Thread: A little help needed

For sure carbon steel is the way to go, I occasionally make my own knives and much prefer to work with/own carbon steel over stainless.

It takes that little bit more effort but is worth it overall

A dovo 6/8 special was my first shaver...it never let me down

Originally Posted by jpm7676

A dovo 6/8 special was my first shaver...it never let me down

+1 on the DOVO Special - I have it and I love it.

Hi Tom,

Don't forget you can also check out the Classifieds here (see link at top of this page).

Good range of prices, many restored blades - and you might see one similar to your grandfather's.

All the best with the journey,
Michael.

Hi bigtom,

That is a very heart warming story. Your grand father sounded like a great person.

I have the DOVO Bismark in black. That is a mighty fine razor and a fine shaving razor. I own 54 razors, but the Bismark shows up at least once a week in my rotation. There is a review here at SRP. You don't say where you are located, but from your vocabulary, can I assume the UK?

There are some really great guys on site here from the UK, Stubear being one of them. He has helped me through my humble straight razor beginnings and I'm sure can help you as well.

If you are committed to learning this and are not just trying to figure out if you like it, then for sure the Bismark would last you a lifetime and you would be the grandfather that a grandson would try to find the razor that belonged to.

If not - DOVO Best Quality or DOVO Special. I have the DOVO Special in Tortoise. It was my first razor and is also still in regular rotation. Really good shaver.

Good luck to you.

Cheers,
David

Edit - sorry, I posted the wrong name - it should have been bigtom

Thanks for all the replies, especially the ones in favour of the Bismarck.

It certainly seems to be a fine razor and after reading your thoughts and the reviews on it I have just placed an order for two, one black and one red so that I can have a bit of a rotation between them, not to mention I have a case that will hold two razors quite nicely and it would be a shame to leave it looking empty.

I am indeed from the UK, seems I have been a little remiss in completing my profile on here.

The classifieds on here look great; I managed to find a reasonable deal on the two Bismarcks and I'm actively considering spending the remainder of my budget on something nice from the items listed.

The other razor that has tickled my fancy is an 11/16 Revisor Gold that I have seen listed here:
Revisor Gold Straight Razor, Solingen

Does anyone happen to know of anywhere else that one can obtain a new Revisor? I read several of the reviews here on the forum about them and they seem to be quite the razor.

Originally Posted by bigtom

Thanks for all the replies, especially the ones in favour of the Bismarck.

It certainly seems to be a fine razor and after reading your thoughts and the reviews on it I have just placed an order for two, one black and one red so that I can have a bit of a rotation between them, not to mention I have a case that will hold two razors quite nicely and it would be a shame to leave it looking empty.

I am indeed from the UK, seems I have been a little remiss in completing my profile on here.

The classifieds on here look great; I managed to find a reasonable deal on the two Bismarcks and I'm actively considering spending the remainder of my budget on something nice from the items listed.

The other razor that has tickled my fancy is an 11/16 Revisor Gold that I have seen listed here:
Revisor Gold Straight Razor, Solingen

Does anyone happen to know of anywhere else that one can obtain a new Revisor? I read several of the reviews here on the forum about them and they seem to be quite the razor.

Bigtom,

From whom did you buy the Bismarks? We did not mention it, but for sure you need to purchase shave ready razors for you first ones. That was great thinking on the rotation.

You did not say if you have a strop - but that should be your next purchase. I would leave one of the Bismarks in untouched condition so you can use it as a reference when you strop. When you can duplicate the sharpness of the second Bismark, then move on to it.

New shavers (including myself when I was new) can easily ruin the edge of a shave ready razor by poor stropping technique - another reason for stashing the second razor for a bit.

Also - try and get a 3" wide strop - it is easier to learn on because you don't have to learn the x pattern as well as the proper pressure and flip sequence.

Good going - you are really going to love the Bismarks.

David

PS - I don't have a Revisor - but my aquisition disorder is never satisfied.

Originally Posted by Alembic

Bigtom,

From whom did you buy the Bismarks? We did not mention it, but for sure you need to purchase shave ready razors for you first ones. That was great thinking on the rotation.

You did not say if you have a strop - but that should be your next purchase. I would leave one of the Bismarks in untouched condition so you can use it as a reference when you strop. When you can duplicate the sharpness of the second Bismark, then move on to it.

New shavers (including myself when I was new) can easily ruin the edge of a shave ready razor by poor stropping technique - another reason for stashing the second razor for a bit.

Also - try and get a 3" wide strop - it is easier to learn on because you don't have to learn the x pattern as well as the proper pressure and flip sequence.

Good going - you are really going to love the Bismarks.

David

PS - I don't have a Revisor - but my aquisition disorder is never satisfied.

Hey I got the Bismarcks from one of the knife dealers that I work with occasionally worked out at €200 for the two.

I have a set of hones that I use for the odd knife that I knock up when I have the time and inclination (nothing fancy I just use old chisels or railway spikes as blanks and go from there)

I have also ordered a Dovo 3" hanging strop for an extra €30.

I figure I am going to get a very cheap vintage razor from the bay of e and put a hone on it just to give myself the experience of honing something other than knives and see how it goes.

If I don't feel happy honing them myself (I'm more or less confident it will be ok) then I am planning on sending them off to one of the chaps advertising on the forum.

Originally Posted by bigtom

Hey I got the Bismarcks from one of the knife dealers that I work with occasionally worked out at €200 for the two.

I have a set of hones that I use for the odd knife that I knock up when I have the time and inclination (nothing fancy I just use old chisels or railway spikes as blanks and go from there)

I have also ordered a Dovo 3" hanging strop for an extra €30.

I figure I am going to get a very cheap vintage razor from the bay of e and put a hone on it just to give myself the experience of honing something other than knives and see how it goes.

If I don't feel happy honing them myself (I'm more or less confident it will be ok) then I am planning on sending them off to one of the chaps advertising on the forum.

Hmmmm - going after the honing right out the gate! That will complicate things a bit for you. What hones do you have? You will really need to read a lot and watch videos on honing a straight razor - it is not like trying to put a decent edge on a knife. Read the honing forum to understand the depth on that topic.

Did you buy shave ready razors? If not, I would contact one of the members for proximity to your location to see if the two of you can get together for getting those razors shave ready - and possibly get some razor honing lessons. If the Bismarks are not shave ready, trying to shave with them, even after stropping will probably be a bitter disappointment for you.

Please understand, I don't think you cannot learn to hone on your own - many have. I am just recommending stacking the deck in your favor if possible.

David

Yeah I plan on putting a lot of work in before actually honing any "decent" razors.

The Bismarcks that I ordered will be shave ready when they arrive, the chap I am dealing with is also a custom knife-maker and has his own set of straights which he has been honing himself for a goodly while so he is going to give them a good sorting out before I get my grubby little mits on them.

I am keen on honing and restoring my own razors though, in terms of the stones that I have to hand I have 120,220,320,1000,2000,3000,4000,6000 stones for general grinding and sharpening with two 8000s and a 12000 from Naniwa to give a final polish.

I'm willing to take a guess that unless any of the razors I get my hands on are fairly beat up with a whole bunch of chips that I hopefully wont be using anything much below 2/3000 grit stones - I'm prepared to be completely wrong though