Thread: is this Dovo razor deficient?

Yes I honed this blade, and quite a few times over the past week and a half or so, attempting to master it. I'm not surprised if the blade looks "abused". Everyone who hones a blade once honed their first. And this is mine.

However, the flat spot on the blade is not flat due to my honing. This is clearly obvious when looking at it through a loupe, and I think it's fairly clear in my photos, particularly the first one. The grind marks from the manufacturer are still clearly visible, undisturbed, through that flat section. It's obvious that it was flat when I got it.

It took me a week or so to really see this flat area, as opposed to just looking at it. Being new to straight razors, it's taken some sharpening and examining experience to really start zeroing in on details that would likely be obvious at a glance to the old hands.

When looking at the edge under a loupe, what I see is the bevel thinning out to where for a short distance in that flat area it essentially disappears. The first image I posted demonstrates this fairly well.

Here's another image, from a different angle.

Honing is not difficult until you have a problem...then there are 100's of things it could be.
There is a reason people send there razors to professionals to be honed.

It looks to me like because of going up onto the stabilizer that you have created a "rocking" effect that will leave the condition that your blade is in now. Could it be fixed easily?

YES...but by someone who KNOWS EXACTLY what the problem is and how to fix it.
Could you fix it yourself?... YOU BET YOU CAN! .... but it might take you a while... and some good advice (which is being given to you) to sort out what is wrong.

I would personally use some tape on the spine so as not to cause any more damage to it and REALLY watch some of the videos again or better yet try and find someone local that does honing to see if you can take it to them and learn what is going on.

The people on this board are the MOST HELPFUL and knowledgeable that I have come across and I bet someone would be willing to help you. You are a brave man for learning to hone on such a nice blade. My first couple were flea market finds and I will tell you I beat them up! I am getting better and am happy with the edges I put on them now but I KNOW I could do MUCH better. The key is to "listen" to what the blade is telling you that it wants or needs in order to perform it's best.

Good Luck with it. I KNOW you can get it straightened out and shaving again.

Originally Posted by Chevhead

Honing is not difficult until you have a problem...

Nailed it. It's easy to fall prey to the insidious and deceptive nature of our sweet little straight razors. There's only like what, two moving parts? ()

There are volumes of reasons why traditionally, it was only the very accomplished and talented cutlers who attempted razor manufacture. When everything works, it's dead nuts simple. When one small factor goes awry, showstopping complications are the result.

I remember a buddy of mine years ago who had gone native over golf. He was waxing poetically and said (I'm paraphrasing here...) "you've got a thousand things to consider in performing the perfect stroke but only one shot to execute it when you drive the ball. Arnold Palmer got it right every time, and as a result, anybody who ever watched ABC's Wide World of Sports thinks golfing is an unskilled pastime."

Guilty.

I discovered two distinct phases in my first attempts to develop the skill to hone my own razors:

1) "Hey, this is a snap! As a result of my keen new found skill at honing, my minty new old stock Dubl Duck #1 is shave ready! BRING ON THE RESTOS!"

Followed soon after by things like:

2) Why does my bevel look like an EKG blip? What the hell have I done here? THIS worked LAST time! Nothing is working the way it should...where's my hairshirt...

The lesson I learned was, at the first sign of trouble, when my solid fundamental "tools" (knowledge and skill) are failing, scream out for help before I do damage.

Since you are apparently sol on returning it because you have attempted to hone it, the easiest way out is to send it for a pro corrective honing. The other is to continue to try and hone the trouble spot out. If you go that route try honing heel forward to keep off the stabilizer. You may eventually get a bevel set all the way across but it will be wider at the heel. Feel free to disregard that as I am no expert at honing. Out of curiosity is the other side of the blade the same?

Bob

i bet one of the pro honers can fix it for you that way it might save some steel that you will wear away, hitting that stabilizer hasn't helped, take a break and send it off to be fixed and then see about maintaining the blade after that good luck tc

I am in the unenviable position here of appearing to be the newb who is arguing with the old hands telling them how it is. That being said, the consensus here seems to be that the flat spot was caused by me honing too far over onto the heel, and that simply is not so. When viewing it directly through a loupe it is obvious, but trying to photograph grind marks on a steel blade is tricky, and so please indulge me yet one more time with another attempt to show it. I went back down to my lair and adjusted the razor, the lamp, and my camera on a tripod until I could get a shot that shows the original grind marks on the blade, undisturbed all the way out to the edge.

Look at this photo. The red arrows point to the area where the flat spot is. The area I'm talking about is where the bevel thins out to nonexistence. Look at my previous photos to see the flat spot from another angle that shows how the blade thins out in that area. This photo clearly shows the original final surface of the blade as it was shipped to me, all the way out to the edge. If I had caused the flat spot by honing too far out onto the heel, these manufacturing grind marks would have been obliterated.

One idea I have is to try to push the edge toward the other side a little by building up the spine on this side of the blade with a layer or two of electrical tape and then honing the blade a little on a coarser stone, like a 1000-1500, while not honing at all on the other side. The bevel on the other side is consistent all along the edge since the flat spot is only on one side of the blade. If I honed just this side a little more I could "push" the edge over far enough toward the other side until I got a discrete bevel showing on both sides of the blade all the way down the blade. Then just hit the polishing stones and finish the edge.

Does this sound like a reasonable approach? It sounds like returning it is a no go, so I probably don't have much to lose here. Meanwhile I have some photo documentation now showing the blade as it is now.

By the way, thanks to all for all the comments and suggestions! I've read every one, and if it looks like this isn't returnable or that I can't fix it myself, then I'll certainly try sending it off to one of the pro honers.

Originally Posted by Sethbag

By the way, thanks to all for all the comments and suggestions! I've read every one, and if it looks like this isn't returnable or that I can't fix it myself, then I'll certainly try sending it off to one of the pro honers.

Try honing with the heel of your razor angled slightly ahead of the toe on your hone.it appears that you will lose some steel while correcting the edge bevel .best of luck .salute .CAM .

Originally Posted by Sethbag

By the way, thanks to all for all the comments and suggestions! I've read every one, and if it looks like this isn't returnable or that I can't fix it myself, then I'll certainly try sending it off to one of the pro honers.

Think of it this way: if you ride your car onto a curb, do your tires wear evenly? Of course not. Where the tire is on the curb, you will see more wear. There will also be a gap where you see no wear at all. The bottom of the tread will also be worn. The enlarged images only outline what the others have told you. You honed onto the stabilizer which has changed the original honing angle just enough to create the flat spot that has the "original grind marks." I did the same to many razors before I realized what not to do. The advice being given is exactly correct.

Sethbag,

I see you're in the United States. So am I. Just drop over and I'll help you get that straightened out.

If you post your location, there is likely someone nearby who can help.