Thread: New Dovo razor, not quite sharp enough?

Originally Posted by Yves81

I wouldn't. The people from the store of my story also sharpen knives.
I would contact a honer from the forum.

There have been a number of threads on here where people have had their blades sharpened by places that do knives, scissors and what not. There was no happy ending in most if not all cases. If you want to get your blade honed send it to a reputable vendor who specializes in straight razor honing. Get it done right.

Bob

Originally Posted by Yves81

I wouldn't. The people from the store of my story also sharpen knives.
I would contact a honer from the forum.

Neither would I unless you know a little more about them. Sharpening a razor is a little different than knives and scissors. Most shops that do that kind of sharpening do it on mechanical belts so they can rip through a hundred of them in an hour. A razor needs a lot of manual effort to coax the sharpness from the edge and leave it comfortable to shave with. Its very frustrating for a new person to have to go through all of this. I didn't care much for the experience either when I got started. And the frustration continues as you begin to learn to use it properly too. So try to be patient and get some expert honing done before you give up on it. When you get the razor back, don't play with it or strop it. Just put it to use with your first attempt to shave. You'll know at the point if the razor was your problem or your technique in using it. Keep in mid that the difference between this kind of shaving and your previous is more exaggerated than comparing it to manual transmission vs. automatic transmission in driving. Every element that was previously controlled to some degree is no longer controlled. Be patient with yourself and try again.

I had almost the exact same thing happen to me with my first razor. It was really discouraging. I sent it to Glen and he found a few things wrong with the edge and sent it back in beautiful condition. I learned real quickly, that unless you're purchasing the razor from someone who has a solid reputation with honing, you're going to want to send it out to ensure it's shave ready. And while you're at it you should probably buy another razor. Cuz ya know... You may need one if you hit your blade on the sink or something and have to send it out. Not that I did that or anything...

"All razors supplied on this site have their edges checked before despatch and are ready to use - and don’t forget that we do offer a honing service for razors both near-new and vintage. To learn more, pay a quick visit to our website - it’s only has two pages so it won’t take long"!


Yeah I told ya most places charge extra..

Assuming you are in the UK or at least the EU I would say you need to contact one of the guys over there for help3

Zephyr who has replied in this thread is in Norway
Neil Miller or Celtic Crusader/Jamie are on SRP and both are in the UK

There are others too but I am typing after only 1/2 a cup of coffee so my brain is not fully lubed yet LOL

It needs to be honed, it really should be honed by some body that specializes in Straight Razors and uses them everyday.. I would NEVER hand my SR to anyone that doesn't shave with them or has an Electric sharpener in their shop JMHO

Originally Posted by Zephyr

I'm not familiar with them, but I notice they say they check the edges, not that they hone them...

A factory edge will cut hair, but it will rarely (read never) be what most of us condsider shave ready.

I believe it's a part of the invisible edge which are a reputable seller IMO. But like the guys already said save yourself a lot of razor burn, nicks, the occasional cussing and eventually quitting because some halfwit scissor sharpener messed up your razor. Do the wise thing and get it pro-honed.. Not pre ( factory) honed.
Greets

Just to clarify, Dovo Razors UK are part of The Invisible Edge. We supply all razors shave ready in that they all pass the HHT before despatch (obviously we cannot test-shave them!) and we say we 'check' the edges because to say they are all fully honed would be wrong - after all, it makes no sense to re-set a perfectly good bevel when all that is needed is a few strokes on a 12k!
True, most factory edges are not quite up to snuff, which is why we check each one. Not to cast aspersions but many newcomers think edges aren't sharp enough when really it's basically lack of practice. Also stropping is not a skill learned overnight! We do supply all razors ready for use, as stated, - but we have no magic formula for keeping them that way, that's down to the owner.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

"All razors supplied on this site have their edges checked before despatch and are ready to use - and don’t forget that we do offer a honing service for razors both near-new and vintage. To learn more, pay a quick visit to our website - it’s only has two pages so it won’t take long"!


Yeah I told ya most places charge extra..

Assuming you are in the UK or at least the EU I would say you need to contact one of the guys over there for help3

Zephyr who has replied in this thread is in Norway
Neil Miller or Celtic Crusader/Jamie are on SRP and both are in the UK

There are others too but I am typing after only 1/2 a cup of coffee so my brain is not fully lubed yet LOL

It needs to be honed, it really should be honed by some body that specializes in Straight Razors and uses them everyday.. I would NEVER hand my SR to anyone that doesn't shave with them or has an Electric sharpener in their shop JMHO

So I sent it back to the Invisible Edge for honing (before I recieved this advise) but I wasn't satisfied with the results. However, it did seem somewhat sharper than before so I tried to shave with it as it was without stropping but it still hurt like hell and I couldn't get a close shave with it even across the grain. So half way through I tried stropping it but I didn't notice any improvement. This is very frustrating! As far as I can see I'm doing everything right. Do you think if I sent it to one of these members they could get it even sharper for me? Although it's popping of some hairs at mid range, I did the the same test with a blade out of a disposable razor and it was popping off hairs much more readily, so I still think it needs to be sharper.

Honestly the guys at Invisible Edge have a very solid Rep,


This is an actual shave test, it takes as much "User Error" out of the equation as possible try it exactly that way no shortcus.. Then Try it again..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93zQP7CToWQ

If that simple stroke cannot be accomplished there is no sense in going farther, either you are really doing something wrong or the razor is dull..

Originally Posted by guthriemt

Just save yourself the time and heartache trying to figure out if it's shave ready and send it to gssixgun for a honing. Then you'll know for sure that it's ready to go. Speaking from experience here

What guthriemt said. I received my Dove and I had three shave of razor burn before I sent it off to Glen to fix. Got it back two days ago and shaved with it this morning after work and WOW, New Dove. Zero razor burn.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Honestly the guys at Invisible Edge have a very solid Rep

Not in my experience they don't!

Dex, I actually did end up sending it to a member and I noticed a big difference when it came back.