Newb from Alberta, Canada

Hey Everybody,
Whats up! I'm new to the wet shaving world. Started with a cheap $20 replaceable blade shavette that I picked up from the barber shop and got my first new blade on Monday! Picked up a Dovo 5/8 Special Faux Tortoise with a Bison leather strop and a Kent BLK2 brush. Any feedback on if I made the right choice would be great! One thing though, when I got the blade it needed to be sharpened. The store that I bought it from sharpens and hones razors as well. So when I asked them to sharpen it for me, they asked if I wanted them to tape the spine. I asked them why and they said some people don't like the 'polish' that it puts on the spine and that they would need to put like 16 layers of tape and it would be a hassle removing all the glue and gunk from the tape so I said it was okay to sharpen. When I got it back and took it home for my first shave, I noticed that they spine on both sides of my brand new blade were all scratched and had a bit of flattening to it rather than the "polish" they told me it was going to be. Having said that, I asked them if I could exchange it after they had done that to my new blade and they said no because it has been sharpened and used now (the guy working there tested the blade on his arm hair to see how sharp it was before honing). Is there any way to make my blade look brand new again?? I'm pretty choked as I'm anal about my new blade and I wanted to keep it looking new as long as possible! Anyways, great to meet you all and hope to hear some replies back!

Regards,

Phillay

Hi and welcome. Sounds like you have some nice equipment to start with. The wear to the spine is irreversible. The only way to get rid of it properly is to regrind the razor. That said it is a normal part of honing and is to be expected. If you polished the are of wear it won't be as noticeable. May use tape for future honing. Anyway good luck with your shaves and any other questions feel free to ask

welcome. I am curious where this shop is. If the spine of a razor gets taped for honing it is typically a single layer on a blade such as yours. There are times when more is used but that isn't really relevant now. There are quite a few members here from Canada and several of those are from Alberta. If you are looking to find some kindred spirits there are a few close to you that will eventually chime in.

Hey and welcome to the forum. Sounds like you got some decent gear to start off with. Sorry to hear about the spine on your razor. I hate it when I hear stores give out absolute BS like having to use 16 layers of tape to hone a razor. Don't blame you a bit for being POed about the honing scratches on the spine which are easily avoidable by using one layer of tape.

Bob

I may get shunned for this but I never tape the spine of the razor. A straight razor is a tool, and all tools show signs of use. Also I dont like creating a false bevel.
Welcome to SRP. Sounds like you got some nice gear.

Colin

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Originally Posted by TrilliumLT

I may get shunned for this but I never tape the spine of the razor. A straight razor is a tool, and all tools show signs of use. Also I dont like creating a false bevel.
Welcome to SRP. Sounds like you got some nice gear.

Colin

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No shunning from here. An owner can do what they like with a razor but if the owners preference is not to have the spine marked up using a layer of tape will accomplish that nicely. The razor will shave just as well after honing with or without tape being used. All a matter of preference.

Bob

I would be suspect of the hone job to start with ,seeing as they wanted to use so much tape, I hope it is all right but they sure have me thinking that they might not know what their doing. that being said , your razor will serve you fine if and when its honed properly by one who doesn't use 16 layers of tape good luck and stick around you will have some fun tc

Thanks for the welcome guys, the name of the shop I picked up my blade from is Knifewear in Edmonton. I went there because the people that worked there seemed cool, helped me with any questions I had and also had the best price for the Dovo 5/8 Faux Tortoise ($166.00) which also beats the prices I've seen online. Because I got a set, I got 10% off everything so it wasn't too bad. The only thing was just the scratched/flattened (a bit) spine from them sharpening my blade. Other than that, no complaints and the staff were super friendly.

Welcome! I'm new also, I just have a few more posts than you and I've been doing a lot of reading. I'm surprised you didn't talk about how well the blade shaves -- have you done a shave with it?

Good luck!

Bob

Thanks Bob!

I have had my first shave with it and I'm just about to post about it in the forum! It shaves B-E-A-UTIFULLY!

If a hone is done properly the wear on the spine won't be noticeable if it even shows at all. I would be suspect of the hone they did to your razor and try to find a Hone Meister in your area. Shaving arm hair is a heck of a lot different than shaving your face.

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Originally Posted by guitstik

If a hone is done properly the wear on the spine won't be noticeable if it even shows at all. I would be suspect of the hone they did to your razor and try to find a Hone Meister in your area. Shaving arm hair is a heck of a lot different than shaving your face.

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Agreed, but since it's my first time shaving with a SR, I don't know how to tell if its a proper hone and sharpen :S.

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Originally Posted by Phillay

Agreed, but since it's my first time shaving with a SR, I don't know how to tell if its a proper hone and sharpen :S.

