Hi from London :)

Hi I thought I better introduce myself here, I am from London England just getting started with straight razor shaving and have not been having great results up until recently.

I bought a very very cheap straight razor with plastic scales from ebay a couple of months back and found that it was just about sharp enough to shave my face if I kept going over and over and then it was not a smooth shave and gave me razor burn. After a couple of tries it got worse so I then bought a cheap strop and tried stropping the blade on the leather but it seemed to make it worse if anything and now the blade will barely cut the hair on my arm. The blade never passed the hanging hair test and even if I looped a hair around it and pulled the hair it would have trouble even when new.

Looking at the blade it does not appear to be properly hollow ground as instead of tapering to a microscopic edge in one go it seems to taper down like it should but then has a steep tapering edge starting about a mm away from the edge almost like the way a kitchen knife is ground.

Anyway I gave up with it a few weeks back just assuming it was a cheap imitation and decided to buy a straight razor that takes half a razor blade, again a very cheap one with the theory being that the disposable blade would be very sharp and I could use it to develop my skill before trying a more expensive straight razor that would hopefully have a proper edge. While I was waiting for it to arrive I read about the Miraki shavettes and saw that they were cheap so ordered one of those as well.

I cut myself quite badly on my first shave with the disposable normal sized blade razor as soon as I got down to my jaw and found it very badly weighted as all the weight was behind the small blade helping it sink into my face. Next day the Miraki came and I found it is balanced much better and was quite easy to get a smooth shave with without cutting myself.

Anyway the Miraki shavette is nice but it is cheap and doesn't really fulfil the idea of shaving with a proper straight razor that drew me to them in the first place. I have been looking at the Dovo razors for a while and couldn't resist ordering one, after much procrastination I decided on a brand new Dovo All Steel stainless razor as it should be easy to maintain the scales etc and keep it clean.

I have spent quite a bit of money on the Dovo on the premise that you get what you pay for and that a good razor costs about £100 as opposed to £7.99 inc shipping from ebay :P so I am expecting to get a good few shaves out of it while it is at its best before I have to use a strop or a hone on it. I want to be able to concentrate on shaving technique with it for a while rather than having to worry about whether the razor is sharp enough or if I have honed or stopped it wrong. I don’t mind spending the money to just have one very high quality razor that will shave well and last me a lifetime.

Anyway sorry that introduction turned into a bit of an essay but otherwise I would have just said hi and posted this somewhere else :)

Hi. Do not be surprised that so called factory "shave ready" can be prety dull unless you bought it from a good vendor who checked it for you and as it happens so often re sharpenned it inb the process.

Welcome to the SRP. The Dovo is a really nice razor. Unfortunately it does not come shave ready from the factory. You should be able to find someone local to properly hone the razor.
It takes some time to gain the skill to get a really good shave. Get the razor honed and keep at it. Eventually you will be getting really close shaves.

More information can be found here:Straight Razor Place Wiki

Most of all, enjoy yourself.

Hello and welcome to SRP! :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mvcrash

Welcome to the SRP. The Dovo is a really nice razor. Unfortunately it does not come shave ready from the factory. You should be able to find someone local to properly hone the razor.
It takes some time to gain the skill to get a really good shave. Get the razor honed and keep at it. Eventually you will be getting really close shaves.

More information can be found here:Straight Razor Place Wiki

Most of all, enjoy yourself.

---

Hi thanks for that bit of info I will ask if the razor has been honed and is shave ready before I use it otherwise I will have to find a place that specialises in honing them. I was hoping that the blade would come shave ready so I have something to benchmark against, they do have a video showing how they make the Dovo razors and it shows the blades being honed and then stropped on a leather block so perhaps my one will be sharp.

I have heard that there is a barber at St. John's Wood High Street who hones straights however I have no personal experince with him/her. Ther are few honemeisters in UK to who you can send your razor if that would be required.

Welcome from another Brit.

Neil Miller is a member here, he's hones a razor for me and I can highly recommend his skills his website is The Strop Shop also while I have no personal experience but Steve of The Invisible Edge also has an excellent reputaion.

Either should be able to get your Dovo into a real shave ready condition.

