Dove shavette opinions

[puketui41]

I was recently given a package by a (non SR using) friend. She said,"Here, I bought this for you in an auction". I opened it up and inside was a shavette-type razor. My first thought was,"Wow, what a nice thought", followed closely by,"Why would anyone bother to buy such a piece of tinny, plasticky, low-quality Chinese crap such as this". It just felt awful to the touch, oozing cheapness. I turn it over and low and behold, its actually an original Dovo shavette! I looked them up on eBay and they want US$30 for one! I have an all stainless shavette type I bought for US$10 and came with 10 free blades (pictured below with the Dovo). Its the only shavette type I use and is of much higher quality. It originally had a stainless comb-like attachment on it, which acted as a type of safety device. Anyway, I'm interested to hear what others think of the Dovo shavettes, good or bad?
The Dovo is on the right. The red piece of plastic is the blade holder for it. On the left is the shavette type I normally use if I'm using one at all. Sitting by it is the blade it takes. In the second photo the blade is mounted and you can see how much clearance there is between the blade and the holder, which makes it easy to lay the razor at a lower angle to the face. With the Dovo, how low you can go is restricted by the holder.

[CaliforniaCajun]

You can get results with all of them, with practice, but I found the Dovo more difficult to learn. The reason is because it is smaller and more light weight. It doesn't mean it's bad. It's different. Lots of barbershop shaves on YouTube use a Dovo shavette.

[dinnermint]

I used my Dovo Shavette with Merkur blades for a long time. Was putting off getting my straights pro-honed for a year and a half, just got back into it. It bit me a couple times because I wasn't used to the corners and sometimes my beard/goatee will get caught in the gaps of the holder. Once you get the hang of it, it is a pretty easy shave. At this point, it's my fast shaver when I'm lacking time or confidence in an edge. I think you can get through TSA if it doesn't have a blade in it, but will test that out on my next flight. I have never used the green holder, but thinking of giving that one a shot. I do have a few complaints/growing pains...

1) The red holders are plastic injection molded to hold the blade a little tighter than I would like. I understand why, it keeps the blade firmly in place. However, it makes my blades curve. I spent more time than I'd care to admit trying to fix this, but to no avail and it works just fine with the curve. I just don't worry about it, makes you lose concentration and muck up the shave.

2) Mine was a little loose where the holder slides in, I remedied this by squeezing it together with pliers.

3) Tried the really long blades in the black holder and destroyed my face. May have been the blades that came with the kit, but they curved something fierce. No accuracy in mold at all.

I'm sure I have more information/tips for you, but I can't think of them now.

[coffeeburn]

I like my Dovo and I've never used another shavette. But the blades that you use make a HUGE difference. I'm not sure what the "curving" issue is as I've never had any issues or even noticed with mine. Part of the reason that I like mine is that it allows me to get very tight corners on my beard. There are little nubs in the red plastic holder to help make sure that the blade is positioned correctly and snugly. This is one of those situations where I think that plastic is actually better because it gives and therefore could grip the blade well. I have gotten mine through airport security with the blade in, along with my leatherman pocket knife. Honestly I suspect if there are a lot of other metal things around it (necklaces, watch, coins...) the profile in the xray gets messed up and it doesn't look like a blade, though my luck might run out.

[AgentX]

Hi,

I bought the Dovo shavette and have been using it for a while now. I would like to make the transition to a straight razor and thought this might be a stepping stone but I aren't totally convinced. I guess the hand position and angles are similar and it is helpful in learning to use my non-dominant hand.

I tried the long blade on my first shave and it was extremely uncomfortable, so I went to using standard DE blades. All in all, I have been enjoying using it and have had some decent shaves, I recently tried the other half of the long blade again and found the same 'curving' problem mentioned above. The blade seems to be too tight to fit without a slight curve which I think makes the shave uncomfortable.

I am looking for my first straight razor as we speak, but will hang on to the shavette as well as I do like it.

[jgarrova]

I normally shave with 5/8 hollow ground Dovo Best Quality straight which I think gives the best shaves. I have taken it on travel once with no problems and have purchased a paddle strop from SRD to accompany it on future travel. A shavette would be a good back-up razor in case you accidentally chip your straight razor and don't wish to bring your hones with you (or worse you have to shave with a cartridge razor). I have a Dovo Shavette and have used it for travel on two occasions. When shaving with it, it does not feel exactly like a regular straight razor, but the same principles for shaving with a straight razor apply: prepare your face, take your time, don't press down, 20-30 degree angle, take small strokes and think of beard reduction by making more than one pass (WTG, XTG, ATG). After shaving regularly with a straight razor, it takes some getting used to since it is lighter. When you make the transition to a straight, you might find the shavette more forgiving. I prefer the Merkur long blades that are used with the black holder which more closely resembles the feel of a regular straight razor while shaving. I've had no curving issues but make sure that the holes in the blade align and snap into the pegs on the black holder to ensure a tight fit. Hope this helps.

[AgentX]

Hi,

Gary Haywood fixed me up a treat with my first straight, a Dovo best.

Just had my first shave with it after a few months of using the shavette.

It does feel different, sturdier, which feels good. I'll also have to get used to the larger blade as opposed to the DE blades I used in the shavette. The biggest difference though is how my face feels now after the shave. I have absolutely no razor burn, I think the shavette removes more skin during the process and left my face feeling a little 'stripped'.

I do believe that using the shavette definitely helps in the transition to straights. I was able to make a couple of passes with no nicks and my face feels very comfortable.

The straight razor is just a nicer way to shave, but I'll keep the shavette as a good backup for convenience.

[dinnermint]

Here are the attached photos with the curve in the DE blade that I experience. I've had about 3 different red holders, all the same. I had to rinse the blade so that there was some water droplets in there, stupid phone wouldn't focus without it. This curving was worse in the black holders, but that was with the razor supplied. Maybe there's better QC now or from different manufacturers?

[OldSalt]

I don't get how your blade can be bent in a straight looking holder. Maybe the fixing points in the holder keep the blade under pressure and bend it, but that is unlikely, because that would mean that the die was faulty.

Had a DOVO Shavette once and didn't have that kind of problem. What made me switch to a Sedef was the short blade length of the DOVO and that the blade tended to rust in the holder. Don't have those problems at all with my Sedef.

The DOVO is made for barbers, I believe. They shave the edges after a haircut with them. Hardly any German barber face shaves you anymore in Germany. You wan't a wet shave, you go to a turkish barber shop. They give you the whole works from shaving to burning hair off your ears with a burning cotton ball or lighter. They pluck your eyebrows with string and jerk the hair out of your nose with wax too, if you like. lol

I wish y'all a safe and clean shave.
Old Salt

[dinnermint]

That is exactly what happens. Not necessarily the die, at least with the red holder. Plastic injection molding isn't perfect, just designing how the plastic flows into the mold is more art than science and takes awhile to figure out properly. However, even with the curve, the blades still function fine.

I just picked up a few different DE blades to try out. The feather that I purchased fits in the red holder perfectly. It is most likely the Merkur blades are slightly longer than what the holder is designed for. I cannot explain why this would be even worse in the black holder, since dovo makes those on their own.

Shavettes may have been designed for barbers since they are less work and, at least in the US, regular straights are now banned for barbers last I heard. I haven't bothered to look into their history or barber's regulation. I wouldn't trust anyone burning my hair, but my barber trims up eye brows, ears, etc.... Not that uncommon...