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If the shave was smooth with no tugging chances are the honing was good. It is just the when you hear the cockamaimy stuff about needing 16 layers of tape to hone you get a little suspicious of how knowledgeable the person was about honing a razor.

There is also the cringe factor with a place that sells knives and straights as well. There is a difference between sharpening a knife and honing a razor. There have been horror stories here about members having their razor sharpened at a predominantly knife shop. It is not always the case but often enough to give pause.

Bob

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Originally Posted by BobH

If the shave was smooth with no tugging chances are the honing was good. It is just the when you hear the cockamaimy stuff about needing 16 layers of tape to hone you get a little suspicious of how knowledgeable the person was about honing a razor.

There is also the cringe factor with a place that sells knives and straights as well. There is a difference between sharpening a knife and honing a razor. There have been horror stories here about members having their razor sharpened at a predominantly knife shop. It is not always the case but often enough to give pause.

Bob

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Thanks for the heads up Bob, looks like I'll have to look around and see if I can find a proper honemeister that knows exactly what they're doing and give that a test. Is there such a thing as over sharpening/honing your blade? I mean, I would assume if you did it yourself then yes. But what if I took it to another honemeister next week and got them to sharpen it again to see what that was like. Would that be bad for the blade?

With a proper bevel set and hone you should not need to touch steel to stone for a long time. The amount of time differs from one person to the next and on the skill level in stropping. And to answer your question, yes, you can over hone a razor even a knife for that mater. You will just be removing more and more material from the edge and prematurely shortening the life of the razor. The reason I don't use tape on the spine is that it wears in relation to the edge and if you stop the wear on the spine each successive honing shortens the blade and changes the angle. True enough that it is such a small amount that you couldn't see it with the naked eye but then again adding tape also changes the angle and on an edge as thin as a razor that can change the whole dynamic of the shave. Find a honemeister in your area that would be willing to show you how to do it yourself and then go slow

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Originally Posted by Phillay

Thanks for the heads up Bob, looks like I'll have to look around and see if I can find a proper honemeister that knows exactly what they're doing and give that a test. Is there such a thing as over sharpening/honing your blade? I mean, I would assume if you did it yourself then yes. But what if I took it to another honemeister next week and got them to sharpen it again to see what that was like. Would that be bad for the blade?

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I am not saying they did a bad job of honing only that a few flags pop up for me to wonder. If it is shaving well for you I would leave it be for the present.

I think it might be a good idea to find a honemeister close to you and have him check it out for a second opinion. If you put your location in a member near you might be able to help with that. Never hurts to have an experienced mentor help out.

Bob

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Originally Posted by BobH

I am not saying they did a bad job of honing only that a few flags pop up for me to wonder. If it is shaving well for you I would leave it be for the present.

I think it might be a good idea to find a honemeister close to you and have him check it out for a second opinion. If you put your location in a member near you might be able to help with that. Never hurts to have an experienced mentor help out.

Bob

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Thanks for the advice BobH. I'm from Edmonton, I'll have to update that!

Hi neighbour. I've been into that shop as well. Can't comment on their honing skills, but the guy I talked with seemed very knowledgeable and honest about things. They don't sell just knives, it's pretty high end stuff, japanese blades and damascus blades, different bevel styles...the owner's must put some time into training staff before they turn them loose sharpening all those three and six hundred dollar blades. But the sixteen tape layers does sound wierd...maybe a misunderstanding?
I bought online, a slightly cheaper blade but the guy has a honemeister put an edge on it. It was what I could afford. Not enough experience to know how far from ideal it is, but it seems to shave nice so far, so i'm happy. I think I'll just mail back to him when it's time for the first honing.

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Originally Posted by murray

Hi neighbour. I've been into that shop as well. Can't comment on their honing skills, but the guy I talked with seemed very knowledgeable and honest about things. They don't sell just knives, it's pretty high end stuff, japanese blades and damascus blades, different bevel styles...the owner's must put some time into training staff before they turn them loose sharpening all those three and six hundred dollar blades. But the sixteen tape layers does sound wierd...maybe a misunderstanding?
I bought online, a slightly cheaper blade but the guy has a honemeister put an edge on it. It was what I could afford. Not enough experience to know how far from ideal it is, but it seems to shave nice so far, so i'm happy. I think I'll just mail back to him when it's time for the first honing.

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Hey Murray,

I think he said 16 pieces of tape to me because he didn't feel like taping up my spine. In my opinion it felt kind of like he was trying to make it seem like it wasn't worth the hassle and more troublesome for him. But asides from that, you're correct. They seemed very knowledgeable about everything else and really friendly staff. Where online did you get yours from?