Dovo Carbon Steel Difference?

[Hank Williams]

I was looking through the line of Dovo carbon steel razors and I was wondering if the different models use different kinds of steel. If so, I'd love to hear some opinions about the shave quality from the different varieties.

-Hank

[JohnP]

I'm not sure, to be honest, which models are made from which steel, however I once owned a Dovo "best quality" made of Solingen steel (according to the box, anyway) which even when shave ready seemed a harsh shave, and did not hold an edge quite as well as my Dovo Special and Dovo Bismarck (both made, I believe, of Swedish steel).
Those shaved like butter.


John P.

[thebigspendur]

I assume all the current models they sell use their generic steel whatever that is. The only exception I am aware of is their mammoth Ivory scaled model which they say is Swedish Steel.

[JohnP]

I assume all the current models they sell use their generic steel whatever that is. The only exception I am aware of is their mammoth Ivory scaled model which they say is Swedish Steel.

It's possible, I've had my Dovo's for a few years, but my Dovo Special (wow-I've had the thing 5 years now) is made from Swedish steel as is my Bismarck. I don't have the original box for my Bergischer Lowe, got it on the 'Bay, so don't know for sure about it. The only one that I've owned which said it was made of Solingen steel was the Dovo "Best Quality" which, for me, anyway, would take a good edge, but somehow wasn't quite as nice feeling as the others. Possibly it was my honing abilities, (it was a few years ago) but the others never gave me the same trouble.
I couldn't tell anyone which steel they use for what currently, though.

John P.

[blueprinciple]

Many of the modern Dovos use a generic steel with different blade embellishments (as do TI)- the main differences being the Bergischer Lowe (mountain lion) and stainless blades. The Bismarcks are also excellent. All the other carbon steel blades are much of a muchness and hone up more or less equally. My top gun? Bergischer Lowe -evil and dangerous (if you can get one!).

[Ben325e]

My Dovo "Burg Graf" has swedish steel, and it shaves beautifully. Blue Principle - what are the differences between the Bergisher Lowe and the Bismark blades from the "generic steel" blades? Classic Shaving's blurb about the Bergischer Lowe says that it's swedish steel, too, but things like buffalo Horn etc are what drives up the price. My Dovo has an undecorated blade, but I think that your Bergischer Lowe has the same blade as my Burg Graf model - swedish steel.

[Sharp&Shiny]

I've had quite a few Dovos over the years & my own experience seems to indicate that the steels do apear to behave differently as regards my own shave quality & ease of sharpening ect.I recently gave a NOS dovo 5/8 special to my stepson as it didnt work for me althought I did get it to take an excellent edge.
At the moment I have got 2 Dovos a Begersher Lowwe 5/8 & a cheap 5/8 super Bismark both of these work very well for me & Have been easy to hone & keep thier edge the super bismark is a half hollow grind that gives me excellent shaves & has become somthing of a favorite for me.Both of these blades just seem to work for me better than the other dovos I've had the pleasure to own.
At the end of the day it has just been trial & error in the endless quest to find my own personal favorite& this is what keeps me looking out for more razors.Paul

[Bang0Bang00]

2008 thread revive in futuristic 2017!

This was a top result when I googled "what steel does Dovo use on the bismark."

Most of the other search results were websites trying to sell me the razor.

As someone new to this site and this area of study, can anyone steer me to the actual answer to this? Is there an answer?

According to Wikipedia, the most likely "High Carbon" steel sounds like 420HC aka 420C.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_blade_materials

Let's get to heat treatment later.

With an interest in quantifying things in my own head, narrowing a steel to a country or two seems highly unspecific. Especially now in 2017 when there have been a number of new "Powder Super Steels" and endless anecdotal retention tests thanks to YouTube.

In the same way I like to know what ingredients go in my food, I'd like to know which ingredients go in my blades.

Does anyone have any resources or knowledge of what steels are used in straight razors of brand/model x,y,z? We could use the Dovo Bismark as an example.

[Steve56]

The old Bergischer Lowes (I have a pair), the 6/8 'heavy' grind razors were labeled as Swedish steel on the boxes. They shave really well.

I would guess that most if not all the current razors are made from blanks from the same forge.

Cheers, Steve

[RayClem]

420 HC is a stainless steel. It is the steel used in many of the Buck knives. Buck used to use 440C steel. That is sometimes called surgical stainless. It is a very hard steel, but many customers complained of the knife blades being too hard to sharpen, so they switched to a high carbon variant of 420 steel.

I have no idea which steel is used in stainless steel razors. To be called stainless, it has to have a minimum of 16% chromium. It is probably a variant of 420 or 440 steel.

Many carbon steel blades are 1095 steel or similar with very low chromium content and about 0.95% carbon.

Some blades are made of C100 or the equivalent 52100 steel. The carbon content is about 1%. There is no chromium, but a small amount of manganese.

Thiers Issard uses C135 steel. It is similar to C100, but has 1.35% carbon.

Silver steel contains no silver. It is a tool steel that has a small amount of chromium and manganese. It takes a high polish, this the name.

O1 steel which is used by many current USA razor craftsmen has a small amount of chromium, nickel, and manganese.

Then there is D2 steel that has more chromium than most carbon steels. While there is not enough chromium to be a stainless steel, it is sometimes characterized as semi-stainless. I do not have one, but I have heard that D2 is a bear to hone.

When steel is called Solingen steel or Sheffield steel, that does not denote the type of steel used, only the place where the steel was forged.

The composition of the steel is only one factor. How the blade is tempered is critical to the development of a great edge.