Thread: DOVO red paste

Originally Posted by strtman

Sticky, Crotalus, gssixgun, thanks for your input.

The micron specification of the DOVO pastes is useful information. Can I steal some of your time, gssixgun, by asking the following questions?

1. You write that the pastes are not anything like CrOx, CBN, Diamond. Can you be more specific? Dovo is much softer on the steel even Mild would be a good description...

2. What is the micron calibration of CrOx, CBN and Diamond? Chromium Oxide that is used for razors is .50 microns Cubic Boron Nitrite varies down to .10 microns, Diamond Paste and Spray also varies down to .10 microns

3. What does the abbreviations CrOx and CBN mean? Above

4. Do you know the chemical structure of the red paste? I am not sure, I have heard way to many answers and never one from Dovo

5. What are your experiences with the red paste in relation to touch-ups? I don't use paste as a touch up, I use it, if at all, after honing, and the Red followed by the Black gives a very nice edge... I experimented with it a few years back after reading that is could be used that way and I believe with a hanging strop or a loom strop you could probably extend an edge for quite a awile... you need the "Give" of the strop to concentrate on the very edge..

I think I got them all for ya

gssixgun, the more I read the more questions arise. Therefore I would like to continue this old thread.

In your last response you wrote that DOVO is much softer on the steel than CrOx, CBN etc.

But the DOVO pastes black, red and green are respectively 1-3 microns, 3-5 microns, 5-8 microns. CrOx for instance is 0.5 microns. If I compare these measurements I would say CrOx is less aggressive.

Or am I making an error?

Originally Posted by strtman

gssixgun, the more I read the more questions arise. Therefore I would like to continue this old thread.

In your last response you wrote that DOVO is much softer on the steel than CrOx, CBN etc.

But the DOVO pastes black, red and green are respectively 1-3 microns, 3-5 microns, 5-8 microns. CrOx for instance is 0.5 microns. If I compare these measurements I would say CrOx is less aggressive.

Or am I making an error?

You are making a common error. You are looking at micron and thinking lower the micron more a aggrisive the cut will be. However micron only indicates how fine a scratch patteren you will get on the edge of the blade. This is similar to grits on hones.

Now for aggrisiveness of a paticlur paste that comes from use and observation of a paticluar paste. The dove paste cut very slow in general and removes only small amounts of metal per lap. Thus requiring a fairly high lap count to get the most out of the paste. The dovo paste also leave a very smooth edge. Now with crox you want very low lap counts because it works very fast and removes alot of metal per lap. Some find crox to leave a bit of a harsh edge do to the quickness of the removal of metal. If you were to go into Diamond paste they cut even faster then crox of similar grits. The most common complaint of diamond is the harsh edge that it leaves behind.

A good example of this is to use hones. Take a King 1k and Chosera 1k they are both 1k so they both will give you a 1k edge. However the king stone will require more laps to achive that edge then the Chosera will.

Revival of an old thread...

I had difficulty finding information about Dovo Red Paste, so I thought I'd share my recent experience.

A bit of background info: I bought a Dovo Inox 5/8 razor a few months ago, and ordered the Dovo red paste along with it. In hind sight, I should have ordered some CrOx instead. I thought about returning the red paste to the vendor for a refund, but kept it after all.

The majority of the info I found about this paste was negative feedback, with users saying it would be a step back in the honing or refreshing process. I only found a couple of users who explained that although the particle size is relatively large, it's a "slow cutter" and therefore not directly comparable to an 8k stone, even with comparable particle size.

Well, after a few weeks of thinking my razor was too dull, and since I didn't have the patience to wait 2-3 weeks for a professional honing, I thought I would give the red paste a chance. I found a 2 inch wide nylon webbing from a gym bag, applied 3 diagonal strips of paste about 2-3 inches apart, and smeared it with my finger. I did quite a few laps (20-30) on this pasted strop, then another 30-40 on plain felt, then about 75 on plain leather.

Now I must admit I don't have enough experience to compare this paste to any other refreshing method, as it was my first ever attempt. What I can tell you though, is that before the paste, my razor had a bit of pulling, and the shave was not particularly close. After the pasted strop, I definitively noticed less pull, giving a smoother and closer shave.

So there you go. I'm not saying it's the best way to refresh a razor, but in my desperate case where it was well over-due, and the Dovo red paste was my only option, I'm quite pleased with the results, and the red paste isn't the evil some people make it out to be. This will be satisfactory until my CrOx arrives in the mail, or until my next drive to the big city to get the razor honed.

While I'm on this topic, is it possible to over-strop when using pastes? Most people recommend only 5-10 laps on CrOx, will anything bad happen with more laps?