Razor problems

Hey guys,

I'm about to give up here and need your help/info.

The razor in question is a DOVO 'Astrale' straight.

The razor just came back from the store to get resharpened and to remove some rust spots that it had gotten. First off all, the rust did not get removed entirely, and I'm wondering if there's any way to remove it myself (I'll post a picture tomorrow). The razor holds a special value as it was a gift from my brother, so I truly want to keep it in good condition.

Second of all, the darn thing doesn't seem to shave all that well compared to my cheap merkur DE. I looked up a little how to test if it's *sharp enough* and a guy shows how he passes a hair over the blade and it gets cut in haf, this is absolutely not the case here, and I just got it honed, so is this not a good test? When I drag it over my fingernail it immediately diggs in, is that a good sign (I thought it was). Anyhow, is there any way to be sure the thing is as sharp as it gets?

Second of all, is it possible the angle should be something like 45° instead of 30° ? It seems I get better results that way.

The lathering I'm applying for the moment is for sure good, so I'm sure it's either the razor, or it's me (I'm hoping it's me!).

Even my cheeks, which are easy to shave, have a stubble left on them when you pass over them, which is not even the case if I would shave with a disposable BIC single bladed plastic banana :-)

Please advise!

The hanging hair test means little to nothing, if you have just drug the blade over your nail you have just dulled the blade. When you shave, the blade should be approx. 30 degrees(2spines width) to the face. You did not mention your beard prep or stropping so I cant help you there, I would need a pic of the spots to see what we are dealing with.

The razor was honed and said to be 'shave ready' in the shop, I picked it up today to get it fixed.

The prep was long and good. A hot shower, while the brush soaks up water, then lathering up. Then I shave as usual. With the DE this results in a BBS result, with the straight, not. The soap used was Tabac.

I'm going in again tomorrow morning as I have left (on purpose) my chin etc.. unshaven so I could ractice again :-) Im' not at all giving up on the razor or anything, I basicaly just want to know if a) I'm doing it all wrong b) the shop that keeps 'fixing' my razor just is doing a bad job.

I'm glad the hanging hair test means nothing however!

You say the shop. What is that? Most knife sharpeners don't have a clue about razors and you'd be lucky if they didn't ruin the razor. You probably need to send it out to someone who specializes in straights.

45 degrees is way too aggressive. 30 should be the max. probably even less. Not knowing much about your experience I would say your problem is either you or the razor or maybe some of both. You'll need to tell us more about yourself and of course a picture of the razor to really help you.

I will give a big update this afternoon when I have some time to shave.

On to the sending it to Lynn suggestion, I have considered it, however I truly did send it to a specialized shop that does only that, selling and maintaining classic razors. I'm a little bit upset how they tried to remove the light rust spots because they have clearly scratched my blade, which is a pitty because it's quite goodlooking. (with the golden stuff on it)

I will do the stropping according to your instructions, I doubt that I do 50 laps on the leather, so I'll do that today. I asked the old lady in the shop again to verify if I'm stropping correctly, and she confirmed I was doing an ok, as did a gentleman (customer) in the shop. It also looks exactly like how you do it o-in your videos here online.

After reading I should strop a total of 75 Laps, I'm pretty sure that's one thing I'm doing wrong. And the angle is for sure also something to look into. But is there any test to tell me 'ok your blade is good to go now' after stropping?

Thanks for the replies, I'll update with pictures in a couple of hours!

Ok here are some pictures with high high close-up. Sorry for the slow downloading time, but like this you can at least see what I'm talking about :-)

http://ciateam.be/raz/DSC00312.JPG
http://ciateam.be/raz/DSC00319.JPG
http://ciateam.be/raz/DSC00324.JPG

Couple things. First, the problem with the rust is that any method you use to remove the rust will also remove some or all of the gold etching on the blade. You need to make sure to dry the razor properly after every shave... before even washing off your face, etc.

Second- what shop that deals specifically with straights did you send this to to have dealt with? It is valuable for all of us to hear about this feedback. I'd be ****ed at the 'shop' for not taking care of my rust problem without an explanation if they said they would take care of it. Scratches on top of that is also something I'd bring up. On top of that, I've heard bad feedback about certain reputable 'shops' where it seems like they either don't test the blades well enough or just don't hone them well enough. Depending on what you say to all of this you should gather all the evidence (in your mind) and bring it up with that shop.

