Thread: Cannot pay me to use my DOVO anymore

Dovos are wonderful razors. I love mine. I'd get it rehoned by Lynn.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

First of all, Max is that good. I'd rather shave with a spoon honed by Max than a razor honed by half the guys on the forum.


I'm not sure what the impetus is for the latest Dovo bashing, but three other points to consider.

1. Having a little skill in shaving with a straight razor does not give one the knowledge to evaluate razors, let alone pass judgement on them.
2. The forum is full of beginning shavers that thought Dovo's were bad, until they learned otherwise.
3. Trying to evaluate the quality of a razor, and not using the same people to hone them, really pushes the envelope of credibility.

As usual it's never the fault of the user. It's always the razors fault, even if it wasn't given the same quality of honing.

He is correct with number 2 here. I was one of those. I have a 5/8 col conk (Dovo) that I thought was bad, until I learned otherwise. Now I also have a new 6/8 Dovo Best half hollow and a 5/8 Fritz Bracht that is probably my best shaver. The problem I first had was that the razor just wasn't sharp enough. I have since become fairly good at honing and all three Dovo's are superb shavers.

Originally Posted by ats200

I'm not sure why there is so much hostility here. My thread says "my dovo." I'm not bashing the brand and I didn't say I wasn't getting good shaves with my dovo. I'm simply saying that my two razors give vastly different results and in my little experience, I observe a substantial difference (one is honed by Lynn and one honed by Max)

There are variables here and I'm not claiming expertise... There are however, no doubts between nearly all members here that there are differences between brands and regardless of my experience I can obviously tell the difference between these razors which are credibly shave ready and being used with the same exact techniques.

Your statement, "As usual it's never the fault of the user. It's always the razors fault" is flawed. If I'm using the same techniques, whether correct or not, and getting much better results, isn't that all that matters when stating a simple opinion?

I'd like to know what kind of Dovo you have?

I think the absolutely most important part of the shave quality of any razor is the honing, followed by the stropping.

Whether you do the honing yourself, or whether you pay someone else to hone a razor, you have to take responsibility for the honing.

It's unfortunate, but it's just the way things work. I think you're still a little in denial on this point.

It's important for me to be forceful on the subject, because the logic flaws in your perspective are so pertinent. You'll very likely lead beginners down the wrong path of trying to buy vintage blades that have extensive hone wear and are no longer viable.

I may likely have to deal with 10-15 beginners this year who will be convinced that vintage razors are simply, by their nature, better than Dovos. Nevermind that there are vintage Dovos running around. On top of that, at some point you're going to realize you were wrong. Those posts are not editible in the future. You'll be stuck with some tag line that says "Forget everything I ever said about Dovo". But, you're credibility will already be shot. Simply because you failed to appreciate the importance of a proper honing job and the complexities of getting a razor tweeked to provide exceptional shaves.

The logic of many recent beginner threads is so flawed as to make me very suspicious of peoples motives. Assuming that your motives are sincere, and you simply don't understand the importance of evaluating the shaves based on a consistent honing process, you have my apology.

On the other hand, giving you the benefit of the doubt on your motives for dissing an exceptional brand name . . .

. . . there is nothing wrong with your Dovo.

You are welcome to disagree based only on the fact that your Dovo doesn't shave as well as your other razors. But, the point I'm trying to emphasize, very strongly, is that you are wrong.

+1 The stone honing and possible pasting up keeping helps keep the razor tuned to your preference. It does take a while to figure it out for each razor.

My first dovo would only give two shaves before it needed some laps on a pasted strop. But it always shaved well and was forgiving. Before I figured this out as newbie, it was tempting to think this Dovo was under performing. I would strop and strop on the leather, but thought the shave wasn't as nice as I desired. So I got a paddle strop, pasted a few sides with Chrom Ox. and overnight, the Dovo was an excellent shaver. However, other Dovo's I have performed differently and didn't need as much care.

What helped me keep the faith on how any straight razor should perform was my experience using disposable straight razors. Understanding how they performed on their 1st - 4th shave, then being disposed gave me a strong reference point when trying to maintain straight razors and knowing what to anticipate in performance and just how much additional honing would be required.

I do have a few straight razors I bought off other SRP members who told me they didn't really like them, thus they wanted to sell them. I applied my magic and they became excellent shavers day in and day out. Each one needed a little attention to how they liked being honed, but once I dialed in on them, they became super shavers.

and have fun!

