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Failing at setting the bevel correctly

a lot of good things said.

in my world, during bevel set blade must pass three areas or I don't move on:

TNT but I check different parts of the blade. just the heel is not good enough.

Shave hair

slice through maraschino cherry with little pressure and slight movement.....fix cherry coke and go hit my 3k.

im also an oddball that will linen/leather strop even at bevel set phase.

camo
 
Generally what I do is raise a little slurry on the 1k and work for a bit going back and forth between X-strokes and half strokes with medium-heavy pressure. Then I’ll start diluting down to water and reducing the pressure as I move closer to water only. I’m looking for the blade to undercut water easily and if the bevel is getting close to being set often times the feedback may transition from a slightly course sensation to a quite smooth feeling. It might be smooth enough to the point that it doesn’t even feel like I’m on a 1k any longer. Only then would I check for sharpness.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
Are you honing on a bench, or in hand? Are you resting a finger on the razor?

That is a Dovo "Best Quality", which is a misnomer if I ever seen one. Still, if you got a burr ALONG THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE EDGE, on both sides in turn, and then carefully honed it away, using diminishing pressure and no finger resting on the blade, you should have got a good bevel. As others have said, a burr is not necessary. However, if a burr is raised on both sides in turn, full length, and then honed away with regular alternating laps of x strokes, you should have a good bevel. So you are doing something wrong. The frown is very indicative. You cannot have a frown if you did this correctly, unless your hone is not flat. Did you lap it first? Use sandpaper on glass, or a so-called "flattening stone"?

Try this. Paint your bevel on both sides with a sharpie marker. Lay your coarsest lapping film PROPERLY, with no bubbles, lint, hair, or dust under it, on your lapping plate, which must be flat flat flat. Hold your plate and film in your unsupported hand. With the other hand, give the razor 3 or 4 light laps. Examine under your loupe or microscope, under a very bright light. Where the ink remains, you are not making contact. If the bevel setting procedure was on point, you will have a perfectly clean bevel. If not, set your bevel again. You didn't get it. Bevel bevel bevel. The bevel is the edge. Without a good bevel, you will never ever have a decent edge. Never. Ever.

If the last little bit of toe or heel do not get a burr, that is okay. They don't need a perfect edge. In fact it is better if the last 1/8" or so on either end is not sharp at all. You will get far fewer cuts that way. As for the central 95% or so, the bevel needs to be spot on.
 
It sounds like you're still working with a U shaped apex.

Whatever is happening during the burr stage for you is leaving way too blunt of an edge behind/underneath. I would encourage you to focus on joining each side to form a V shaped apex with edge leading strokes on your bevel setter until you're cutting arm hair well (no ripping or pulling but actually shaving well) and then proceed through the rest of your progression. You probably already know about torque, but there should be more pressure on the edge than there is on the spine if you're wanting to make contact at the edge. If the razor is extra hollow too much torque could also create a similar barrier to success by inadvertently over flexing the blade. This is all assuming the razor is up to the task.
 
It looks like you use both hands on the blade when honing, also looks like you are pressure heavy especially on the toe and heel. You are also honing the stabiliser, keep it off the stone its adding to your problems.

I never raise a burr and set my bevels on 1.2k King stone, sometimes a coti but still no burrs.

Your geometry is slipping, I would suggest rolling x-strokes going forward, or using a narrower stone as mention above. Asking a highly recommend member to correct things for you is another route.

Thanks a lot for this! Re using both hands while honing - What seems to indicate this? I've only used the one as per the method's post. I'll definitely keep the xstrokes in mind moving forward, the whetstone I'm using for the bevel is quite narrow while the lapping film is quite broad for sure. What tips away the geometry slipping?? Its great to receive this feedback!

Cheers
 
Thank you all kind gents for your feedback!!
Slash: I'm honing on hand with no finger on top of the blade I lapped it using a so called "lapping stone" for lack of a big glass surface to level it with (and inability to get one during lockdown). I'll give the sharpie a shot for sure!
Ryan: Will read up on torque, wasn't familiar with the notion but makes a lot of sense!!
Lightfoot: Great note on the slurry, I'll add that to my arsenal
Camo: Thanks for sharing, I never heard the marraschino cherry method but it does sound like a good one. My only problem is I'd probably eat all of them :p

Thank you all once again for the help! What really boggles my mind is that I followed the method with other blades and they actually had a very different reaction to it - Just reinforcing that the blade's baseline geometry may be off. What is your guideline for noticing? I know its dumb but I can't tell at all!

