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Yesterday evening (around 7 pm) I put down an order at the Different scent for a Dovo and a strop. Today at 2pm they shipped it with DHL premium express, so if I'm really lucky I'll be getting it tomorrow! ^^
So far the vendor is looking at full marks in everything but site user-friendly-ness, since it's only in German, but since I still was able to order quite easily with my limited German I would still give them 4/5 on that point, 5/5 if you speak German!
I'll update as this thing progresses!
Did you tell the vendor to specifically hone the blade for you before they shipped it. Most people leave off that step so my recommendation is to take the blade and send it off to Lynn Abrams at Classic Shaving and he will get it into proper working order for you. Without proper honing one can not expect to learn shaving with a straight. Most vendors do not offer the option of honining the blade for you, which is the reason why I tend to recommend that new users do business with Classic Shaving because their default starter package includes the honing.
Problem is that I'm in northern Europe, and no US vendor is going to send me anything insured at 9€ without import tax. :)
I've put down an order on a yellow coticule today, which I've understood should do the trick getting the factory Dovo up to shaving speed. I'm a quite fast learner when it comes to finer mechanical things, so I don't really see a problem learning to finish the edge on a razor. From what I've understood as well from other threads Dovo's vary from shave ready after stroping to shave ready after a couple of laps on a finishing stone. If I can't get it to pass the HHT-test, then I'll def. send it off (I'm quite good also at knowing when to stop and getting professional help), but pref. to someone within Europe!
US vendor or european vendor, it makes little difference. You still need the razor poperly honed no matter what nationality of vendor you use. Select your vendor and get the razor honed.
No europe vendors that I've found offers honing, so I just have to do it myself. But since I've been sharpening knifes, axes and chisels for over 10 years with waterstones I think I'll be alright. ^^
gents.com has a sharpening service I've never used it though, so I can't say if it's good or not.
While I have no doubt you will be able to pick it up quicker than most due to your experience, many people here with great experience sharpening other tools have had less than stellar early honing results. (myself included). You'll be able to ge tthe razor sharp enough to shave with, though that does NOT mean it is "shave ready" as we call it. The smoothness, comfort,and precision attainable by one of the honemeisters is truly remarkeable.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuggi
Stuggi, I wouldn't recomend to hone your first razor by your self..unless you already know how to hone a razor. But sending it to a honemeister gives you a benchmark so you know how a shave ready razor is when you get in to honing yourself. And get a cheap razor from ebay or tradera.se or whatever you may have in finland and use it to practice on before you even consider doing it on you new razor..you wouldnt want to ruin it would you?
About Gents.se that bjorn suggested..I haven't sent it to them myself but I've heard they weren't any good.:shrug:
Btw, talar du svenska?
This is one of those things that are worth putting a little bit of time and effort into. Honing is one of those things that needs to be done right the first time and I do not believe honing an ax is quite the same thing as honing a straight.
Here is what I have found out about european homing services:
tohomasglobal.com - reference for finding services world wide
delapena.co.uk - sells honing machines, while you probably do nto want to buy a machine they will tell you who has purchased from them so that you can go buy services from their customers
europeanstone.co.uk - does these things in England, Brittan and the United Kingdom may be able to sell services to other parts of europe
Of course I do not believe that I'll get it straight away, but I don't think it's impossible either. I recently found the tip to get a new DE blade and use that as a benchmark, but surely a straight is much sharper than that?
Och jo, jag talar svenska :)
And no, sharpening an axe is something completely different, try taking 5 mm deep cuts out of the edge of one with a water-stone by hand. :)
About the gents.com service, they do quite a good job selling stuff, very good vendor, but their statement that blades sharpened by them last half a year with just stropping makes me wonder how good they really are.
