Thread: New Dovo razor problems

After years of service the fins and pivot on my old straight razor finally blew and it was time for a replacement

I bought a new Dovo Astrale and the weight and balance is absolutely spot on. It's really a fine razor.

The only problem is, it doesnt shave smoothly or cleanly and certainly cannot tackle a couple of days growth of beard without ripping away at my face!

What is wrong here? Has anyone else found the same problem?


John

It sounds like you have a factory edge on it, while it has to be hand-honed before it can shave properly! You could send it out to any of the members that offer honing in the classifieds or hone it yourself, starting probably around the 4K grit.

The Shave Ready Razor - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Thanks guys.

That is one thing I hadn't considered to be honest.

I guess I have been so used to using my old well honed straight shave for so long that this really came as a surprise to find a new 'shave ready' really needs a little more attention before it is really up to the job

I'm interested to know more about your last razor. How did you maintain it? How long did you use it. What condition is the blade in? What strop/hones do you have?

I'd look into getting your first razor restored, and your dovo honed at the same time. That way you will have two.

Welcome to the forum!

Michael

My old razor and strop belonged to my grandfather and onc I inherited it I then used it for the past thirty odd years.

I never had any problems with the blade at all even though it was a little discoloured. It was the outer which eventually gave way to time and use and finally split apart. It was some kind of ivory or horn which had previously been cracked and repaired with a plate and rivet, and after it fell apart I used it naked without the scales but then I was tempted by this new Dovo.

With the original, once it was honed all it needed was a mild stropping every four or five days to keep it really keen, but I never expected to have to do this with a new blade - at least not straight off and not at the price the Dovo cost!

Thanks for the welcome BTW Michael. It is much appreciated. I never realised how popular straight shaving is until I discovered this site.

John

You never honed or had it honed for 30 years? Stropping only every 4-5 days? Wow! And the dovo edge felt dull compared to this razor. That's pretty amazing.

Oh no, its certainly been honed dozens of times over the years, of course it has and that wasn't the impression I meant to give, but I didn't expect the Dovo would have needed special attention straight off. I expected it honed and ready to go. It shouldn't take a lot of maintenance to keep a good steel in order - that was what I meant

I think the problem is that the Dovo's and TI's from the factory is the fact that they're from a factory. No matter how much tradition that is put into these razors they still have only a limited supply with a small workforce pushing them out as quick as they can because the demand is so high. I mean when I was looking to buy my first razor nobody was in stock and I had no idea about SRP so the classifieds where out of the question. I went to SRD and Vintage Blades LLC and nothing was in stock. I emailed one of the sites about why they had nothing in stock and they said that it takes a while for the companies to push out orders. I think the fact that these razors are "mass produced", at least when you compare to custom makers, and that there is such a demand that shave readiness becomes kind of lost. Which is funny because if you read DOVO's warranty it becomes void if you or any one besides dovo hones it. I don't even know if you can send your razor to DOVO to get honed properly.

Welcome to SRP first off


You might find this particular Beginners tips article a source of amusement


http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...tml#post908878