Dovo Carbon!

Hi,

Just curious about experiences w/ a Dovo carbon steel razor...

My experience has been somewhat mixed.

I'm not sure if my beard is super tough or what's going on, but it seems like the edge isn't very durable when I shave. Once it's stropped it cuts like a dream, but often times I'll have to strop again in order to complete a WTG pass. To complete my shave I'll generally have to strop once more during a XTG pass, and if I'm going ATG to chase little rough spots I'll strop once more.

So 3 - 4 stroppings per shave! But I achieve very good results. I only shave every other day because it will be about 24 hrs before I start getting a shadow. I very rarely get any irritation from an alcohol splash, that's my indicator that I ought to hone (about once a month).

I was thinking of getting a 6/8 Stainless of somekind, with the thought of improved durability. But I thought it would be nice to see what you folks think before I made any decisions.

Happy Shaving!!

In terms of feel, the stainless blade is stiffer.
It's a matter of personal taste which one you will prefer. You have to be a little gentler on your face with a stiffer blade to avoid nicks and burn.
The stainless blade is a little harder to hone (i.e. it takes more strokes on a hone to polish the stiffer/harder metal). But the freshly honed stainless blade will last longer between hones than a carbon blade.
The Dovo Swedish Stainless Steel blade is excellent. DOVO fit it to the majority of their classier razors. It has the number 41 on the blade.(I think).
The Stainless Steel blade can rust, but is far less likely to rust than a carbon steel blade.

As long as the stainless blade has been honed and stropped well, I think you will enjoy it. I have recently found that stainless or harder steel blades generally benefit greatly from finalising the honing process with a pasted strop. The finer the grit of the paste, the sharper the blade. But any grit will polish the stainless blade so that it feels smoother and more like the carbon steel blade which is naturally soft.
Hope this helps.

I have a few Dovo's and one stropping is enough for a great shave. Did you ever have it honed? It sounds like it needs some attention.

If you purchased that razor new then it needs to be honed by a pro, someone from here. The factory edge is not shave ready.

If you decide to purchase a stainless razor I would get the frozen temper/ice tempered steel. The edge seems to last longer.