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Setting the Bevel On A No Name Chinesse Razor

clyde72

clyde72

Almond Milk Lattes are my POWER
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This is my 1st attempt at honing a razor that is not mine. A friend of mine purchased the razor and I told him I would see if I could get an edge on. At some point it became a me against the razor battle.

This razor would just glide over a cherry tomato, barely marking it at all. Guys I'm here to tell you, it took forever to set the bevel on this razor. I've repaired the edge and set the bevel much easier and quicker on other razors. The Geometry looked to be ok, but the angle on the edge of this razor was no were near what it should have been. It was more like a knife edge. After honing I did see some uneven geometry. After about 4 hours on the DMT 600 and Shapton Pro 1K I did succeeded in getting the bevel set. I took it through the progress of 5K, 8K and 12K Shapton Pros and then finished on the Translucent Arkansas. Final results were tree topping nicely. I'll give this edge an B+ to A-, but considering what I started with that is a WIN! I did my 1st pass with it and it did deliver good reduction. I didn't do the rest of the shave with it, I wanted to give it a Barbicide soak so I could give it back to him today.

The really bad thing is, he claims this razor was sold to him as shave ready at an AOS store. I really find it hard to believe that a AOS store even had this razor. My biggest concern is how many others have bought this $13 dollar razor kit as shave ready and then tried to shave with it! Now mind you he said he paid $65 for it. But I've found it on alibaba.com for $13 for a kit (box, brush, strop, and razor). This just makes me wonder how many have purchased sub standard razor, attempted to shave with them and failed. Thus turning them off to Traditional Wet Shaving. Such a shame.
https://youtu.be/EWcvVjifCLs
 
Nice video Craig. The only razor i have ever had that much of an issue with(outside of my first razor which was a GD and taught me all about what proper blade geometry was) also belonged to friend. His wife bought it for him sometime after he gained and interest from my diving in and it was i believe a SS Dovo(after hearing the price she paid i'm betting it was a knockoff). It was also sold a Shave ready but was absolutely not. The Steel took ages to get a proper bevel and i was never 100% happy with it but it could give an OK shave without pulling.
 
I don't think it was a knockoff. I have 2 Dovo SS models sitting in front of me waiting for me to get time to finish them. I'd rather be honing a GD. The geometry isn't to bad, but the steel is junk, and the grinds aren't very good. The first time he sent me the one he said he had just got it as "shave ready". I sharpen knives with more of an edge than this thing had.

Seems about 85 to 90 percent of "shave ready" claims are just a marketing ploy, because in reality there are so few of us that actually use them and know what a good edge really is. Even the "honemiesters" at the factories, they've never used one so couldn't tell you if that edge will shave or not just that it will do a test cut on a hand held piece of something.
I know there are a good number that use straights, but in the grand scheme it's still a small number. Those of us that hone and take pride in a truly shave ready edge are even fewer.
 
Well then i wish you luck. it was the most awful honing experience i ever had. Maybe they just wanted it gone wherever she got it from lol.

give me a 100+ year old piece of steel any day.
 
I've read and heard some horror stories about honing some Dovo razors. I know I've seen on several professional honmiester's website not to send them Gold Dollar razors.
 
I know this is an old thread, but I’d like to give my 2¢ on Gold Dollars. I understand the frustration people can feel with honing them. The steel is great, but the geometry is inconsistently horrible. When I used to buy boxes of 20 of them; 3-4 would be worthless, another 4-5 would be very difficult to set a proper bevel, and the rest would hone perfectly and shave like a dream. Buying one Gold Dollar is a definite crap shoot for what you’re going to get.
 
I came looking for encouragement on resetting the bevel in the Torrey that @MilkCrate PIFed me after I turned it into a butter knife while restoring it. It is taking forever to even get the slightest edge back.

Yup, I found that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
 
Sometimes, I’ve found when a razor fights and fights and will pop hairs but not shave, you gotta kill the edge and really nail the bevel. Counting strokes and check for warping. Once you get the geometry sorted out you are gold. If it will cut tomato skin on the bevel, it’s ready.
 
It wasn't so much a geometry problem, but really a problem with not using film that was coarse enough. I ended up setting the bevel on 60 micron film and working from there. I'm currently on 5 micron and chugging along! Credit to @MilkCrate for telling me to go with the coarsest film I have.
 
I knew you had it, good job! The shave test is the real test. But the balsa should have you wicked sharp.
 
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