Thread: Sharpening procedure for factory edge straight razors

Hi,

I just bought a Dovo Bismarck straight razor from Ebay. And this razor is not honned by professionals.

Can you advise me about where to start my sharpening ? First Norton water stone 4000 second 8000 and 12000 good

enough ?

Thanks,
Cem Gokturk

Give a look:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/honing/99288-help-advice-needed.html#post1172007

Maybe get it sharpened by a pro and then use it as a standard. Get a second one of good steel to practice on.

Or go slowly and learn on the Bismarck, as per the provided link.

If you want to do this yourself then the first thing to do is evaluate the blade. Does the bevel look even on both sides? Does it shave arm hair across the entire length of the blade? If so then I would do a bevel refresh and then hone from there. If it does not I would reset the bevel first. 4,8,12 progression is fine in most cases but this all is dependent upon the honer's skills and experience as well. We all have to start from somewhere though. If you already have some good benchmark razors then it may be a good one to begin to learn. That's your choice. When you are new though you want a true 'beater' razor to learn on because learning mistakes happen. The Dovo Bismark is in the mid range of their razors and if this one looks in good shape it may not be a good one to practice on.

Originally Posted by cemgokturk

I just bought a Dovo Bismarck straight razor from Ebay. And this razor is not honned by professionals.
Can you advise me about where to start my sharpening ? First Norton water stone 4000 second 8000 and 12000 good enough ?

can't tell without seeing the edge. 8k and 12k will be fine in the end.
Question is if You can start off with the 4k or need to go down to bevel setting (or even more)

If it is actually factory condition (never used) then you most likely have a decent bevel and starting at 4K will work well. Coming from ebay, I would evaluate the razor making the presumption that it is not true factory new condition though. Most Dovo's from the factory need some basics; ex; 4K 40 circles medium pressure, 25 X strokes, 40 circles no pressure, 10 X strokes; 8K; 10 X strokes; 12K 10 X strokes (or something like that). If the bevel needs it you can be reset with a 4K but it just takes more time compared to a 1K.

I would see if it pops arm hair (without touching the skin) and strop and shave. If it needs honing 10 round trips on a finisher and strop and shave again. Depending on the results of that I would either go 4/8 or maybe 1k and start from scratch ..... no pun intended.

Do yourself a favor and have it honed by a pro. I do my own honing on most of my razors and I get good shaving edges. But the ones I get back from my preferred honing expert come back to me with a level of polish and sharpness that struggle to duplicate. You’ll never know what a truly good edge is until you have it done correctly by someone who really knows how to do this. If you only own one razor, get it tuned up by an expert. Later when/if you end up with more razors, you can frustrate yourself to no end trying to duplicate their work. But for the purposes of shaving, you’ll want to do yourself the favor of starting with a truly shave ready blade, something that you will not only struggle to achieve but also recognize at this early stage. You only have one face so treat it to the best.