Thread: First successful hone of Dovo En Vogue 105 (Ice Tempered Frozen Steel)

Hi All,

I just wanted to share with those who may be having a similar experience to mine with these "Ice Tempered" blades. It's basically a stainless steel razor but it was proving quite difficult to hone to be honest and I had tried lots of different combinations of Norton 4k/8k, circles/pyramids, Unicot/Dilucot on Coticule but nothing seemed to give it a great edge that I could shave comfortably with.

I found the Unicot method to be OK but not great in comparison to my current method.

So what I done was as follows:

> Dulled blade on a glass tumbler by drawing it lightly across it twice
> Applied 1 layer of electrical tape to the spine (This is the first big change in my honing process)
> Done 80 circles on Norton 4k (40 in both directions) (light pressure)
> 8-10 x strokes on 4k
> Checked if it would shave arm hair - almost

> Repeat 80 circles
> Repeat x strokes
> Shaving arm hair nicely

> 80 circles on 8k
> 8 - 10 x strokes - shaving arm hair even better and passing HHT

From here I employed a pyramid method of 15/15, 10/10, 7/7, 5/5, 3/5, 1/5 ( I remember reading that SS blades benefit from the extra polishing strokes so that's why I keep the 8k strokes at 5 towards the end)

At this stage it seemed quite sharp and was popping arm hair and passing the HHT(for what that's worth), but I decided to try to give it a micro-bevel similar to what is done on the Coticule using the Unicot method. I was unsure on what stone and how many strokes and how many layers of tape but what I did seems to have worked.

I applied one more layer and done about 15 light x strokes on the 8k side of the Norton and tested again and it seemed perhaps even a little sharper than before so I was confident enough to take it to my face so I stropped around 50 on Dovo green pasted loom strop and then about 40-50 on hanging strop and went at it.

Well let me tell you this is the first time I have been able to get a real shave from a straight razor and I really liked it. I done a WTG and AGT and left it at that as my face is still becoming used to the SE but I am confident that I can get as good a shave as my DE or better with just a little practice now.

I hope this may help someone in their honing efforts and if anyone has any comments about the process or how it may be improved then I welcome them!

Nice job. Honing is as much a preference thing as anything else here. My method is mine, and yours is yours. If your face is happy then all is happy! I personally use a piece of coticule bout I got from Lynn to raise a slurry on my 8k's, and dilute every 5 strokes for 20 total, then go to just water for 5 lite x strokes, then to the 12k. It works well for me, and could be something to mess around with yourself. SRD sells them in the sharpening center link on the site. Congrats on the honing success!

Originally Posted by Kefka

Hi All,

it was proving quite difficult to hone to be honest and I had tried lots of different combinations of Norton 4k/8k, circles/pyramids, Unicot/Dilucot on Coticule but nothing seemed to give it a great edge that I could shave comfortably with.

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You make no mention of your bevel setting procedure. Most new honers shoot themselves in the foot by not spending the right amount of time on the 1k stone. Starting out with a proper bevel set will shorten your overall honing time and get you shaving sooner and better.

You sharpen the edge with the 1k. All subsequent stones are incremental polishers. Finish that bevel before moving to the next stone in your progression.

Jerry
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Originally Posted by mrsell63

__________________________________________________ _________

You make no mention of your bevel setting procedure. Most new honers shoot themselves in the foot by not spending the right amount of time on the 1k stone. Starting out with a proper bevel set will shorten your overall honing time and get you shaving sooner and better.

You sharpen the edge with the 1k. All subsequent stones are incremental polishers. Finish that bevel before moving to the next stone in your progression.

Jerry
____

Jerry it looks like he used the 4 k to set his bevel.

It's actually a good way to set the bevel just slow as you can see by how many circles and laps he needed.

Hi tiddle, That's an interesting technique with the coticule bout. I would have thought that would be bad for the 8K hone and contaminate it or something but if you say it works for you then it's something I would certainly be interested in trying out myself also,(can never have too many methods in your arsenal!) thanks for the tip!

@ Jerry & Castel33 - Yes the bevel was set with the 4K as you pointed out. I should have specified that that is what I was doing. the amount of circles I done sounds like a lot when you think about it but when I think of all the time spent on the hones previously esp with my other razor, this seemed like a breeze!!

I was wondering whether the edge could benefit from a few laps with water on the coticule but I am hesitant to touch the edge now that it shaves haha!

Regards

Daniel

Sounds great! Maybe a bit excessive to do that much on 8k and then a big pyramid but it seems to have worked.
Congrats!

Michael

It sounds as if you dulled it and made your own bevel. A smart decision as it will respond better to your honing stroke as you progress. A good thing to try with any troublemaker, IMO. Adding another layer of tape along the way will shorten the work, but keep it in mind for future touch-ups! Enjoy!

@Michael - You are probably right I could probably get the result with fewer strokes I think. I noticed some micro-chiping under the microscope on the other razor I used this method on and maybe this is due to over-honing on my part. They did mostly disappear however when I added the micro-bevel.

@sharptonn - Do you mean that I could try adding 2 layers instead of one initially and then a third for the micro-bevel?

Thanks!

Daniel

Originally Posted by Kefka

@sharptonn - Do you mean that I could try adding 2 layers instead of one initially and then a third for the micro-bevel?

Thanks!

Daniel

No, Daniel, I was inferring that you might have started with one layer and stayed with one throughout the honing process. With a razor like this, it should be no problem. Tricks like that are usually reserved for old wedges with problem wear!

Maybe you're right, I will try without the second bevel next time. WIll probably do it tomorrow as I am noticing that the blade is sharper on the heel half so it needs a touchup anyway, but that half that is sharp is super sharp, almost cant believe it