Thread: Dog dovo?

don't know about anyone else but I got back into straight shaving the last of august and joined srp in sept. for a long time I go bad shaves from almost all my razors. razor rash bloody shaves from points and every other mistake a person could make. finally I kept c lose watch on my angle and slowed down didn't get in a rush. paid close attention to prep. after all that I've ended up with good shaves on razors I was about to through away. I've had all my razors honed by lynn. never a flaw. no one that hasn't seen you shave knows if the tech. is right or wrong but next time think about it. anyway that's more than 2 cents worth. good shaving.

I'd buy the bad technique line if it was across all/most/some/a few of my razors...but its not, Only that one out of more than 2 hands full.

Curious. Are the rest of your razors GD's? Are they all stiff grinds like a GD? You might have an affinity for stiff blades. I did as I first started shaving. More comfortable to use and somewhat more forgiving. You might save a large hollow ground for down the road a bit. You will be glad you did!

I found that I get the best results with wedges to half hollows. I have a single reworked GD, couple Bokers, Robesons, a few English wedges, a few French wedges, and an assortment of interesting other blades. I thought the Admiral gave good shaves.

I have the Dovo Bismarck 6/8 and it's a fine performer. Just as nice as my TI 6/8 Spartacus...no problems. My favorite razors are W&B 9/8 hollows!

Full hollows tend to flex to your face more, that's why you get more feedback from them, hence they can be less forgiving to beginners, as I've found extra-hollows are even more unforgiving, hence your most likely reason for favoring the heavier grinds.

Best way to get on the learning curve and have it go up is to stick with two similar grind razors, the Dovo Best Quality 5/8th, 1/2 or 1/4 hollow grind is widely recommended as a great razor to start with - I did and it's a solid performer.

Set a routine for prep, start with just WTG for a week before introducing XTG for another week before you get into ATG. Don't change between various grinds and sizes, just learn your beard / face, learn your prep and stropping and then move into experimentation.

Unless you have a lot of experience in honing razors, you shouldn't be honing your own until you know how to shave properly with a straight, and you don't need to add that equation into the mix. If you had blades honed by Lynn and Cudarunner, they would have been perfect and shave ready. If you tried to hone them afterward, you most likely compromised the edge and it's a guess as to the state it's in now.

As the saying goes, fundamentals first!

The Dovo Bismarck full hollow 6/8 is a fine blade, never had an issue with it....

edited to add: my Dovo Bismarck 6/8 was honed by Lynn, probably a little more than a year ago, and aside from being refreshed with some CrOx and the coticule, it's been properly stropped and still provides a great shave!