Thread: which hones for a new DOVO

i know this must have been discussed time and time again..

if i purchase a new non shave ready dovo, what is required that i do to it to make it ready? im guessing it atleast has a bevel or some sort.. just not razor sharp..

my thinking was to order the dovo best quality razor from knifecenter and the spyderco ultra fine and a Tilly strop with the compound on the back? my other combo i was thinkin was a japanese water stone 1000/6000 combo and then a chinease 12k plus the tilly for final polish and strop. they both come out to about $50- $55 Is this enough to make the dovo shave ready as well as keep it sharp for the rest of its life?

i know i probably should just spend the extra money getting the shave ready one from SRD but i think i can do it myself.. if i cant, i will do it till i learn.... besides, i think it looks like fun... kinda have the "excaliber" myth to it.. i cant just give someone that satisfaction, let alone pay them for it..

is this a wise choice?

the condition on the edge varies, so to be on the safe side you'll need an intermediate hone on the 4000-5000 level and a finishing hone on the 8000 level.
the particular choice of hones will determine the amount of strokes you need for a given razor - some hones are faster than others.

i'd recommend the norton 4000/8000 combo, but you can pick anything else.

i dont mind taking time to do the honing. i just want a sharp edge in the end. the norton combo is lik 90 and readin that review comparing the 8 different types, it only got a c+ or somethin..

anything wrong with the japanese 1000/6000 then 12k chinease to tilly strop method??

Which review are you talking about?
Remember that a lot of people write reviews, not many of them know what they're doing, they just have big enough egos to claim they're the end word on the subject.

I have not used the japanese stones in question, however a 1000 grit hone is not necessary for a new dovo. That is hone for coarse work, like removing chips and setting the bevel on a razor. It will be detrimental to the edge of a factory dovo.

The chinese stone is a slow finishing stone. I personally wouldn't use it after 6000grit hone.

Your main problem is not going to be the hones you are using, but the lack of benchmark. Eventually you'll be able to hone your razor, the timeframe for that could be anything from a week to half a year. You'll likely end up accepting the dullest edge you can get away with as well, which isn't a bad thing.

I have to agree with Gugi. What you really need to do is to let someone else hone this one up for you so that you have a benchmark to attain, and then select another razor and try to bring it up to par. This way you can shave with the benchmark while learning to hone with the other. The norton 4/8 combo is probably the best stone to learn on.

+1 on having it professionally honed. I did that, even though I knew I wanted to hone my own razors. I acquired a practice razor to work on bevel setting before trying it on my primary shavers (although you don't really need to do that just for touch ups on a previously honed razor)

-Chief

You absolutely should have this razor honed by
a honemeister before shaving.

Additionally, the Spyderco UF is going to be too
fine to sharpen a factory-new Dovo in most cases.
The Fine + Ultra-fine would probably do it, though.

- Scott

I have the same question thanks to nun2sharp I have my answer. I am a little dubious of hone misters since the razor I ordered from was honed by a hone mister and came back to me so dull that it couldn't shave anything let alone a beard.

One additional question however - Does your answer differ for a Dovo Inox rather than a Dovo, which is probably a carbon steel dovo?

Here is a fact of life guys, if you can't get a razor shave ready on a Norton 4/8 with the shear abundance of information out there specifically written about that honing system in particular...then no other combination of stones is going to be any better....

Is the Norton the best???? Nope
Is it the easiest??? Nope
The cheapest??? Nope

The one that you can get more help on when you get stuck???? Yeppers
Especially with a Dovo razor...

BTW the entire Norton system is available on Amazon for about $120

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XK0FMU


Personally I would do what everyone has already said though get one razor done first... Then take your time before jumping into honing....

If you decide to hone later down the road there are even better systems available then the Norton... If knew then what I know now I would have gone straight to a progressive system like the Naniwas or Shaptons but that is just me....

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Here is a fact of life guys, if you can't get a razor shave ready on a Norton 4/8 with the shear abundance of information out there specifically written about that honing system in particular...then no other combination of stones is going to be any better....

+1. Lynn wore clean through a bunch of 4/8s on the first few thousand razors if I'm not mistaken.