6/8 DOVO Special - Tortoise Shell / DUBL DUCK No. 1

Just the other day I submitted a post or two encouraging new straight razor shavers to get themselves down to their local antique store(s) to see if they've got any old razors laying around. Usually they can be had very cheaply since the owners are either ignorant of their modern uses or just plain ol' don't care about the dangerous things.

When I popped in at a nearby antique store the owner said just that to me, actually. "I'm inclined to get rid of all the things," he grumbled. "Otherwise I'll probably end up accidentally cutting my wrist with one of them some day!"

He told me that most of the items in the store had discounted prices and when I asked if that applied to the razors he had in a glass case, he told me it did. He said that if any caught my eye, we'd talk it over. After looking through the ten or so blades he had, I brought him three. A Dovo, a Dubl Duck and another one that was made in Montreal. The latter of the three had a ridiculous price of 95 bucks and even he agreed. He knocked off a good deal of the price, but I decided to pass on it. He gave me some very reasonable prices on the other two also, and I even managed to talk him down a little lower, so I left that store pretty happy. They were pretty tarnished, but I knew they'd shine up very well.

Here's a picture of the Dovo after a few minutes worth of polishing. (I'll post a picture or two of the Dubl Duck once I get to work on cleaning it up.)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ortoise004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ortoise001.jpg

Congratulations, you have a fritz bracht. Thats the cream of then crop as far as Dovo goes and the equal of any TI made today. You can't get much better than that no matter the brand.

Just sitting at an antique store... Tisk.

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Congratulations, you have a fritz bracht. Thats the cream of then crop as far as Dovo goes and the equal of any TI made today. You can't get much better than that no matter the brand.

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Oh yeah? That's exciting! :D

Is there anything more you can tell me about it, bigspendur? I went to the Classic Shaving website to compare it with the other tortoise shell Dovos and noticed that there were no spike points in stock there, which made me take a closer look at this one. The name on the shank did seem a little unusual. What do you think one in this condition is worth? Also, do you happen to know when it was produced?

Any other info, anybody?

I've been to every antique store around Denver, Most of the owners either laugh at me when i ask if they have any or they say "I haven't seen one of those in 20 years". But there is the rare occasion that i find a couple for cheap. The problem i find is that most antique shops in the US sell on ebay as well.

well if i remember correctly fritz bracht took over Dovo after the war ~50's Not sure when did they start putting his name on razors, but must have been after that.
This one in the current dovo line is marked swedish steel. Not sure about before.

I've got a Friz Bracht Dovo, marked Tennis (I think the overall design is very nice , but I'm trying to use just one razor for now, so that i vary less things. so I haven't been using it very much.

not sure what else to tell you, except that i prefer the spike to the round edge that i've got

Yeah, I like spike points too.

I honed this one up a couple of hours ago and although it wasn't perfect, I managed a shave with it. I'll have to take it back to the hone for a little more work, but it's going to be an awesome shaver once it's got a sharp edge on it.

That's the trick to finding good razors at antique stores: Being in the right place at the right time and a seller that doesn't know an excellent condition vintage razor from a letter opener. Good score on the DOVO! :tu

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Originally Posted by ucliker

I've been to every antique store around Denver, Most of the owners either laugh at me when i ask if they have any or they say "I haven't seen one of those in 20 years". But there is the rare occasion that i find a couple for cheap. The problem i find is that most antique shops in the US sell on ebay as well.

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I have the exact opposite problem here in Portland: apparently there is a surge of interest just in the last couple of months, and every straight razor, no matter how little of the blade is left, is priced like it's the last one on the planet!

Sheesh!

-Michael