Thread: MY TWO STRAIGHT RAZORS ARE FINALLY HERE BUT...

I gotta return one of them as it is chipped between the heel and the shoulder. Now I must wait until the shop reopens on Jan 5th.

The other one I got is not ready to shave...it sucks BIG time. And yes, I got them both from reputable vendors who advertise on this website.

In the time being, I wanted to ask if any of you knows what's the difference between the Dovo Russian leather Strops and the Russian leather Jemico-Dovo ones. I was told that the Dovo strop was made of Echt Juchten leather, while the Jemico was made of lower quality Russian leather. Is this true?

Are they manufactured by the same company?

Thanks,

Preussen555

i have a russian strop and it seems to work fine for me i nicked the heck out if it while learning to strop i plan on buying a tony miller next month with just starting out i would not worry about buying a high quality strop until you get your technique down

i think most reputable vendors offer honing service which can be purchased with a new razor. of course mistakes happen and if your razor wasn't honed beyond the factory edge you should contact the vendor and i'm pretty sure they'll take care of it.
if your razors were brand new from the factory that's just how they come - sometimes they are well honed but more often they need additional work.

If its factory honed, it wasnt shave tested. I have several red russian strops and love them.

Thank you for your replies!

My understanding is that Russian strops are setup backwards so you do not strop with the smoother side. I have a Russian strop and have had good results with it.

Al raz.

Originally Posted by Alraz

My understanding is that Russian strops are setup backwards so you do not strop with the smoother side. I have a Russian strop and have had good results with it.

Al raz.

I hadn't heard that before. Some "Russian" strops are textured on one side but I believe they are meant to be used smooth side up. The texturing contributes to the suppleness of the strop. I am not talking about the buffed top strops like Tony Miller experimented with for awhile. The term Russian is as far as I know a method of tanning rather then the geographical location of origin of the leather.

Hi Old School,

Well one of them was purchased honed, and one has not been honed yet. I don't have a strop or hone as of yet, and have not used the razors.

The problem I have is with the one that was honed. Between the heel and the shoulder there is a area that looks like it is worn off, chipped, or something of that kind. This issue is not present in the razor that has not been honed, and both are Dovos stainless steel of very similar models.

I have never had a straight razor before in my life, so perhaps there is nothing wrong with it and it is part of the design or something. The guy I bought it from is GREAT, so I do not foresee any issues.

I wish I could show you in pictures what I'm taking about, but my camera doesn't have a good zoom-in.

I'm a perfectionist -I blame it on my Prussian blood. hehehe

Thank you for the advice

I will do so. Happy new yr everyone!

Best,

Preussen555

Jimmy, I read what I said in a post by Tony Miller in this thread:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...p-numbers.html

Perhaps he was only referring to the Illinois 827. I also found a more general, vintage, SPR thread about Russian strops where they discussed this issue in more detail:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...ian-strop.html

They go over several "definitions" for the Russian strop (tanning, origin, compression, ribbing, etc...) and agree that they are rougher. Perhaps you can increase my understanding of strops a bit here, thanks.

Al raz.