Has anyone ever tried one of these?
Famous Double Arrow straight razor. Sharp as a...razor. - eBay (item 220291211923 end time Nov-05-08 18:12:06 PST)
Printable View
Has anyone ever tried one of these?
Famous Double Arrow straight razor. Sharp as a...razor. - eBay (item 220291211923 end time Nov-05-08 18:12:06 PST)
oohhhh, they must suck.
I honed and test shaved a couple for a member recently. They are not the prettiest razor out there, but the steel is fine - the ones I played with took a nice edge and shaved quite smoothly and comfortably.
The scales are a bit on the dodgy side, but apart from that, and in my limited experience with them, I think they are good value for the money.
Also, are not these the ones that Kenrup sells in his starter sets?
James.
I have also honed some for members here, not bad at all, the one problem that I had to "fix" on 2 /3 were the shoulders, they needed to be ground down with a Dremel so that the heel would even touch the hone, in a heel forward honing stroke..... The scales flat suck.....
Got one from Kenrup and really like it. I don't expect the handles to last for years, you must be careful when you close it because it's not perfectly centered.
But it's a good shaver. IF HONED it's to razors what Opinels are to knifes: Cheap, ugly, but gets the job done.
I've purchased quite a few and I've been very pleased. I won't be selling the rest of my Friodurs but these are nice razors for shaving - not admiring. They can come with flaws on the blade and the scales definitely need to be replaced. Nevertheless, I get wonderful shaves from them.
if i read the advertisement correctly it s a "famous Double arrow razor without the double arrow logo"
as for the seller a quick perusal of the feedback and you find the names of many folks from this forum ... several of them repeat happy buyers of razors.
previous performance is not always an indicator of the current state of affairs.
I bought two of those from stamps222
One I honed up easily, shaved ok and the owner is happy with it.
The other was honed up easily by a new guy who is also happy with it.
It's a thick, heavy razor for the price and the razors I had took an edge quickly and easily. All of these I've seen have some curvature at the edge, never frowning but sometimes smirking a bit :) The scales suck though: one of my DAs' scales were not even completely attached to each other at the ends
I bought one from stamps also, have no problem with it, recommend it for the price you're paying.
These shave really wel for the price, but as mentioned earlier, the scales are horrible. Here is mine that I rescaled:
http://www.chozick.com/images/DA.jpg
DA's are the new wapis. ;)
The scales are bad, but the steel is nice. Here's my feeble attempt at rescaling mine.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/attac...razors-025.jpg
Just got one today from the guy on Ebay....Very disappointing...The thing was soaked and covered in oil. As I was removing it from the little plastic case, the scales fell apart...Even the blade was as dull as a plastic knife...I'm not impressed at all...
Oh dear, I have 2 on order from him. I knew the scales are nasty but read the steel was good, and at the price they really have to be worth it. I expect I will hone the living daylights out of them as practice/tests. Not sure what to do about the scales, replacements would cost more than the razors, I might do something "innovative." :w
I purchased one from KenRup. He puts a great edge on the balde. Also according to his posts he fixes whatever needs fixin. I believe the money he charges is well worth it. I have used the razor several times and am a nebie at str8s, but no complaints at this time.
Wow so many different opinions about these poor razors...I personally shave daily with mine. Yes the scales need to be replaced, but they cover the blade when not in use, isn't that their job. Also, just a little bit on the hone and a good stropping and it works great. Also its sold as a "stainless" but i accidentally left mine on the bathroom counter one day and returned to a very slight surface rust spots. but overall a very good buy for that price.
I got one. The seller was very candid--he said it was not shave ready, and that the scales are crap, but the steel is fine. He also recommended me directly to Kenrup for further info...all around, can't complain.
The razor was, indeed, well oiled and I would say that, from stropping it on CrO2, linen and leather, it was shaving as well as the Kropp I messed up--not great, but certainly no like a butterknife.
To be honest, I prefer the look of the blade on teh DA to the Kropp...the half-hollow appeals to me, I think. I've got plans for this guy...
