Thread: New Dovo Tortoise, problems and pictures

Razor bevels are similar to knife bevels in some ways, and yes, the honing is different. Knife and razor bevels don't have to be at a specific degree, but can exist within a set of degrees.

A razor works well between 16 and 18 degrees IIRC, and a piece of tape will account for less than a 1/2 a degree increase.

Taping is debated regularly. I tape everything, at every stage. I do this because my short term memory has more holes than swiss cheese. I'd be up the creek if I only taped a few razors.

Taping also protects goldwashed spines and such.

Hope this helps a bit.

I believe knife bevels set at a factory come between 20 and 30 degrees, but I can't remember exactly.

As many before you have realized honing a knife and honing a razor are not near the same, and the next lesson comes after you get it sharp and realize that smooth is more important

Here are some links to some Vids I did, one of them is specificaly for working the Norton 4/8 it might help you a bit...

That slight smile is desirable BTW that is exactly the edge profile you want, as it make for a easy shaving face friendly cut... Believe it or not there are special adaptive strokes to create that over time o a straight edge

http://straightrazorpalace.com/video...-gssixgun.html

Originally Posted by gssixgun

As many before you have realized honing a knife and honing a razor are not near the same, and the next lesson comes after you get it sharp and realize that smooth is more important

Here are some links to some Vids I did, one of them is specificaly for working the Norton 4/8 it might help you a bit...

That slight smile is desirable BTW that is exactly the edge profile you want, as it make for a easy shaving face friendly cut... Believe it or not there are special adaptive strokes to create that over time o a straight edge

http://straightrazorpalace.com/video...-gssixgun.html

When I said I know how to sharpen knives, I didn't mean to imply I would automatically be good at sharpening straight razors; I meant I am familiar with the general sharpening process, bevels, honing, stroping and the physics behind the process. If anything, sharpening knives is more difficult because you do not have a spine to drag on the stone for a consistent angle. Nevertheless, both have difficult nuances to learn.

When setting the bevel on the 1K stone with small circles as Lynn demonstrated, how do I handle the curved tip? It won't be touching the stone with light pressure.

The standard fix for smiling edges is to use a "rolling X stroke".

That involves either pressure changes:

. . . start the stroke with pressure on one end of the razor,
. . . end the stroke with pressure on the other end of the razor

or (for serious smiles) actually "rocking" the razor from one end to the other, as it moves down the hone.

There's a Wiki about the process.

Charles

If you can't get it, send it to me and I will hone it up for you at the cost of postage.

from your picture the tip (as in the tip -toe of the cutting edge is worn away from where its supposed to be, probably from putting too much pressure toward the tip when you've been honing.

If you are talking about the curved toe, the part that's supposed to be curved, you're not supposed to sharpen that! but I won't insult you're intelligence and assume that, I'll assume you're talking about how the cutting edge at the tip of the razor is worn away slightly. I can't help you there, that involved major repair work.

Btw, yesterday I asked these guys the same question about my dovo "shave ready" razor and the final consensus from those who understood the problem was that dovo does a crappy sharpening job, doesn't properly set the bevel, and if you try to "touch it up" with a high grit stone you'll never get to where you need to be. You need to reset the bevel with a 1,000 grit, and you need to learn some better technique so you don't wear so much at the toe of your blade.