Pabster

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

I think the absolutely most important part of the shave quality of any razor is the honing, followed by the stropping.

Whether you do the honing yourself, or whether you pay someone else to hone a razor, you have to take responsibility for the honing.

It's unfortunate, but it's just the way things work. I think you're still a little in denial on this point.

It's important for me to be forceful on the subject, because the logic flaws in your perspective are so pertinent. You'll very likely lead beginners down the wrong path of trying to buy vintage blades that have extensive hone wear and are no longer viable.

I may likely have to deal with 10-15 beginners this year who will be convinced that vintage razors are simply, by their nature, better than Dovos. Nevermind that there are vintage Dovos running around. On top of that, at some point you're going to realize you were wrong. Those posts are not editible in the future. You'll be stuck with some tag line that says "Forget everything I ever said about Dovo". But, you're credibility will already be shot. Simply because you failed to appreciate the importance of a proper honing job and the complexities of getting a razor tweeked to provide exceptional shaves.

The logic of many recent beginner threads is so flawed as to make me very suspicious of peoples motives. Assuming that your motives are sincere, and you simply don't understand the importance of evaluating the shaves based on a consistent honing process, you have my apology.

On the other hand, giving you the benefit of the doubt on your motives for dissing an exceptional brand name . . .

. . . there is nothing wrong with your Dovo.

You are welcome to disagree based only on the fact that your Dovo doesn't shave as well as your other razors. But, the point I'm trying to emphasize, very strongly, is that you are wrong.

WOW!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

I think the absolutely most important part of the shave quality of any razor is the honing, followed by the stropping.

Whether you do the honing yourself, or whether you pay someone else to hone a razor, you have to take responsibility for the honing.

It's unfortunate, but it's just the way things work. I think you're still a little in denial on this point.

It's important for me to be forceful on the subject, because the logic flaws in your perspective are so pertinent. You'll very likely lead beginners down the wrong path of trying to buy vintage blades that have extensive hone wear and are no longer viable.

I may likely have to deal with 10-15 beginners this year who will be convinced that vintage razors are simply, by their nature, better than Dovos. Nevermind that there are vintage Dovos running around. On top of that, at some point you're going to realize you were wrong. Those posts are not editible in the future. You'll be stuck with some tag line that says "Forget everything I ever said about Dovo". But, you're credibility will already be shot. Simply because you failed to appreciate the importance of a proper honing job and the complexities of getting a razor tweeked to provide exceptional shaves.

The logic of many recent beginner threads is so flawed as to make me very suspicious of peoples motives. Assuming that your motives are sincere, and you simply don't understand the importance of evaluating the shaves based on a consistent honing process, you have my apology.

On the other hand, giving you the benefit of the doubt on your motives for dissing an exceptional brand name . . .

. . . there is nothing wrong with your Dovo.

You are welcome to disagree based only on the fact that your Dovo doesn't shave as well as your other razors. But, the point I'm trying to emphasize, very strongly, is that you are wrong.

I have to agree and disagree. I know where you're coming from and I agree that new members may take this post the wrong way but if anyone would actually read what I said there wouldn't be this must disagreement. Essentially what I said in my post is... I like my SRD much better and I won't be using my dovo anymore. While my experience may or may not flaw my argument, I can feel a great difference between my Dovo/Case and my SRD. There are many variables here obviously.

On the other hand I disagree with the need to, on some level, attack my opinion. I truly do not care if you disagree or why. This is a forum and I wanted to express that my Droescher gave an awesome shave. Take it how you will but if you read my post it's obvious that I'm not slamming Dovo by any means.

Lastly, there are other senior members in this thread who have agreed that my SRD is likely an excellent and superior shaver. So...
"the point I'm trying to emphasize, very strongly, is that you are wrong." At the very least in respect to the fact that this is all opinion based and no one is truly correct.

The way I see it, this thread isn't meant to be a personal attack on Dovo or anybody who uses Dovo. Personally, I love my Dovo best quality. The issue to me appears to be the varying comfort of using what are probably different size or different grind of blade. These factors make blades feel completely different in one persons hand vs. anothers. Just my opinion.

Well I guess everyone has made there feelings known in this thread and I really don't see it going anywhere else from here except down so I am closing this thread before it goes too far.