As I mentioned, don't expect an entry level Dovo to hone right up. They are usually pretty wonky, lots of twist. Someone experienced with them can turn them into good shavers, but the average neophyte honer will give up in digust. I have never ran across a midrange Dovo that presented any extraordinary difficulties in honing, though. I have several Bismarcks and they honed right up, without exception, with no medieval measures to beat it into submission.
My first razor was a Dovo Best. This was long before Al Gore invented the internet, as he so famously blurted. I had no mentor and there were no books. I "shaved" with that razor for years, constantly trying to get it sharper, and I always looked like I had been sorting wildcats all morning. I finally got it shaving almost tolerably and then I ran across a vintage Boker I believe it was, in a junk shop. I had also just bought a stone in a hardware store in Matamoros, and it was a HUGE slab of fine grained quartz type rock, faintly translucent, very flat and highly burnished. I was starting to learn to keep the shoulder off the stone, by then. That stone and that razor and my newly purchased "real" strop, were the winning combination. Next I think was the Colonel Conk. A rebranded Dovo Best, AFAIK. Another dog. I didn't have the skill set to grind those razors straight. One more Best a few years later and I decided that 3 for 3 lemons was enough. I think I tossed all three though I might have given them away, don't remember. Now, I can "fix" such razors but as a beginner, no way, Jose.
I later, after internet happened, bought a vintage Bismarck online. The real Bismarck, made before Dovo bought the brand. Sweet. Nicest razor ever. Feels good in the hand, hones up beautifully, a dream to shave with. Bought another Bismarck and it turned out to be a DOVO Bismarck! I was, to keep the language gentlemanly, upset. But hey, it turned out to be a fine razor and all I had to do was give it about 30 swats on my finisher and a stropping and it easily popped hairs 1/4" above the skin. The shave was arguably identical from what I got from the Bismarck Bismarck. Now I have several of each, including some Dovos of different model name made on the same blank. Then I realized that the junk Dovos were probably the rejects that the company decided to sell instead of trash, probably ground by apprentice grinders or that didn't make it through the quench without warping. The steel is the same, obviously.
Then a few years later after I had accumulated quite a few razors, about half a shrimp basket full, actually, I ran across Gold Dollars. Out of stubbornness and with my painfully acquired knowledge from years of tangling with ebay basket cases, and with a progression of Naniwa stones and lapping film which was the new kid on the block for honing, it didn't take too long to start getting them shaving. On another forum there were several guys using them as cannon fodder in their modification attempts, and there was an annual competition. I jumped in with both feet. We all dremelled our way through whole bouquets of Gold Dollars when Chinese resellers started selling them at barely above wholesale, with China government subsidized free shipping to the US. Lots of shattered blades and cutting wheels, yeah. Lots of burnt up blades with the Blue Stain of Death on them from overheating. Lots of works of art, too. Eventually I decided I could make a little coin buying straight from the factory and honing them up and selling them, but with no major modifications. I had sold a couple of modded ones for crazy money, but I was selling the many many hours of work much too cheaply, and I wanted to keep my per unit labor investment down to a reasonable level. It was an active market and a couple of key players had moved on and were no longer selling, so it was kind of an opportunity. The only problem is I really didn't want to bother with more than a couple per day and the orders were coming in pretty heavy even when I upped the price over and over. Life got in the way and it was REALLY hard dealing with the lying factory rep and so I quit, but not before I put nice sharp GDs into the hands of a lot of guys and not a few of them probably were hooked and got into straight shaving and bought nicer razors. At one point I had a handle on some Dovos at a very good price but to sell them at a good price I would have a pretty miserable markup for all my hassle, and just one return could really mess me up as the razor would then no longer be new. These were Bismarck pattern razors, most wihtout all the gold bling. I could just see myself fighting to make $20 clear profit on each razor and then a return putting me back $140 or so, minus what I could get for it as a used razor. The problem with online sales is you are selling to a lot of noobs who don't know how to shave, and blame the razor even when it is a smooth shaving treetopper in an experienced shaver's hand. I had only ever got ONE return with the GD's but I figured there would be more buyer remorse at the higher price tier.
You should practice your honing on a razor that you will actually want to shave with. Otherwise you won't really learn much. A few ebay beaters with respected brand names and no cracks or deep pitting near the edge would be your best bet. Expendable, but with potential. Not saying a GD has no potential as a decent shaver because obviously it does, but try some vintage blades. I have picked up razors for under $10 that honed and shaved just fine. Lots of winners for under $20. Just be patient, use a sniper, and keep your bid limit reasonable. If you win more than 10% of your ebay auctions you are probably bidding too high. There will always be another one and you don't "lose" if somebody outbids you. Set your sniper and pay it no mind until a "pay now" ebay nag arrives in your email. And don't bid on a dozen at a time because sometimes you get what you ask for.