Thread: DOVO vs. Miller

My guess is that Tony's strop is a thicker, better quality leather. That being said, I don't have experience with either of their 3" wide strops. I have a narrow Dovo and a narrow TM strop. The Dovo is probably only half as thick and not nearly as nicely (smoothly) finished as Tonys.
That being said, if you truly want to save some money, take some trips to some antique stores and look around. You can probably find one of similar quality that may require a little bit of work to get up to usable condition. It will be a little difficult finding a 3" wide one, but it depends what's more important to you.
Finally, if it comes down to "bang for your buck", go with Tony's strop, because ,IMHO, Classic's shipping rates are pretty high and Tony stands behind everything he sells.
Good Luck and let us know what you end up purchasing!
-Fred

I'm happy to see you sign in on this thread Tony...and happier to say I talked the wife into it and you will be receiving an order tonight for a new strop. The hones will be bought in a moment as well and I could not be happier. The final things I lack in my shaving rotation are finally getting bought!

I was leaning towards a Tony Miller strop from the start but like any sane consumer I wanted a second opinion from an experienced third party before committing to an expenditure of this size (no offense meant Tony but no matter how you look at ANYONE'S work it's a goodly chunk of change) I just want to be sure I'm getting something that is TRULY worth the money. Now I am sure I'll be getting something worth owning and will be proud to use in my daily life. In fact just the fact that you are weighing in here yourself makes me more confident in my purchase than anything else...try putting a face behind DOVO or a real name for that matter.

gawker,

what norton hones are you getting? more then just the combo?


- buy the 4/8k norton combo
- buy a tony miller 2 sided (smooth/smooth) bench strop and have him pre-past it with 1.0um and 0.5um
- buy a #1 best 3" red latigo hanging strop that you were planning on doing.


that set up will do you wonders for a very very long time. yes i suggested a bench strop double pasted instead of a finishing hone, this will also allow you easy and pain-free/ no mess touch ups when you blades start to pull just a tad. i couldn't be more happy since i bought mine the 1st week they were out.

~J

I've got a Dovo strop, and it's a dandy. Nicely made. Nothing wrong with it. Yet, I always use Tony's strops. Always!

RT

Another vote for a Tony Miller Strop--for all of the reasons listed above.

I realy rate the Dovo 3" russian for the quality of the leather and finish. They come all set and just a light application of yellow strop paste and your away. Same goes for thier best russian 2" with linen.

Tonys Stops are very well made and his service is tops. I love my Latigo now after I spent ages getting it setup, but found the Honey was poorly tanned and cant take dressing without hide imperfections showing and stretching badly. All that aside, I would recomend him with no worries.

I feel you have limited yourself a bit with just looking at 2 makes though, there are otjher equally as good and better out there if you look. Remember the hide thickness in no way affects a strops performance, only the way it has been tanned!!

PuFF

p.s. When you order a strop, make sure you specify that the strop is not folded but losely rolled in the parceling, will save you a great deal of heartache and time!!!!!!

Originally Posted by jscott

?
- buy the 4/8k norton combo
- buy a tony miller 2 sided (smooth/smooth) bench strop and have him pre-past it with 1.0um and 0.5um
- buy a #1 best 3" red latigo hanging strop that you were planning on doing.


that set up will do you wonders for a very very long time. yes i suggested a bench strop double pasted instead of a finishing hone, this will also allow you easy and pain-free/ no mess touch ups when you blades start to pull just a tad. i couldn't be more happy since i bought mine the 1st week they were out.

~J

This is great advice - I have basically the same set up, with the exception that I have a 4-sided pasted paddle instead of the bench strop. I'm likely going to add a bench strop to my set up and have it pasted with something other than diamond pastes to give me some variety.

I have a smaller Dovo strop and it is a fine quality strop. Tony's hanging strops are much heavier and the linen seems a little coarser than the Dovos. I agree with PuFF in that my red latigo did take a bit to work in, but I think that's normal.

Other strops to consider are the Illinois 361, which is supposed to be a good strop and Handamerican strops (not available now as they are being redesigned).

If you're looking for a 3" wide strop, you're limited to Dovo, Tony or Handamerican (if you're willing to wait). If I had to do it again, I'd still buy the strop from Tony - he was very helpful in explaining the leather options and both the quality of his strops and his service are first rate.

I may have just got a bad piece of the cows butt with my Latigo
It strops fine but is not as satifying to use as the 3" Dovo russian. On the latigo u get disscharge from the strop and a course fealing as the razor moves over it, while leaving light streaks in the strops surface. I find it strops the softer steel razors a treat. I'll say again though, the Latigo strops OK.
With the honey, I found the hide too stretchy and soft to be of any use, so, I went though a dressing procedure on it and found it came up better but all the hidden imperfections in the leather came out making it an unviable option for a strop. This could be just my bad luck but worth asking Tony about before you buy a Honey strop.
I am sure the Dovo strops are mass produced but I don't think this affects thier quality in any way. I have 3 top end Dovo strops and have yet to do any dressing to them to get them working correctly. I will point out again that, as with all things, one mans experience is not the rule.

PuFF

I ordered a pair of Norton's in 4K/8K and 220/1K because I feel like that will give me the best overall general setup for honing and maintaining my vintage blades as well as anything I might acquire down the road even to the point I have to start some restoration work above and beyond removing some black spots and polishing things up a little bit.

On the strop I went ahead and ordered Tony's 3" Honey Brown because it appealed to me more aesthetically than did the Latigo, and I ordered it before the comments against it were made above. However, having placed the order less than 12 hours ago in the middle of the night and already having a response in my email from Tony to the couple of questions I put with my order...makes me confident that should I REALLY feel as disappointed as PuFFaH Tony will be there to lend a hand either with advice repair/replacement...whatever is needed to make things right. Then again if the only thing wrong with the strop is a couple of freckles from the cows ass I'll be happy...I'm buying a tool that happens to be nice to look at not a work of art to hang on the wall and not be touched

Puff,
I am sorry you were not pleased with the Honey Brown. I use one myself almost daily and actually find it best with no dressing at all as a smooth finishing strop. Same with the Latigo, I always suggest using it as it comes for a week or two before ading anything. As I recall from your initial e-mail you did quite a bit of prep on the Latigo before really using it and then said you felt you should have left it alone.

Not everyone will like every product ad part of the reason people buy from me is after sale service. If anyone is not pleased, and that rarely happens, all you need to do is ask and get a refund or replacement. I would also prefer to hear of any issues up front so I have a chance to correct it in case you just got a bad piece instead of hearing about it months later on a forum.

Puff, I know you expressed some reservations on the Latigo after you did your extensive strop prep routine but I didn;t realize you were unhappy with it or the Honey brown. Just let me know next time. Your prep work sounded interesting and may be a handy addition for anyone restoring an older strop from ebay if you care to share it.

Take care,
Tony