortable wtg and xtg, made me believe bevel was good.

would i see imperfections with my eyes?

Originally Posted by gary haywood

I think the same about my dovo's. i have a prima klang that shaves fine, i just whipped it on my coticule. I would shave with factory edge . if its not qite how you like?, just try 10 laps on your 12k naniwa. I never had microchips. you could check the edge with a 30k loop

i like wtg, not atg. and funny thing about loops, it seems none are actually 30k. the ones that are, only differ in price from an OK microscope by 10-20 bucks. only thing that bothers me is. I know not EVERYONE hones with an optical device. why me? i'm a bare bones type of guy. so i really would like to hone with only hands and stones.