Dovo Best Quality 6/8" Straight Razor Help

Hi guys. I bought a Dovo Best Quality 6/8" straight razor from Amazon.

Prior to this, I bought a "shave ready" GD 208 which after some elbow grease and lots of reading I was able to sharpen when it became necessary. I used some 1000/6000 grit stones along with some Chinese stones 3000/10000 grit. I know Norton 4000/8000 are the preferred approach though.

Anyhow, the new Dovo was sharp, but after trying it, it was no where near as effective as my GD 208 and decided to sharpen it. Unfortunately, I was not very successful. Interestingly, the Dovo does seem to pass the "hair test", but it just doesn't seem to cut my facial hair and gives me quite a bit of irritation (unlike my GD 208).

One thing I noticed is that the tang has jimps on the top. This made me suspect that this is not a real Dovo, but a fake. Based on what I've seen the Dovo Best Quality 6/8" does not have jimps on the top of the tang (have seen this only on more expensive models such as the Dovo Special - 1516580):

Attachment 260409

Here is another picture of the Dovo in question next to my not so pretty GD 208:

Attachment 260408

I don't have that much experience with straight razors to tell if the Dovo I got is fake or not. All I can say is that it seems to scratch easy. It also seems to get pretty sharp, but it doesn't seem to be able to remove hair off my face. Possible it's just unable to hold the edge. To me it seems as if the steel is too soft.

I also noticed that compared to my GD 208, this Dovo does not slide as smoothly on my strop.

I'm not trying to shill GD 208s or anything of the sort. I really appreciate a well build, great preforming straight razor. So any guidance as to whether I got a fake or I'm just not using proper technique with my Dovo would be greatly appreciated.

Hi ultrabike, welcome to the forum, nice to have you here. I'm thinking the Dovo is real and the issue is in the bevel. As in, the bevel is not fully set. I would try setting the bevel again and check it under magnification if you have any. Alternatively, you could send it out to get honed.

Thank you for your quick reply mate. I noticed a quick guide in this forum that shows how to sharpen a straight razor, and I've been using it successfully with my GD 208 (using a 3000/10000 small stone instead of the classic Norton). Any guidance as to how many passes to do on a 1000/6000 to set the bevel?

I tried 25/25 -> 20/20 -> 15/15 -> 10/10 -> 5/5 -> 3/5 -> 1/5 first with 1000/6000 and then with 3000/10000.

Also, the tang seems much wider with the GD 208 than with the Dovo. I could try doing more passes to set the bevel. But not sure how many and what progression.

I would also suggest taping the spine to avoid excessive wear on the spine. I set bevels on a King 1000, checking under magnification until it's set.

Will do a few more passes with the 1000 then and will tape the spine. Thanks mate.

Lynn Abrams has a great YouTube video on honing a razor with the Norton hones, but they are only one option. There are plenty of other folks who use Naniwas, Kings, Shaptons, natural stones, etc. You can find Lynn's video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

Since you have a 1000/6000 stone, you would set the bevel on the 1000 grit stone. No one can tell you how many passes it will take as every razor is different. It all depends on the geometry of the razor, the hardness of the steel, the cutting speed of your hone, etc. It takes as many passes as it takes. You have to keep at it until the bevels on each side of the razor meet. If the bevel is properly set, you should be able to shave hair off your arm or thigh with the blade at skin level and you should be able to do this everywhere along the length of the blade from heel to toe. It will help to have a jeweler's loupe to examine the blade as you hone.

As Lynn shows in his video, starting with circles can speed up the honing process.

When the bevel is properly set, you then move on to higher grit hones to remove the scratches caused by the 1000 grit hone. The 3000 grit side of the 3K/10K hone would be next in sequence. Again, start with circles and end with x-strokes until the 1K scraches have been replaced by finer 3K scratches. This should take a lot fewer strokes than setting the bevel.

Then repeat the process with the 6000 grit side of the 1K/6K hone. Finally, finish on the 10K side of the 3K/10K hone. With the finishing hone, you might not need to do circles;, some people do, some don't. Do what works for you.