Anyway, I'll try it out, and if I don't get anywhere with it I'll send it off for honing. :)
They polish and hone stones, esp. marble, why would that be helpful?Quote:
Originally Posted by jbcohen
Does not resolve :/Quote:
Originally Posted by jbcohen
As a knife and tool sharpener with pre-existing stones, hones, skills, misconceptions, valid instincts, I have figured out the razor thing pretty well – at least I think so. All I’ve needed to do is add waterstones in the 8000+ grit range, and one paddle strop with CrOx paste. Any information and advice needed has been acquired here. You’ll do fine.
ser gut! :rock:
Nice that someone doesn't think I'm gonna fail miserably as soon as I get my hands on a hone. :D Hopefully the yellow coticule with slurrystone is going to be enough since I don't have any stones above 1k-2k, otherwise I'll have to go full out and get the BBW and some razor-suited 1k as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by kahunamoose
The parcel with my razor and strop was in Hamburg at the International station 3 am GMT today, so I don't think I'll be getting it today. Thumbs held for delivery on Monday! :)
Similar story here, Ive been shaving with straights for a little over a month, I get a comfortable shave without any problems and I havent had the luxury of buying a shave ready razor. Im sure I can improve on my edge but its early days, I already had waterstones up to 6000 and Im using a loaded supported strop to finish, when money allows I'll add a couple more stones to get up to 12000 but so far Im quite happy with my edges. I already had a reasonable amount of experience sharpening planes, chisels, axes, making and sharpening knives with a range of steels from plain old 01 through to some of the more exotic modern ultra high carbon crucible steels.Quote:
Originally Posted by kahunamoose
Ive also been absorbing as much info as I can from SRP ;) just take your time and you should be ok.
Okay, my parcel has gone from being sent from Hamburg 3AM GMT on Friday to being received in Finland 10AM GMT today, so I'm quite certain it will arrive tomorrow morning (DHL tends to deliver stuff at 7 AM for some reason here where I live, damn effective buggers these Germans, normally I would be annoyed by being woken that early, but nowadays I get up at 6am anyway so it doesn't matter that much... ) :D
I know a lot of people forget this (including those who live here!) but the UK is in fact in Europe, part of the EU (as is Finland). May I offer my services on that basis?:y
If you're interested then yes, but I'm still not sure if I need them. :) PM me a price so I know what to expect if I feel the need for professional help! :)
I forgot to put in that it doesn't matter where in Europe the honer are, price is still the same from the cold north where I live! ;)
Okay, it arrived today, I waited until 7am before shaving, just in case it would arrive in the morning and I could have a shave with it, but since it didn't show I started sanding my face away with the Mach3. Guess what showed up at my door 15 mins later when I had just finished shaving and was just about to put my pants on :)
Anyway, it was even more beautiful than the pictures made it look, and I look forward to stropping it later today and trying to shave away that 5 o'clock shadow.
I'll update this thread later when I get home from work, there's quite a bit more left to tell! :)
Well, now I've tried shaving with it. What can I say, 10 cuts. :) But that ain't gonna stop me. :D I'm contemplating buying a shave ready razor from a member here, and see how it feels, and then send my dovo off for honing/hone it myself on my coticule... :/
BTW, the first thing I did after shaving was going online and ordering a bottle of T&H shaving oil and a styptic pencil... :)
Congratulations on your first straight shave!!
10 cuts... well you probably tried to shave your whole face then..
On one of my first shaves I looked like a cat jumped on my face...
Maarten
Yeah, I did my whole face, and a bit haphazardly... :) Now I let it have 20 laps on the coticule and 50 laps on the strop, and it feels a whole lot sharper. I still might opt for honing and that second razor, but tomorrows shave is going to be interesting :)
Okay, thought I would list all the freebies and sample I got from thedifferentscent.de
Vinolia Cold Cream Bath Soap, 30x50x10mm, perfect for travel
The Art of Shaving Unscented Shaving Cream sample (good for at least 2 shaves)
GFT Eucris Eau de Toilette sample 2,5ml
GFT Wellington Cologne sample 2,5ml
The Knize Ten Toilet Water sample 2,5ml
It's gonna be very interesting trying all this in due time... :D