Comparing a few DOVO razors...

Hello,

Many of you may have seen my previous post, for those who haven't basically I am brand new here to SRP and am looking to begin learning the art of a straight shave. I am still heavily researching and reading up on every aspect of a straight shave and the products involved. Through my reading a name I am continuously seeing come up time and time again is DOVO brand. I have a few razors here that I am looking at, and wanted to know if anyone has any experience with any of them of could offer any advice on the razor itself or even other places to go through when it does come time for me to make a purchase.

I am listing them from the most inexpensive and up. As the price goes up with the razor is the quality going up or am I paying more for "bling"?


Carbon Steel Razors:

DOVO Blond- 65.00
VintageBladesLLC::Dovo...

DOVO Black Star- 100.00
VintageBladesLLC::Dovo...

DOVO Ebony Silver Steel- 100.00
VintageBladesLLC::Dovo...

DOVO White Bone Bismarck- 140.00 (Spike Point- what is the benefit to a spike point?)
VintageBladesLLC::Dovo...

DOVO Red Solingen- 140.00
VintageBladesLLC::Dovo...

Stainless Steel:

DOVO Ivory Micarta
VintageBladesLLC::Dovo...

I keep seeing this razor featured on almost every site I visit. I am assuming it must be a fairly popular razor not to mention it's obvious aesthetic beauty.

As mentioned, if anyone has any experience with any of these or could offer anything about them, their quality, and other places to purchase that would be incredibly helpful. I know I listed a lot there may not be any clear cut "this is better", I just want some direction and as to what my money is actually being put towards.

Cheers,

Josh

Hey Im a noob too, been shaving a couple of months. I have a dsilver steel and its v good, provided you buy one shave ready. The bloke I bought it from at dovo.co.uk also recomended the Black star as a great first razor but the wife bought it for me as a gift so she chose the silver steel in the end. A wapi is another great first buy I am told, I have one and it shaves just as good as the Dove and for les than half the price!
good luck!

I would suggest buying the DOVO Blond- 65.00 . Get the honing option. Good size to start out with and you aren't sinking a lot of money into it not knowing if you are going to like it. Buy two and you will have a rotation and can send one out if it needs honing and still have a backup.

The pricing is based on size and decoration on the blade and scales more then on one or the other blade being superior. I don't have a current production Dovo but the vintage couple I have with Fritz Bracht on the reverse tang are good shavers. I imagine the current production is as well.

Thanks for the quick response guys. I was thinking that with the increase in price that I was probably paying more for the flash then for the blade itself.

When I was in college a few year ago there was a local barber that used to offer straight shaves, I used to get them from time to time and loved it. She charged about 20.00 for it but it was about a 45 minute to an hour long process, really got the works, hot towels, hot creme, lotion... all the bells and whistles.

Anyways, keep the comments coming if anyone else has them!

From blade to blade, you pay for the difference in the scale (handle) material and the goldwash decoration on the blade. If you are just starting out, just get the basics. The blades pretty much shave the same for a given size and grind. Based on my initial learning experience, if I had it to do over again knowing what I know today, I would select a 6/8 or 7/8 blade with a 1/4 grind for the learning process.

my first blade was a dovo 6/8 red bismarck full hollow ground great shaver paid $109 at vintageblades spent the extra $20 to have it honed.good razor i would not go bigger than a 6/8 to learn on with a 6/8 you can go up or dowm with your size but it really comes down to personell preferance some guys like the smaller lighter blades and some like the wide heavy blades but i would get a razor from the srp classifieds to get a good shave ready razor and not break the pocket book :gl:

I have 4 DOVOs, it doesnt matter how much you pay you are going to get the same great shave!

For years I shaved in the shower as part of the morning routing and have favored stainless daily shavers for that reason... mostly two Dovo micarta handled razors, but they're all good. I've tarnished a few high carbon blades having forgotten to dry them in the morning pre-coffee rush. I always liked having one less worry.

I posted a similar question about a month ago. Here is the link http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...azor-poll.html. I wanted to compare all the razors in the same size so I chose 5/8 because all of them were available in that size. One thing that became evident is that only a few people, mostly honemmeisters, would have tried all these razors. At $189, the Bergischer Lowe took of as the favorite in my poll. It is a nice razor with horn scales and gold etching. Unfortunately, SRD is OUT (hint here D&L ;-)). I have since bought several razors from other manufacturers and have been happy with all of them. Take your pick, you will be fine. Or go to the classifieds and save some money. The most important thing is to get a shave ready razor.

Al raz.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TJoshX

DOVO Ivory Micarta
Vintage*Blades*LLC*::*Dovo...

I keep seeing this razor featured on almost every site I visit. I am assuming it must be a fairly popular razor not to mention it's obvious aesthetic beauty.

---

This is what I have (my only blade for now.) I have no complaints really, but a few observations:

• The pattern on the blade could be mistaken by some to be connected to Damascus steel. It is not, it is purely ornamental etching.
• I bought it without it being made shave-ready. It didn't pass the hanging hair test. I honed it before trying to shave with it.
• I think the blade is slightly warped. Not visibly so now, but after honing the bevel is thicker in the middle of the ornate side of the blade. On the plain side the bevel is thickest at the heel and toe, in the middle it is disturbingly thin, but at least it exists.

I don't think my honing is responsible for the bevel problem. I use a full-width, lapped hone (Norton 4K/8K) and had never used an X-pattern before i saw this fault, just linear strokes. Maybe I should have checked the blade for straightness before I did any honing, maybe the bend would have been visible then.

Of course this could affect any blade, and I don't know if this degree of imperfection is normal and acceptable in a new razor. As long as I get a bevel I'm guessing it's OK to live with it. :thinking: