Thread: Dovo versus Thiers Issard and Boker

I can make it very easy and tell you exactly which one. It'll cost you the same razor shipped to my address.
Just let me know, I'll be happy to provide this extremely valuable information

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.

No breakthrough from what I have read.

There is a couple of things going on...
TI does seem to temper/ anneal their blades less resulting in a harder
blade. My TI is one of those that TI heat treated with molten lead.
Molten lead tempering has come under a lot of regulation in modern years
and while it was once a common method it is no longer common.

Modern steels and modern electronic furnaces or furnace controls
have all but eliminated problems with heat treatment of small
steel blades. Today a vendor can decide with great precision
how their blades are heat treated including the use of extreme
cold to deliver superior products.

Also, steel at the hardness levels that TI, Dovo and others
now deliver was moderately difficult to hone with natural stones.
Modern hones with carbides and ceramics all but eliminate this
problem but each of us has a set of hones and techniques
learned, practised and to some extent optimum for our favorite
razors that define for us the ideal blade.

Today any new razor combined with modern hones like Naniwa,
Shapton and even DMT can now be maintained at sharpness levels
unheard of by our grandfathers.

There are differences but all the modern blades are quality with the
differences quickly reducing to preferences. For example my TI
has a very tiny waist (tang) and I like a slightly thicker tang
when stropping and honing the blade.

Others commented Ford, Chevy matters little... For 30 years I drove
a pickup in the desert.... I broke them all on dirt roads and worse -- some
however fit me better than others and rode better. One company truck was
nicknamed the chiropractor because that was the first stop after a month
in the desert, but it would go where other pick-em-ups just could not.
Razors are like that... some just feel better, handle better, maintain better....
match us better...

So in keeping with the auto theme YMMV

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I want to emphatically say here, that I still like the Brunette best
I have not been swayed in the last month +....

Originally Posted by RayG

My advice - don't overthink it. Pick up a 5/8 or 6/8 full hollow and maybe even a similar sized wedge on the classifieds, for your budget. Learn, and enjoy the process. Once you know your preferences, then your purchases will be more directed.

Gentlemen, we have our winners.

Red versus blue, good versus evil, left versus right, cat versus dog and man versus woman. You can debate overall quality, quality control, length of time of edge, cost, grind, steel, testing parameters, looks, manufacturer vs. manufacturer, et. al., ad infinitum until you turn blue in the face, pass out and pick up the same argument the second you snap out of it and repeat the process.

Did you ask yourself this question: How did it shave?

My skin, bone structure, face curvature and beard hair is different from everyone else. So is my technique. Therefore, my preference in blade type will be different from everyone else.

All of my razors shave very well. No one razor is vastly superior to any other. Do I have my favorites? Yes.

I judge a straight razor on one merit only.......how well the razor shaves for me. Aesthetics and manufacturer pale in comparison of importance to me, although I don't want a razor that's "ugly". I have no razors I dislike and don't want to sell what I have.

I judge the quality of straight shaving versus the quality of "the great mass produced disposables". With the best of those garbage blades, I get 3-4 hours before I can feel the stubble and can resume using my face as a piece of sandpaper. With a straight, I get a minimum of 12 hours.

What Ray and Glen are saying is do what's best for you, and you will have to try lots of different things. I think I share the same passion that they do. If they say they like a particular razor, I would trust what they say and try it for myself. I might not like it whey I try it, but it was worth the try!

Cheers!

I wonder what he bought?

I bought a 5/8" Dovo Special, and a few months later, a 6/8 Dovo Best Quality. I also tried several other razors. Here's what I found:

The 5/8 was much easier to shave under my nose and the dent between my lower lip and chin than the 6/8 - when I was just starting out. After 3 months or so of daily shaves, it was only a tiny bit easier.

The 6/8 was a little easier to keep flat while stropping, and a little easier to fit all your fingers on the tang on if you have big hands.

After a couple of months of experience shaving with both sizes, and integrating sything, guillotine strokes, and diagonal paths that curve around to shave the areas with sideways growing hairs closely - I've decided that the 5/8 size shaves a little closer, and with a little less irritation in any area that is not flat (such as the hollows alongside my trachea).

In terms of handle materials, I liked Dovo's wood handles best, plastic next best, and bone not at all. The Special's handle is a bit flexy and you have to be careful not to pinch the sides together when putting the blade away. The Best Quality handle is stiffer and doesn't have any issues. The bone handles were heavy enough to rotate the blade angle when rounding the corner of the jaw going from the cheeks toward the neck if I held the tang too lightly.

As a beginner, I found a stiffer grind like the 1/2 hollow caused me less razor burn / irritation. After about 2 months of experience, I made a concerted effort to shave with NO pressure, and I found the full hollow shaved with no razor burn too. I found that the secret to good NO pressure shaves - was to make sure the razor was super sharp. I recommend getting a Naniwa 12K stone, or a paddle strop and Cromium Oxide paste right away - and freshening up the edge every week with 4-6 stokes. I think I could have avoided a lot of razor burn if I had...

ps: The level of grind and polish on the Special and Best Quality is IDENTICAL. ie: I handled a handful of Dovo razors, and the differences between any two razors appeared to be due to the hand grinding, and not due to differences between models. Every Dovo I handled was ground and polished pretty good - and shaved great.

I have a reasonable number of razors.The more time that passes,the more i like them all,just a question of keeping the edge up to scratch not which one.I get on with all grinds all sizes.

I think any of the three would be a great razor as long as you do your part in maintaining the razor from stropping to storage. I have a Dovo and Boker but yet to own a TI but really when you do your part even a GD can give a good shave!