New Update:
I spent some time on the hones and pasted strop before trying the razor. Overall the shave was OK but it made it a bit more difficult since I had to hold what's left of the scale together while I was shaving. I understand that the razor is not meant to be a fancy one but I still expect the thing to be in one piece when you FIRST take it out of the package. The pins are absolutely horrible and it doesn't center at all. I might just follow people's suggestions and get news scales for it.
I really wish we had a better name for these razors. The original Double Arrow is not good at all.
I am constantly searching for new entry level razors that are inexpensive and quality. The Double Arrows and Wapencia razors are the only ones to date that meet my standards. I agree with everybody that the scales are abysmal. I do sell many of these razors each month and the variations of the quality of the scales is usually bad to worse. Rarely are the scales aligned in the vertical little lone on the horizontal. The pivot pin is rarely perpendicular to the blade. However; the blade is consistent. I usually buff the blade to at least to give it a better appearance. There is a lot of detail work that I do to these razors and I have had to repin a number of them. I am very pleased with the service it gives. I offer a three month hone warranty with these razors and I have had only a handful come back for warranty honing. It is true that it does not shave like my Livi but it does give a good shave. I would not get too upset if I drop a double arrow. Not so with my Livi.:eek:
Hey Kenrup,
Do you think that a Dovo replacement scale would fit on this puppy? I'm not looking for anything fancy just something to protect the blade.
JF
hey blade,
Mine wasn't that bad...I actually shaved with it last night..Pretty good shave.
Before shaving I took it to the 4k/8k for a few swipes and then moved to a yellow coticule and finished on a pasted strop and regular strop.
I have to agree with the others that the blade is actually pretty decent but the scales are just a joke.
I'm hoping to find a replacement scale for it.
The Dovo plastic scales would probably fit. The wood ones would not flex enough to accommodate the thicker shank.
:gl:
In the future, I'm going to offer an upgrade to custom scales. I just about decided how I"m going to do this on a semi production basis. I intend to keep the price down so it will still be a good entry level razor.
So would something like this do the trick?
THe scales on my DA are actually not broken only the pin that holds the blade in place..Could I find something locally at an hardware store for example to fix it?
well I have to admit that not owning one but having Honed one from Doc I was kinda impressed,the scales ,well yes they arent maybe the best but for the money i thought it shaved pretty well, and yes, e-butt, is definately a lottery sometimes.
After honing it I shaved with it and got a pretty good shave...just me chiming in.
regards,simon
Hey guys, if you get a defective razor, contact Open_Razor or stamps222 and explain to them or better yet, send a picture of your razor. I would venture to say that either one of them would send you a replacement.
If all else fails contact me and I'll see what I can do for you.:tu
That is very sweet of you! Note that im now sending you the best karma :-)
Im a new to this SR. and dont even owen a hone yet, so I don't know what to do, but I might try your suggestion.
Well here's the pictures of my D.A. It has only been out of the plastic sheet dried of than back again and now out for fotos..
http://pix.nofrag.com/9/b/b/d0d949ca...ee8ff82119.png
http://pix.nofrag.com/f/9/0/c5eac07f...f445a2f24a.png
This is damage that was probably done at the factory. I suspect the blade might have been at the bottom of the batch when something fell on it. Contact open razor on eBay, he lives in Poland. It will save the hassle of shipping across the pond. Tell him I sent you.
:gl:
Got my replacement from stamps22, much better this time. The scales are still not perfect but at least the pins are tight. The razor wasn't exactly sharp but I got it pretty good after some times on the stones. My only problem with the razor is that the heel seems to be too thick or something because it grinds quite a bit on the stone. Because of this I couldn't really sharpen the heel of the blade.
Great, stamps222 does stand by his products. I've not had a problem honing the heel as I approach the heel at an angle to the stone to accommodate the shoulder.
:gl:
Wow. I just honed two of these up. Had a problem early on, my new DMT D8E wasn't broken in and caused a couple of microchips. But I continued and it went OK. I just looked at the edge under a microscope and it is by far the best edge I've seen so far, and that includes a Wapi I bought shave-ready. I can't wait til tomorrow to see if they shave as good as they look.:y
I'm still working on mine. The toe and middle part of the blade seem to be coming along quite well but the heel is suffering quite a bite. I'm using a 45 degree angle but still can't really get that big shoulder out of the way.