Thread: Cyril Salter razor impossible to get sharp.

Last week I got one of these from Dave12345 (member of B&B). Look here for his account: What am I doing wrong - Honing - Badger & Blade

He calls the razor a DOVO as he believes it is a rebranded DOVO, which I find very hard to believe. Razor had no etching on blade, plain tang, plain white scales. I believe Dave told me it had Cyril R. Salter printed on one scale when he got it new. I have done some research on Cyril Salter razors. They do sell razors with "Solingen" etched on the blade, but not on this razor's blade.

He had tried to hone it to no avail, when he mentioned he had binned it I asked him to send it to me which he did. When I got it the blade was 1/32" over 4/8", had a slight frown and some rust. I managed to remove most of the rust but some pitting remained.

As I do with all razors I get that have a less than perfect bevel I reset the bevel starting with 1.5K Shapton followed by a 5K Shapton, then Y/G Escher and eventually the Nakayama.

After 2 hours on the Shaptons I had a perfect edge. Passed thumb nail test, edge looked immaculate with unaided eyes and under the mike at 40X magnification. I did notice altready it did not cut any hairs off my arm at this stage, which is unusual as a blade usually starts to cut some hairs already after the 5K.

I decided to take it to the Escher, still no luck.

Am I doing anything wrong here or are these crap razors? At no stage have I applied any pressure not even on the 1.5 Shapton.

I have about 40 ebay razors under my belt, honed the B&B Le Grelot I had ordered unhoned. But I have never ever experienced this: perfect looking edge, cutting zero hairs.

Any suggestions??

Could it be that you have got a Zeepk incognito?

That's what I suspect as well, or a rebranded Pakistani razor.

It is very hard to say without being there but do you think you might need to go down below the 1.5K Shapton to establish the bevel?

Originally Posted by netsurfr

It is very hard to say without being there but do you think you might need to go down below the 1.5K Shapton to establish the bevel?

I don't think so, the bevel is really nice and even under the mike. Even nicer than some of the blades I shave with every day because as soon as a blade is shave ready I stop honing. I did more on this razor than any other razor simply because it did not get sharp. I wish I could take pictures with my mike to show you.

Wow! maybe it is just really crappy steel. Maybe it is a Paki razor. Sounds like you have gone through some pain.

It sounds like you have done a lot of work and are certainly not a newb. So..the only thing I can suggest is to hone on the 5K until the edge is over honed. Then move on to the higher grit hones.
If it will not over hone then the steel is simply to soft to use as a razor.


Just my two cents,

Thanks for your advice Randy.

I am a bit puzzled though as you recommend to overhone and then move on to a higher grit. I have always got the impression that going back to a lower grit was recommended for an overhoned razor.

Would you please explain?

Sometimes going to the next higher grit works, sometimes not.
The main point is to see if the edge is made from a steel that is hard enough. If it is then it can be over honed. If you cannot over hone it then it is junk steel. This assumes you are using a Norton stone, not a natural stone.

Hi Randy,

I don't have a Norton, would it work with a Shapton?