Hey,

The store would be 'Au grand razoir' in Brussels (Europe/Belgium) (doesn't exist online). The store has plenty of goods, so I was expecting they knew what they were doing.

ANyhow, I'm very disappointed, you can see from the pictures there is PLENTY of 'rust' left. Unbelievable, and the scratches, what the hell, the razor was pristine (besides the rust)... I'm talking shining like the sun on an August afternoon. I was expecting the gold to be looking 'washed out', no problem whatsoever, but what's up with the scratches and the huge amount of rust spots left, that's just silly imo!

I'll take it as it is, and try to fix this myself, learn a little. What would you suggest for taking care of this mild rust? Any type of paste that they sell in regular DIY stores to remove rust?

I'll probably spend 20 EUR on Lynn's DVD to get me educated, and look into honing myself aswell (considering I often go where they make the 'belgian stones' for honing, I figure I can get one on the cheap :-)).

Ahhhhh Now that we know where you are located that really helps,,,,
My suggestion now would be PM Bart right here on SRP and see if he can't take a look at that edge for you....
Bruno might be close to you also relatively speaking but I believe he is pretty busy ATM....

Jantje,

Bases on your description of the shaving experience, I'm pretty certain that your razor is not
sharp enough. I sure hope they didn't charge you anything for their "services" at "Au Grand
Razoir", in which case you were ripped off.


I don't think the rust can be removed without affecting the etching. You can try buffing it out
with "Peek Polish", which is readily available in Belgium. Peek Polish - Home
The more polishing you'd need to do for getting rid of the rust, the more the etch is going
to fade.
This product does not introduce scratches, as they managed to do at "The Great Razor".

If you want I can hone it properly for you. I offer to do it for free. I believe you deserve
a break. :) And a proper start.

Drop me a PM if you're interested.

Bart.

I can't believe the scratches were unnecessary? What the heck... the entire business of this shop is to sell and maintain razors....

Bart, I live near Brussels, but often pass your region to get to my parents (near Mechelen), so if you don't mind, I think I will actually accept your offer to fix my razor and perhaps exchange some knowledge! I will let you know when I have some time, and perhaps we could set up a time to meet. I certainly can use an influx of knowledge :-) Again the razor might be perfectly fine, but after this horrible job in 'fixing' my razor, I have my doubts and truly appreciate some feedback from someone that actually knows for sure what they're talking about.

Anyhow, thank you all very much for the feedback! Any other suggestions are more then welcome!

Man! Look at all the help that can pop up around here! I love it! I would definately take Bart up on his offer! The only thing I can think of to help with the rust around the Gold wash is to oil the blade and let the oil loosen it up as best as it can, other than that its just to close to the gold to mess with. If someone has a better idea, I am all ears!

Ok all, I'm back with some more information!

I did a lot of reading through your wiki and various other online resources. Oh, and I have asked Bart to have a look at my razor :-)

Bart informed me the blade is probably not sharp so I went out and tried your 'sharpness' tests from the Wiki.

Doing the thing with the flesh of your thumb, I noticed the middle part does not 'stick' at all, while the end bits definitely stick big time.

So I wasn't quite sure yet if I was interpreting the results of this test correctly, I tried the HHT. In the middle, a hair simply does not get cut, at all, not even harmed! On the outsides however, where it 'sticks', the hair cuts and drops, but I believe it's still 'popping' according to what I read, so not great yet either.

This just completely baffles me, how can this happen after I sent the razor to get honed and made shave ready... You don't want to see my chin after my first shave with the 'shave ready' job the shop did. For everyone's amusement I think I will post a video this evening when back from work to make my point clear with the HHT.

My Dovo Tortoise does almost the same thing. The heel and toe of the razor are pretty sharp and 'sticky' while the middle part just barely sticks to be thumb pad. I've tried fixing it so many times that I have now officially given up on that one.

In defense of the store where you had the razor honed - not all faces shave the same and sharp for one person may or may not be sharp for the next. Even if the honer shaved with the razor personally it still might not be as sharp as you require. Then again honing is not an exact science with a one-size-fits-all formula. The honer may have come close but not close enough. A razor that only requires a few more passes on a 12,000 grit stone may be extremely close to that illusive "perfect shave" but just not cut it, (so to speak). If the shop has any integrity they will redo the honing for you without charge.