Thread: Looking for a Dovo

I am very sory ursus. forget to ask your comments as well as all senior member. As per your early advice i have not yet purchase the same.. actually I am waiting for you people's valuable comments. Please

Yep, I agree with Ursus.

That'll be a good shaver and should give you years of reliable service.

Thank you very much..

Yes, That Dovo, is a really good razor. I think you made a good choice. Good luck hotpot.

Hello

Just received a plain white Dovo best quality as a present, my first straight ever, and after a frustrating start due to lack of honing, now I can do complete shaves!

straight razor can become very addictive...hmmm

Originally Posted by hothotpot

Hi guys,
I am looking for a Dovo straight razor(new or used) in good condition.l

Dovo is a very common brand it should be easy to find.
Use a search engine like Google or Bing with your local address to
see if you can find a retailer that is handy.

Shave ready can be important. There are only a handful of
quality professional honers out there. In my limited experience
Dovo ships a sharp quality razor from the factory. After six
months ship a factory blade out to one of the pros for a tuneup.

Since your are looking for new or used you should know that the blade quality of the inexpensive or the very expensive razors are much the same.

Polish, gilding, and scale material can add a lot to the cost but not improve the shave. Dovo has both stainless and carbon steel models today both are excellent. Forty plus years ago stainless was not an equal so if you find an OLDer blade go for carbon steel (short of specific knowledge to the contrary).

Google search for:
dovo razor shave ready

Originally Posted by hothotpot

Hey Ursus,

what about Sheffield 11/16" by H. Brooks vintage razor?

Could be a good blade if the price is right.

Visit a good local barber supply house or a good local barber and ask.
There is a link in this forum on brands to avoid. Watch out for
counterfeit blades. The historic connection with England may make a
quality used Sheffield blade easier to find.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Dovo is a very common brand it should be easy to find.
Use a search engine like Google or Bing with your local address to
see if you can find a retailer that is handy.

Shave ready can be important. There are only a handful of
quality professional honers out there. In my limited experience
Dovo ships a sharp quality razor from the factory. After six
months ship a factory blade out to one of the pros for a tuneup.

Since your are looking for new or used you should know that the blade quality of the inexpensive or the very expensive razors are much the same.

Polish, gilding, and scale material can add a lot to the cost but not improve the shave. Dovo has both stainless and carbon steel models today both are excellent. Forty plus years ago stainless was not an equal so if you find an OLDer blade go for carbon steel (short of specific knowledge to the contrary).

Google search for:
dovo razor shave ready

I would like to clarify here please, and I mean no offence by it. It is the experience of forum members here that manufacturers often sell razors marked as shave ready when they are in fact not shave ready.

IMHO, if you order a razor that has come brand new straight from the manufacturer you should send it out to someone who knows what they are doing to hone it for you. If you dont you risk at best getting a poor shave and at worst scraping your face to bits. Thats not to say they are ALL not ready right out of the box, but more often than not they need honing.

Here is a Wiki link with more details:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...shave_ready.3F

In terms of how long before it needs a touch up, this depends on many things such as the coarseness of your beard, how well you look after the razor and how well you strop. A shave ready razor will need touching up once it starts to pull, and you can touch it up yourself with a pasted strop, barber hone or high grit finishing hone, or send it to a honemeister for rehoning.

I think the best thing for a newbie to do is to order from a known dealer where they know they will get a razor in good shape. You cannot go wrong with a razor from SRD, Classic Shaving, Shaving Shop etc... because they are known and respected retailers on this forum. Buying from a local dealer can be a bit hit and miss, as they are sometimes less clued up on what shave ready means and how to look after these razors.

I would advise Hothotpot to purchase the DOVO Best Quality from SRD as he plans to do. This way it will DEFINATELY be shave ready when it arrives and he will have a clear point of contact and solid knowledge base behind him when he has questions, in the form of Lynn and Don.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Could be a good blade if the price is right.

Visit a good local barber supply house or a good local barber and ask.
There is a link in this forum on brands to avoid. Watch out for
counterfeit blades. The historic connection with England may make a
quality used Sheffield blade easier to find.

IME, the historic connection with England does not make razors easier to find. Since the advent of eBay and internet shopping, razors have become much more widely spread around and I've seen Sheffield razors on the 'Bay in the US, Canada and all over Europe. You can track them down, but expect to do the legwork to find a good one. I have found it quite difficult to track Sheffield razors down in the UK. The antique stores tend to charge very high prices for them as well.

The classifieds here are a good place to look, as the sellers are members of this forum so they know what they are talking about!

If you want advice on blade make and quality, I would be inclined to do your research here, and the Wiki as you say, and by contacting antique specialists or PMing one of the experts here.

Some barbers are knowledgable and they know what they are talking about, others may mislead you unintentionally. I have talked to several barbers in London and some do know about straight razors, razor maintenance and so on. Others are less knowledgable and will give you their best guess. This is just my experience, having been given conflicting and misleading advice by various people.

You cannot rely on one source of information and the best way to find out what you're looking at is to contact a wide range of people. This forum has, I believe, over 14,000 members now, so this would be a good place to look, and the advice is friendly and forthcoming.

A few people on here are saying that you can't go wrong with Dovos. My favourite blade is a mid-range Dovo but it's worth adding that I have had very bad luck with their entry-level models (with plastic scales). My first one came with a warped blade which no amount of honing will remedy - that got consigned to the practice pile since TOBS were too stubborn to admit anything was wrong with it and take it back (note: their salesmen are NOT barbers!).

I actually tried buying a similar model about a year ago but insisted that I wanted a non-warped blade before leaving the shop and brought along a slab of glass to test the blades. The salesman and I opened 6 sealed boxes before finding one that was flat (a 6/8 Bismarck - not the fancy Bismarck though)! All of the entry level 4/8 Dovo blades I've come across have been warped.

Confused? You should be!

Note: It's not a major problem having a slightly warped blade if you use a small honing stone and an X-pattern. However, for the price of a Dovo, I expect to be able to use the 3" hone I'm comfortable with.

I have just won a Bismarck Registered Antique Straight Razor, made in Solingen germany.

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