Over-honed?

[nijabhaava]

I don't nor have tried to hone my dovo straight razor (came shave ready from Lynn's site), but have used dovo red stropping paste.

I didn't know it was to be used once in awhile, I have been using it everyday for 10 or so laps on each side, and then 10-15 laps on a plain strop. I use paddle strops sitting good on the sink counter.

Off of late my razor has stopped shaving well, and feels weird when I run my thumb accross its edge. It feels too light - like aluminium, rather than like steel, and cuts like that too.

Its still very sharp, but is somehow incapacitated and not what it used to be.

I haven't used it more than maybe 15 times.

Was the stropping paste a bad idea, did I mess it up?

Also, while were on the subject of fiddling with the razors in a bad way, I used mineral spirits on the blade and the tang - making sure not to get it on the scales - to remove pitting. Was this not a good idea either, is this bad for the razor?

Thank you

 

[wdwrx]

It seems to me as if you may have over stropped your razor. Dovo red paste is quite abrasive, and is generally only used on a razor that needs a touch-up.
It should not be used on a daily basis, a plain, untreated leather/linen strop should be used daily, but a pasted strop over-used will cause exactly what you describe.
Your razor will need a bevel re-set and full honing to work well for you again.

Edit: The mineral spirits won't hurt the razor, though it could lead to problems with plastic. It would be a good idea to wipe them after with some mineral oil to protect them from moisture.

 

[mainaman]

Also, while were on the subject of fiddling with the razors in a bad way, I used mineral spirits on the blade and the tang - making sure not to get it on the scales - to remove pitting. Was this not a good idea either, is this bad for the razor?

Thank you

If this is a new razor it should not have pitting.
Mineral spirits will not prevent pitting, you need to use mineral oil.

 

[LarryAndro]

It seems to me as if you may have over stropped your razor. Dovo red paste is quite abrasive, and is generally only used on a razor that needs a touch-up....

I agree about the abrasiveness and that it can degrade an edge with some use.

Initially, when I start "honing", I had an Arkansas, and balsa with Dovo red and Dovo black and a leather strop. Unbelievably primitive! But, with tons of effort, I was able to get razors to the point of shaving. (Even though I know now they weren't anything to write to mom about.)

Because of this background, I have some experience with what you describe, and think I can help.

Your edge is probably rounded. To resurrect the edge you will have to in some way reset the rounded V of the edge. To do this you have to strop on something that is perfectly flat. A hanging leather strop will not do in all likelihood. Stropping with any pressure at all is counterproductive.

If leather, lay the strop on the edge of a table. You have to strop with such light pressure that you wonder whether the blade is even touching. And, in all likelihood, you will have to strop quite a few passes. 200? I don't know.

The above is an absurd guess, but who knows...

 

[rajagra]

It could be that the paste is a coarser abrasive than what was previously used. A quick check shows Dovo red paste has 3 micron particles. That is roughly equivalent to an 8000 grit synthetic stone. I think you can assume Lynn's place used something smoother than that to finish on.

Maybe you should try Chromium Oxide powder instead.

 

[jendeindustries]

I think LarryAndro is correct - you may have rounded your bevel too much. Resetting your bevel would be the best option, IMO. After that, maintain the edge with leather and your choice of diamond, CBN, BC, or Chromium Oxide spray or powder.

BTW rajagra, I don't know the grit of the red paste, but 3 micron is roughly 5K.

 

[rajagra]

BTW rajagra, I don't know the grit of the red paste, but 3 micron is roughly 5K.

I'm just going by the fact that 3 micron = 1/8467 inch.
DMT say 3 micron = 8000 mesh on their grit size chart.
But the whole grit size thing is very woolly, what with US/Euro/Japanese standards, inability to compare synthetic and natural stones, etc, etc.

 

[danjared]

BTW rajagra, I don't know the grit of the red paste, but 3 micron is roughly 5K.

Depends on the scale you're using. The size of the diamond particles on a D8EE is 3 micron, which they rate as 8K mesh. And red paste on leather or cloth means that the abrasive is somewhat embedded in the medium, resulting in a shallower cut, so the 3 micron bit may not be terribly informative. Nonetheless, your point about it being too rough for some people's taste still stands (although, if my memory serves right, Bart has noted that he's met a guy, who has shaved with a straight for years, coming directly off a Dovo red pasted loom strop before each shave without a complaint). Loom strops pasted with Dovo red are pretty popular in Europe as well, for what it's worth.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Abrasive stropping thins the bevel in a way that honing doesn't. Your description of feeling "too light" and "like aluminum" sounds exactly like a description of a wire edge (or rather the precursor to a real wire edge). Basically, your pasted stropping has gradually abraded away the bevel. Rather than a convex bevel (the complaint of "rounding"), what you have is more a concave bevel (or more probably a vaguely S-shaped bevel). The bevel is not a flat plane forming a triangle (viewed in profile), but rather is a curved plane, formed by slowly filleting away shaves of the bevel WITHOUT moving the edge back (since stropping motion on a pasted strop allows the edge to be pushed up and vastly reduces pressure at the exact edge, while not doing so for the majority of the bevel). Based on my understanding of bevel rounding, this is not it, but the other, rather unknown problem caused by pasted strops. Bevel rounding is from the diagrams I've seen, the top (side away from the edge) of the bevel being over-abraded. This problem is the bottom of the bevel (the edge) being under-abraded (effectively not abraded at all).

If that makes any sense to you.

If my guess at the problem is correct, the razor will need a complete rehoning.