Normally Dovo razors come from the factory with the bevel set and need only a small amount of additional honing to finish the razor, but if you messed up the bevel with your initial attempts at honing, then you will need to reset the bevel.

You did not mention whether you taped the spine of the razor when honing. The first time you hone a razor, you can mark the bevel of the razor with a Sharpie. Then you make just a few passes on the hone and inspect the bevel with a magnifier. If you have removed all of the ink from the bevel, then you are using the same amount of tape that was used to previously hone the razor. If you find that the ink was removed from the top of the bevel, but not the very edge, then you need to add a layer of tape to the spine and repeat the Sharpie test. If you find the ink was removed from the very edge of the bevel, but not the top of the bevel, then you need to remove a layer of tape and repeat the Sharpie test. If you are going to completely reset the bevel, then it is not necessary to do the Sharpie test, but it is often helpful. Many wedge and quarter hollow blades are honed with a least one layer of tape. More hollow grinds are honed without tape, but some people like to use take to protect the spine, especially if it is a worked or decorated spine.

[QUOTE=ultrabike;1724454]I tried 25/25 -> 20/20 -> 15/15 -> 10/10 -> 5/5 -> 3/5 -> 1/5 first with 1000/6000 and then with 3000/10000.QUOTE]

You really can't hone by numbers. Stay on your bevel setting hone for as long and as many strokes as it takes to really set the bevel before going up the progression.

For sure use a layer of tape on the spine and change it out often while on the bevel setting hone as it will wear quickly. Put a fresh layer of tape on before going to the next hone and so on.

Good luck.

Bob

Use of the thumb-nail test (TNT) is a great way to determine if you have set the bevel properly before moving up to the next hone in your progression. A sharp bevel will really bite into a wet thumb-nail when lightly pulled across. If you aren't getting the edge to bite, then you need more time on the hone. After performing the test, it's a good idea to perform another few sets of strokes to remove any dulling done by the TNT.

I have shaved with straight razors for 10 years now, and I can maintain a well-honed edge seemingly indefinitely with my strops (one with slurry, one fabric, and one plain leather). BUT honing a bad razor I still can't do properly, so that's a real tricky thing.

Also, I have a smaller Dovo Best quality (5/8) that does have those serrations. I suspect your razor is a real Dovo.

Thanks for all the help guys. Will probably send to sharpen. I did the sharpie test and it seems the bevel is fine. Will see. Again, thanks guys.

I don't prefer to use tape on my hones as once you start you always have to use tape to hone your razors. A good reason to step up to Naniwa, Shapton or other high end hones is that they mostly are fast cutters. This is good & bad as it makes it easier to over hone the razor & wear the spine. The good side is that it takes less honing to get to a good edge. My new Shapton Pro 1K sets a bevel real fast. Much faster than my old King 1K. Also watch Dr.Matt's videos on the "Tap & wobble Test". many razors are not really even close to being straight & will take special care to get a good edge.

Slawman

So I decided to spend a good 25 to 30 minutes with my Chinese 1000 grit stone. I know it's probably not ideal but this is what I used:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FZZUL30/

I used gorilla tape this time. I also know that's not ideal, but I wanted to avoid too much damage to the spine since I'm obviously not a honemeister. My reasons to hone it myself was basically to learn. I can buy a shave ready razor, and if it was economics, I can shave for very little money with either a DE or a Trak II. This is sort of hobby for me in the sense that it takes my mind away a bit from the pressures of everyday life. Time is not a concern here.

I then did some pyramid work with between the 1000 and 6000 grit. And the proceded to do some further pyramid work with my little 3000/10000 stone:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013G4SD9G/

Well. It worked. I may have to reset the bevel later by re-honing w/o using tape. But I was able to complete a full shave w/o nicks or major problems.

The fact that some of you mentioned that one has to spend a bit of time with the 1000 grit and someone mentioned it may take in the order of 30 minutes, just with the 1000 grit, gave me a good hint about what to do.

Thanks guys!

I have a 6/8 and 5/8 Dovo Best quality and both have jimps, top and bottom. The top looks exactly like your razor. Seller offered honing prior to shipping as he said they are not truly shave ready.