HTH

thebully,

Welcome and hello from Hastings :)

+1 on Misters Dempster & Miller; they are most fine chaps to do business with :)

Mr Millers strops and razor work are World Class !!

For shaving consumables, Mr Mayhew of ConnaughtShaving (Welcome To Connaught Shaving) is an excellent resource.

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

Hi

Thanks for the tips etc, my new Dovo arrived yesterday and I had a shave with it last night and a shave this morning. It does not seem as sharp as my Miraki shavette, but it could be my technique I guess, I might have the razor sent to a specialist who can give it its first hone and strop etc. I didn’t strop it before my first shave because I was a bit frightened of doing more harm than good, also my strop was a very cheap 2” leather one branded Imperial and I have put a couple of little nicks and scratches down it when trying to strop my cheap ebay straight razor which I think had a tiny nick at the end of the blade from dropping it in the sink!

I gave the new Dovo razor a bit of a strop last night before putting it away this time turning the blade on its heel and going really slow. I was stropping one side of the blade at a time and then just the middle but I have since read that it is best to use a figure of 8 pattern moving the blade diagonally as it goes down so will try that tonight.

Is it worth me buying another cheap leather strop I have seen a 3 inch one on ebay or will my one be ok. My one has very fine scratches down one side but a few nicks on the edges near both ends where I was turning the other razor over incorrectly. I think luckily I have made most of my mistakes with the cheap ebay razor so with this expensive Dovo I want to be very careful. All this said my shave this morning was passable with the Dovo so I won’t have to pick up the Miraki in the morning. :)

Welcome, good to have more locals here!

When I started I was using a piece of leather, i then got a vintage strop on Ebay which was an improvement then a basic Neil Miller strop and I was amazed at the difference. They are in the £20-£30 range but he's out of stock of them at the moment. Peronally I would use that imperial strop and get some more practice (build some muscle memory) so that if you nick it then its no great shakes then when he's got more in stock treat yourself, you wont be disapointed.

I don't know where you bought the Dovo but unless its been honed by someone after it left the factory its not likely to be properly shave ready, so yes it would be a good idea to have it honed. At least that way you know what a sharp razor should feel like.

Dovos have a sharp factory edge, but it is not shave ready unless the vendor specifically made it by honing. As Im based in London I'd be willing to hone it for you as Im sure several other guys here would.

Also I can recommend Neil's strops very highly. I have a Kanayama 80K which is probably the second most expensive strop on the market and like Neil's just as much. I have 2 of his, one of which is a custom refurbishment of a vintage ivory handled paddle strop in cordovan which has awesome draw. The other is a giant ebony strop with bridle/tallow tan. The business.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Scipio

Dovos have a sharp factory edge, but it is not shave ready unless the vendor specifically made it by honing. As Im based in London I'd be willing to hone it for you as Im sure several other guys here would.

Also I can recommend Neil's strops very highly. I have a Kanayama 80K which is probably the second most expensive strop on the market and like Neil's just as much. I have 2 of his, one of which is a custom refurbishment of a vintage ivory handled paddle strop in cordovan which has awesome draw. The other is a giant ebony strop with bridle/tallow tan. The business.

---

Hi, I bought the razor online from Executive Shaving I think it is brand new from the factory, the case had been opened but the blade had a sticker on it. There is a little bit of evidence of machining or honing or machine work on each side of the heel of the razor. Their was no mention of honing or shave readyness on the site I bought it from I just assumed it would be ready when new until I posted on here that is lol.

I would be very interested in having someone make sure the razor is shave ready and at its best so it would be great if you could hone it for me. I will send you a PM :)

I must give a big thankyou to Scipio for honing my new Dovo for me today and giving me about an hour of his time to tell me about razors and hones and stroping etc. Also had quite an impressive collection of straight razors to show me :)

Its been a big help to actually see these techniques in action and I have just had a shave with the newly honed Dovo and have pretty much given my self a BBS shave, well except for along my jaw blades and those will take some practice. Scipio also lent me a razor to benchmark my Dovo against so I will try that one tomorrow and see how it compares to my Dovo, hopefully I will be sending it back to him soon.

Cheers!

:rock::beer1: