Thread: J. A. Henckels vs. DOVO

I have a question that has been bugging me, Hope I can put it to rest here. I have 3 New DOVO straights all full hollow and carbon steel. 2 OLD
J.A. Henckels twinworks #91, appear to be full hollow and I can only guess carbon steel < a magnet grabs them >. My problem is the old Henckels were a lot harder to hone, but seem to hold an edge much better, even my less than old timer stropping seems to bring these 2 razors back to the best shaving blades I have, and they were given to me, only 2 of a 7 day set. Question, is the steel, or temper better on these old razors than on my new DOVO's? Thanks for any opinions.

IMHO Henkels is a better razor company. They produced both carbon steel and stainless blades. Often times these older steels were subjected to different methods of production than the newer steels of today. Im sure peole wil ahve a variety of opinions ont he subject, but my Henkels seem to hold a better edge than my Dovo, although i do love my Dovo as well, im glad that i have both razors, both are in my rotation.

You know...that's a good question.

Some have speculated that the vintage steel was better because it was virgin steel. Alot of the stuff around today is smashed up car steel...not sure it makes a real difference, but its been speculated.

The second thing that I've heard is that even though the companies today do an admirable job making a razor, there's just been something lost after the 1920's when razors began to fall out of fashion.

Lastly, things were just plain-ole built better back then. Ever take a close look at stitches in clothing from 100 years ago? WAAAYYYY better than the junk you get from Bangladesh (or insert other country)

Originally Posted by red96ta

You know...that's a good question.

Some have speculated that the vintage steel was better because it was virgin steel. Alot of the stuff around today is smashed up car steel...not sure it makes a real difference, but its been speculated.

The second thing that I've heard is that even though the companies today do an admirable job making a razor, there's just been something lost after the 1920's when razors began to fall out of fashion.
......

One speculation deserves another. I have an opinion that old steel
is better because the hammers were lighter requiring more strikes.
In about 1850 or so steel became common because of the Bessemer
converter invention. I believe that steel for blades got better and
better up to the time that big hammers arrived (post WW1) and blades
began to be hammered out in a single big "Wham". Then the new
disposable blade, was introduced around 1902 (Gillette) wrecking the
market.

All things being equal to start with, correctly hammering a forged blade
has the potential for a much finer structure in the steel with more
hammer strikes than one strike or punch and grind methods of today.
It may also be that the large scale steel manufacturing (big pots,
big pours) contributed to course grained steel going into the razor shop.


BTW, The inverse of this seems to be coming into play with kitchen cutlery.
Cutlery seems to be having a revival with welded damasks over exotic steel with very high carbide contents. While not too good for razors these new
steels are easy to cut with lasers and easy to shape and grind in NC tools.....

Summary: it is the hammer and heat treatment first then the grind.

Originally Posted by squarerigg

I have a question that has been bugging me, Hope I can put it to rest here. I have 3 New DOVO straights all full hollow and carbon steel. 2 OLD
J.A. Henckels twinworks #91, appear to be full hollow and I can only guess carbon steel < a magnet grabs them >. My problem is the old Henckels were a lot harder to hone, but seem to hold an edge much better, even my less than old timer stropping seems to bring these 2 razors back to the best shaving blades I have, and they were given to me, only 2 of a 7 day set. Question, is the steel, or temper better on these old razors than on my new DOVO's? Thanks for any opinions.

HMMMM-just reading an article written by (altima55) on the subject "straight razor buying guide"he states that there are only few reputables razors that are being made.He mention Henckle,Dovo,Thiers-issard and Boker are still making quality razors.i have no doubt,but what about all this custom straight razors being made by many makersThey come up with all types of steel 1095,1035,1065,diffrent kinds of stainless steel 440,400,etc.Good mercy my head is in a spin as to what one steel stands outJapnese claim they have the better steel and methodIs their a difference in making a hand made razor than a stamped out razor.
Several months ago I watched a you tube video of a razor maker from spain.Wow the many steels he had and he made it from start to finish, beautiful work until the END he started using a hand file to sharpen it.You could see the steel blade going to potSO be careful who you buy from.------------james

This is an OLD thread... very old.
The one interesting turn of words in squarerlgg's post is "hard to hone"
Some steel is tempered very hard some not so hard... and when matched to a hone
can prover easy to hone or difficult to hone in ways that have nothing to do with the
hardness of the steel.

DOVO and Henkels will all have darn fine steel.

A magnet will grab both stainless or full carbon steel.

My limited experience with modern Dovo razors is that they are fine razors.
Hone with a light touch and they will reward. The best ground razors are
thin and hard for a beginner to hone because they flex and demand a very
even hand that is best captured as a light hand.

Stamped is not the same as forged but it almost looks the same.
Yes, There are knife makers that shape knives that look like razors...