Help needed on DOVO ebony straight (pics)

[N_Architect]

Hello everyone.

Would appreciate any experienced straight razor users help on this.

Bought this straight new many years back, never used it. Tried to shave with it in the beginning, had no idea on technique, etc. so after few minutes I really gave up.

Looks like I did not wipe or stow it properly after this, and when I took it to a local shop they suggested me to hand it over so that they sharpen it. So they did.

After this I still never touched it to shave, now that I am doing DE shaving comfortably I like to prepare for straight shaving one day.

Appears though that the razor is again stained with rust (few places) and there is also a tiny damage to the front part of the blade.

What shall I do? Take it to an expert for sharpening again and removal of rust stains?

Can I work on this myself? (probably not, I guess). Access to skilled people here is difficult, or perhaps I still haven't found such a shop yet.

What is this "4" on the razor? Does it mean it is a '4/8' razor?

Thank you for your assistance, if you can help. It will be really appreciated.

Konstantinos

 

[Arrowhead]

Neil Miller will drop by presently I expect for the definitive opinion; in the meantime here's a few observations.

The razor is almost certainly a 5/8" model 4580. You can measure the width yourself: it'll either be the full width of the blade, or more properly the width from the edge of the spine (where the grinding starts) to the edge. The "4" is a mystery to me: possibly it designates the first digit of the product code, alternatively and more sensibly maybe its the degree of hollow grind on the Henckels scale. The "4" is present in one of the pictures on this page:
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It doesn't look as if there is any corrosion on the edge itself, in which case your razor is undamaged for shaving purposes. I'd be far too embarrassed to show you one of my razors ... suffice it to say that there are much worse cases in use! If the cosmetic defects are a major problem to you, then you would probably do best to pass it on to an expert for polishing. The main thing is: is it sharp? and the best test for that is to attempt a shave with it, although if you are reluctant, that's understandable. Does it shave hair from your arm? If so, that's a start, and I'd be inclined to give it a thorough stropping and give it a run out. If it performs badly, then it's probably honing time, and you know best whether you want to do that yourself or pass it on to a professional. For long term storage, a thin coat of light oil (ideally camellia) will prevent any more rust.

Hope that helps: it should be quite a nice razor if my Dovo is anything to go by.

Edit: on closer inspection, the damage to the edge at the toe does look like it needs honing out. I'd still strop and try it out of curiosity, avoiding using that part of the blade, but it needs sorting out really.

 

[cheese_dave]

The razor is almost certainly a 5/8" model 4580.

+1
It's the same as my Dovo straight, purchased from that very link you sent. Mine also has that puzzling "4" on it. Where's Neil??

 

[N_Architect]

Thanks Andy.

Razor is tack sharp, I can tell you that.

Tried to test it on my sideburns, just a little bit today, no lather, just a test 5mm pass, cuts like nothing I've seen before.

Forgetting about the rust 'stains' in any area other than the blade itself, I am only skeptical about the small dent at the edge. I'll try now stropping but I'm not sure it'll help 100%.

Amplified I'm sure it's pretty significant, since it can be seen by naked eye. Let's try stropping and a few weeks later shaving, and see how this goes.

Thank you so much for the opinion(s). I may also now try the other forum, in case I get any extra info, or to find out this "4" mystery part. Will revert accordingly.

 

[Neil Miller]

Hi Konstantinos,

Nice razor! The rust damage doesn't look bad - it could be made to look better, but where it is present on or next to the gold wash, the gold wash will be removed during the cleaning process, which is a shame. If it is not too deep a little localised clean-up would save the design on the face of the blade, but the difference in the 'tone' or finish of the metal would be different. The tang of the razor should clean up quite nicely. The edge looks in good condition, but a re-hone would probably be in order just to ensure that there isn't any hidden oxidation, and it may remove the light pit at the toe end.

You can get preparations that convert active rust to an inert substance - as the damage is so minor you may want to try something along those lines first and get a bit of use out of the razor before deciding if it is worth restoring it and losing parts of the gold plating.

Like Arrowhead says, a lot of us shave with razors that have a lot more signs of age than yours!

As for the "4" on the tang, in other razors a number in this position is usually an aid to the model number/design of the razor - Puma has a master catalogue of all the marks on their razors relating to model, etc. Can't see that it would be any different with Dovo, but you never know! Some razors did have a fractional number on the tang following the model number that referred to the dimensions of the blade, but this is not too common and usually the number has nothing to do with the width of the blade in question.

As a point of interest, some makers measure from the top of the spine to the edge of the bevel, others from the grind-line on the spine to the edge of the bevel for the width, and although the width is traditionally expressed in 1/8ths of an inch, german makers do not use the same method of measurement as we do - but the diference is minute. I inch = 25.4mm in the metric system, but the german zoll (inch) = 26.15mm. In the past things were even trickier - the zoll, depending in which german state you were in, could be 1/12, 1/11 or even 1/10th of a foot!

Regards,
Neil

 

[N_Architect]

Well, all right.

Thanks for stepping in with your (always valuable, as it appears) advice, Neil.

I understand well that many other razors that people currently use can be in a possibly worse state - at the moment will consider honing to remove any oxidation at the edge toe.

Will PM you on this job if I cannot find any local resources here or back home in the next few months.

 

[SiR-ed8]

Konstantinos,

I know it's been years since but when you took it to the shop do you recall if they used hones or belt sander?

I have this same issue with 7-day set Solingen straight one of them has a lot more pitting than yours ( came that way from ebay ). I could care less about the gold wash and they mean nothing to me anyway.

That toe on your Prima looks overhoned and needs to be corrected before being re-honed.

I employ 20 circle method ( counter clockwise on top of hone-edge faces you and clockwise bottom-edge away from you ) followed by 4 or 5 strokes off on Norton 4k and 5-6 strokes on Norton 8k. That's what I've been doing and haven't incurred any problems.

 

[N_Architect]

Hi Ivan and thank you for the reply.

No, I have no clue on what hey did back then in that shop - I just gave it to the owner, he said he would sharpen it for me. The razor had been bought new and (from what I now understand, after following the info here in the boards) needed preparation for it to be shave-ready. He spotted it, I guess, and offered to prepare it for free (of course I had bought that day approx Eur 500 value goods, badgers, cremes, a Futur, a razor stand, etc.)

The toe in my razor may well perhaps be overhoned. I really do not know, I would like to be able to do my own honing in the future, but still we are far away from that.

The razor -as you can see it in the pictures- was tried three days ago for the first time ever in my life, after 40/40 strops and I just did a WTG in both cheeks and neck - no cuts, all well, but I originally expected much more stubble to have been removed. Perhaps I did not execute the technique correctly, since I wouldn't like to believe that it 'does not cut well', and the toe appears sharp and shave-ready.

In any case, the razor will be sent to a specialist (most likely to Neil Miller) and we see how it goes.

 

[Mikael]

It´s nothing wrong if you don´t get a proper shave the first couple of weeks. It´s the same for everyone. When your technique improves you´ll get better shaves. You´re lucky you didn´t cut yourself :lol: