Thread: Dovo versus Thiers Issard and Boker

Originally Posted by cotdt

I'll go against the grain based on my recent experience. The new TI's shave better than Dovo and vintage razors, and hold an edge longer. They have really made a breakthrough in their heat treating, even though they've been working with the same steel for hundreds of years. From a performance standpoint, TI is a step above Dovo at this point.

Would you please share your sample size? How many TIs have you tried? 50? 100? 500? And who honed your batch of TIs? And your batch of Dovos and vintage razors?

Thanks,
Robin

This thread is still going?

TI, Dovo, Boker. The fact of the matter, from a pure shaving standpoint, is that who honed the blade is more important than who made the blade. All else aside, it is the edge that makes a razor, not the label.

Originally Posted by Hawkeye5

TI, Dovo, Boker. The fact of the matter, from a pure shaving standpoint, is that who honed the blade is more important than who made the blade. All else aside, it is the edge that makes a razor, not the label.

That means to me that all TI, Dovo, and Boker within the price category are the same and there's nothing to differentiate their quality or shaving performance. It's all about name, price, marketing, and art. Buy whichever pleases your eye and makes you feel good.

Jake

Originally Posted by snakyjake

That means to me that all TI, Dovo, and Boker within the price category are the same and there's nothing to differentiate their quality or shaving performance. It's all about name, price, marketing, and art. Buy whichever pleases your eye and makes you feel good.

Jake

That is not true...

There are many differences in the razors themselves, Grind, Size, Finish, Point, Scales, etc: etc:

What I am saying is that all three are premium brands so now pick the razor that you think fits your needs the best...

Which as a Newb you should IMHO be thinking 1/2 hollow 6/8 round point the dead center of the spectrum....This gives you enough stiffness to plow through with an inexperienced hand, the round-point for imagined safety, and the 6/8 which is easy to strop, and is the center of the size spectrum... This has been a standard recommendation for newbs from me for years and is actually even in the Faqs the Wiki and the Beginners Tips...

In essence everyone has expressed the same opinion. Given these three makers, just choose the one you like the the most.

Glenn has given good council. a TI Super Gnome Extra is right in the middle and is an excellent razor when honed properly.

If you don't like the shave, don't blame the razor or the honing as so many new users tend to, Just learn how to use the razor.

If you can't learn to use the razor go back to some simpler method of hair removal or just let it grow. Straight razors are not for everyone (Thank God).

They were not for everyone even in the Golden Age of Straight razor shaving.

To really get a definitive answer you would need to take a sample batch of lets say 100 Dovo's and 100 TI, and inspect them for flaws, consistency of grind, scale centering, pins ( tight or loose) etc...,

Then here comes the best part you'd have to hone them all, and obtain a test group to shave with them all, some gentleman with rough coarse beards, some with fine hair, some with wiry beards, etc.. and mind you all of these guys would have to have the same technique, the same stropping method, in order to figure out which brand truly was better.

Oh and I'm sure I've left out tons of variables, making this assessment damn near impossible.

The best way to judge would be from a vendor standpoint, basically determining how many Dovo's got returned with issues, or customer complaints versus how many TI's.


I've never owned either, in fact I've never owned a new blade or one that cost me more then 50 bucks.

This hobby is not like my other hobby like reef-keeping, where bulbs, ballasts, and spectrum can be definitively measured with tools like spectrographs, light-meters, and volt meters etc..


For me aesthetically the TI look nicer, better looking scales and steel, but I'm sure both are great shavers, If however I was to buy a new blade it would be a LIVI or Revisor maybe a Hart Steel just to support American products. I don't like the look of Filharmonica's just imho.

I'm too cheap however, so I'll but antiques.

Cheers
David

Originally Posted by cotdt

I'll go against the grain based on my recent experience. The new TI's shave better than Dovo and vintage razors, and hold an edge longer. They have really made a breakthrough in their heat treating, even though they've been working with the same steel for hundreds of years. From a performance standpoint, TI is a step above Dovo at this point.

Interestingly enough I didn't care for the new TI, I prefer the vintage ones. And yes it shaved nicely and I'd be content if I had just that razor, however I'd be happier with either of the Dovo and TI that I used this morning.
BTW I am quite unhappy with TI silently changing the grind of their extra hollow singing razors to something like half hollow, while keeping the labeling.
As far as holding an edge I have very little experience as I have enough razors that not a single one of them has needed rehoning yet.

Originally Posted by Hawkeye5

In essence everyone has expressed the same opinion. Given these three makers, just choose the one you like the the most.

Glenn has given good council. a TI Super Gnome Extra is right in the middle and is an excellent razor when honed properly.

If you don't like the shave, don't blame the razor or the honing as so many new users tend to, Just learn how to use the razor.

If you can't learn to use the razor go back to some simpler method of hair removal or just let it grow. Straight razors are not for everyone (Thank God).

They were not for everyone even in the Golden Age of Straight razor shaving.

With all due respect, I disagree. I believe straight razors are for everyone with enough patience.

Originally Posted by Hawkeye5

Glenn has given good council. a TI Super Gnome Extra is right in the middle and is an excellent razor when honed properly.

But only when it's the brunette SuperGnome!

Chris

Originally Posted by akhorosh

With all due respect, I disagree. I believe straight razors are for everyone with enough patience.

I don't know that that is true. Not everyone had the knack, the inclination, or even the interest to learn to straight shave, even back when there was no other option. They just went to barbers.

And that is also why the safety razor became so popular when it was introduced.

Back to the OP, any of these razors will do you good, even just to get started. The journey to find which razor YOU prefer is a big part of the fun. Don't let us spoil it.