Thread: Too Sharp

They use coticules at dovo? That's a waste considering the edge when it arrives. I shaved once with mine & sent it to Lynn.

Originally Posted by JeffR

Great thread, guys.

I understand what you're saying, Dave, but I would suggest that any hone is capable of producing at least some small burs and a resultantly rough edge - "overhoned" if you will. Viz - the video of a lady in the Dovo factory honing rapidly on a coticle and stopping to drag the edge on what appears to be a piece of stiff leather to remove any burs before completing her task. I would further suggest that stropping would remove such burs through fatigue. Ever bend a paper clip back and forth until it breaks?

Originally Posted by KenWeir

They use coticules at dovo? That's a waste considering the edge when it arrives. I shaved once with mine & sent it to Lynn.

No, it was very likely a waste of time and money sending your razor in to get honed. You should have just (properly) stropped your razor.

Maybe mine was a fluke then, but beginner that I am I could tell a marked difference between it and the dovo I ordered already honed from srd.

Originally Posted by JeffR

No, it was very likely a waste of time and money sending your razor in to get honed. You should have just (properly) stropped your razor.

Originally Posted by KenWeir

Maybe mine was a fluke then, but beginner that I am I could tell a marked difference between it and the dovo I ordered already honed from srd.

Maybe this will help

Straight Razor Place - Beginners Tips: January 2012


"Shaving Sharp" and "Shave Ready" are two different things

An edge which will shave is very different than an edge you want to shave with. My first shave was with one of these....



I thought is was razor sharp at the time.

Boy have I learned a lot.

As my shaving technique improved my honing technique improved and now my least acceptable shaving edge bears little resemblance to what many people swear is "Shave Ready".

Some of the videos I view make me wince with pain while watching someone else demonstrate their perfect shaving edge.

A Gemstarcustoms DFS is one of very few "Shave Ready" razors I have used most aren't even close.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Maybe this will help

Straight Razor Place - Beginners Tips: January 2012

"Shaving Sharp" and "Shave Ready" are two different things

That topic is exactly what I meant Glen! I can strop a razor to maintain the edge and i believe i didnt do anything to harm the edge when i did strop it for the first time. My technique hasn't changed at all. But stropping to improve one or having and knowing how to use pasted strops is beyond any beginner when they're shopping for their first razor and see one advertised as "shave ready." In my mind that means, or should mean, all it needs is a regular stropping before putting it to use, not still requiring further work to make it shaveable.

All I meant by my first comment was it seemed like a waste of a valuable and apparently limited source, meaning a coticule, to wear it down by putting out an edge that still needs more work. My first time ever honing a razor it shaved better after I played around on a norton 4x8 & Chinese 12k.

Edited for typo....