Thread: Scales snapped... almost took off a toe

Originally Posted by onimaru55

I had a pair snap at the pivot during the shave but it was old bakelite that I had repinned. Brittle stuff.
Only thing I can think of is if you got some alcohol or AS on the scales & they were heat polished acrylic. I don't know what materials Dovo uses.

I wipe down the blade after with alcohol to sterilize and help evaporate any remaining water but if any got on the scales it would have been a very small amount. Do you think it would cause them to crack so severely?

Originally Posted by djlewis

I wipe down the blade after with alcohol to sterilize and help evaporate any remaining water but if any got on the scales it would have been a very small amount. Do you think it would cause them to crack so severely?

Not in one spot like that. Usually alcohol on flamed acrylic will craze the whole piece.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

No offence but gotta ask. How heavy were you stropping ?

Next question would be "How Tightly were you Gripping the scales"? If you were squeezing the scales that could stress out weak plastics, no?

Originally Posted by Magpie

Next question would be "How Tightly were you Gripping the scales"? If you were squeezing the scales that could stress out weak plastics, no?

I do have a bit of a tight grip, but I would really hope that's not enough to crack the plastic that badly. The fact that it did snap though makes it seem like it was weak, though I would say definitely weaker than it should be... Once I hear back from SRD, I'll post an update if they have any insights or have had this complaint happen with this razor before.

Sorry to hear about your near miss.


You say in your original post that>>> "I had just completed my shave, stropped the razor, and was just folding it to put it away and then *crack* the end of the scales just split and the razor dropped down onto my foot".


May I suggest that you not strop after your shave and that you only strop just prior to beginning your shave. Some straight razor purists believe that stropping just "after" the shave damages the edge for various reasons. This idea has been kicked around for some time now. This is just food for thought for when you get your razor back in action again.....

Jerry
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If I'm not mistaken, this isn't the first post by someone on SRP about Dovo scales breaking just by opening and closing the razor.

Yes I remember reading something very similar lately - DOVO may have a bad batch of acrylic...

Originally Posted by EisenFaust

Yes I remember reading something very similar lately - DOVO may have a bad batch of acrylic...

Yeah I could have sworn I saw this somewhere while browsing, which is why I posted. Though since I had it honed by SRD and not Dovo, my warranty is void...

How tight was the pivot? That might be a clue. The fact both scales seem to have snapped says it's not a scale defect or at least makes it more unlikely.

I would send the razor back to SRD and they will re-scale it for you I hear.

Some people flip the razor when stropping with all the pressure on the scales vs. the tang.

Have fun.