Re: Just bought first Straight - anyone care to hone for me?
It does look a bit strange, doesn't it Andy - that's why I would like to see the other side. The spine has little or no wear near the stabiliser end and gets wider towards the middle, goes in a bit then gets heavy again at the tip. The tip isn't a great indicator - a lot of people roll the razor there to follow the curve or - if it hasn't got a slight smile a lot of people induce one by concentrating on the tip, as it is said (and I agree - for me, anyway) that it gives a better shave.
The other side of the razor would be the clincher - if the hone wear along the spine gets narrower in the middle that would indicate a defect. One way around it is to raise the edges by inducing a smile, so the area that would otherwise be a frown is left a bit more prominent and gets a bit more contact with the stone. Doesn't always work though.
Talking of which, I have had ten new Dovos in for honing recently, most of which were Specials, two of which were Bismarcks. No problems with the Bismarcks, but all of the specials had this same defect. all but one took a decent edge in the end, but each one took about three times longer than usual to hone. One of those unforseeable things that knocks-on to all the other work waiting in line, unfortunately...
The four older Fritz Bracht dovos all sailed through, no problem.
I'm beginning to get a phobia about the shape of the flats on razor spines, along with my other phobias that include EJ open razors and Cyril Salters. The sight of all three brings on feelings of great trepidation followed by an immense headache - nurse, the screens!!!
Regards,
Neil