As a quick update, yesterday I put the blade through the progression all the way to the pasted strops and today gave it a leather strop pass. It mysteriously passes HHT so I'll try shaving with it to see what happens!

Thanks all :)
 
Just reinforcing that the blade's baseline geometry may be off. What is your guideline for noticing? I know its dumb but I can't tell at all!

just out of curiosity, where you able to understand what i was trying to show you in my picture with the line? that should be your first cue imo, the next might be the difference in bevel size that complements itself on the other size (equal/equal or large/small). sometimes it's the grind, honing pressure, sometimes its warp.
 
Ryan: Will read up on torque, wasn't familiar with the notion but makes a lot of sense!!
If this is the case then this is likely the issue. The spine is just a built in angle guide. Imagine a subtle twisting towards the edge from the fingertips but not enough to lift the spine. This should focus your efforts towards the very edge.
 
Hey Global! I definitely got your pic (How not to, it was clear as water!!) But the difference in bevel size eluded me. Thanks for pointing it out!

Live update on the shave - It's the sharpest thing I've shaved with (not counting the shavette). Man my bar must be low :(
Edit, live update 2: I've just finished a two pass shave and it was very comfy. Edge was a bit aggressive so I adjusted my angle and it was quite a comfy and good shave!

Theres heaps more research to do from this! Thank you all!!!
 
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My dovo bq was warped, had a frown and the stabilizer started to make contact as soon as I put it to the stone. Had to grind the stabilizers down, fix the frown on the 1k, and be very careful with weight on the razor, had to back down to my 4k because the edge didn't give me a close enough shave (the bevel was not spot on)
The steel also seems to be softer than my other razors, I had to use feather light pressure because of that to get a good enough bevel, and hone very carefully on my finisher.
After that it is a fine shaver, steel has a distinct feel to it vs a very hard tempered razor.
It is now skin friendly and gives a nice close shave.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
My dovo bq was warped, had a frown and the stabilizer started to make contact as soon as I put it to the stone. Had to grind the stabilizers down, fix the frown on the 1k, and be very careful with weight on the razor, had to back down to my 4k because the edge didn't give me a close enough shave (the bevel was not spot on)
The steel also seems to be softer than my other razors, I had to use feather light pressure because of that to get a good enough bevel, and hone very carefully on my finisher.
After that it is a fine shaver, steel has a distinct feel to it vs a very hard tempered razor.
It is now skin friendly and gives a nice close shave.
Yah, the Bests are okay once you have them sorted out. It is the sorting out process that is a hassle. And usually it ain't nothing purty when you are done. For the price, I kind of expect a more ready to hone razor with fewer issues. If you are gonna work on the razor before even getting the bevel set, there are much cheaper options.
 
Yah, the Bests are okay once you have them sorted out. It is the sorting out process that is a hassle. And usually it ain't nothing purty when you are done. For the price, I kind of expect a more ready to hone razor with fewer issues. If you are gonna work on the razor before even getting the bevel set, there are much cheaper options.
Amen to that!
Vintage razors are about half the price and geometry is usually right vs the geometry is usually off with the dovo BQ.
My first razor was a dovo BQ which is now a toothpick. The reason I got another one is to prove to myself that I can fix it (i was mostly curious if i could fix it 😄)
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
millimeter, schmillimeter. Isn't that only a little more than 2" wide? Let's see... if 7.62mm = .308", then.... ah hell with it. I followed the link, and the reviews seem very fishy. But they are certainly cheap enough so if they work for you, then super. Congratulations on getting a satisfying edge!
 
For some reason, i find 2-2.5in width, more enjoyable to hone on, just a preference for me. I find folks learning on 3” want everything in their world to be flat.

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Cheers! I just wanted the 1k as I can't get lapping film locally and trying to set it up with my 9 didn't work before. They were cheap as, and the leather stop is now my pasted strop! Learned a lot about working with this warped blade, looking forward to getting my peen hammer and be able to get back to working on other projects!

Thank you fellas, you are amazing as usual!
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
Cheers! I just wanted the 1k as I can't get lapping film locally and trying to set it up with my 9 didn't work before. They were cheap as, and the leather stop is now my pasted strop! Learned a lot about working with this warped blade, looking forward to getting my peen hammer and be able to get back to working on other projects!

Thank you fellas, you are amazing as usual!
NOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo!!!!!! Please tell me you didn't actually put abrasive paste on your leather strop! That defeats the whole purpose of the strop! It is not supposed to remove steel, only to straighten and burnish it.

Well hey, it is your strop, I guess. But to me, it is ruined for now and forever if you did that.
 
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