Thread: My first "pre sharpened" Dovo

Hi there,
This forum has really been enlightening and I have been having a good time gleaning info. from the wiki and other posts.
I have just bought a pre-sharpened Dovo Renaissance razor from classicshaving.com. They say that their pre-sharpened razors are honed by them. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with their sharpening and give me a heads up on what to expect. Will I need to touch it up on a pasted strop or hone it?
Another thing I was wondering was what sharpening supplies do people prefer? I already have shapton pros from 1000 to 12000 plus a Japanese natural stone ( I am a woodworker). All lapped and tip top shape. On top of that I have a paddle strop for pastes and a Dovo barber strop. I have been using all of the above on a Boker King Cutter I recently bought from a antique store for $25. I have been getting great results but am not sure if the pasted strop is prefered by everyone. After I was done with the 12000 I thought I had better not use the red paste and ruin my work, so I went at it with the finer black then the bare barbers strop. I have a feeling I could have skipped the paste all together... I am still not sure what to do with the linnen side of my strop either.
Thanks
Kristian

I have bought a number of pre honed razors from Classic and all have been first rate. If you got that antique store razor giving you good results with your Shaptons then it sounds like you know what you're doing.

I am not familiar with the red paste but I recall reading that some guys like it to put a bit of icing on the cake. Welcome to SRP Kristian and enjoy your new Dovo. Check out the SRP Wiki for all sorts of interesting stuff here.

you can experiment with different ways and find out what works and what doesn't.
as far as linen goes you want to strop on it before every shave (say 30-50 laps but you may find that less work too) then strop on the leather (again 30-50 laps).

Is there any break-in needed for the linen before use?

Welcome aboard Kristian!

Far be it for me to give you advice. I've yet to hone my razors. FWIW, it's just a matter of preference. Some people don't even paste their strop some do. Others prefer to do their honing while others send their to members or Lynn.

To answer your question, IIRC Classic Shaving in addition to Vintage Blades would have Lynn hone the razors before the order ships to you.

Thanks for the info guys! I will start using the linen too. I can't wait to have two razors to compare!

Mine was prehoned, but it was pulling on my beard a little bit even after stropping. I put it on a CrO strop then lather strop and it worked just fine.

I got a Dovo from classic that was pre-sharpened, and it pulled on my beard a little as well. It was much much better then the Dovos that I have bought that were straight from the factory though. I think proper sharpness is highly subjective and depends a lot on your beard type.

Originally Posted by MCFLY49

Is there any break-in needed for the linen before use?

No there is not.

Originally Posted by klar

Thanks for the info guys! I will start using the linen too. I can't wait to have two razors to compare!

When you get the new Dovo, Lynn will have stropped it already. So your first shave should be without stropping it before. "Shave ready" means just that!