New Dovo's - ***'?

[joel]

So I order up a new Dovo razor to make my daily shaver and much to my surprise, it shows up as a complete ***. First of all, the grind is way off and wildly uneven. Second of all - there are light scratches all over the shank (on the flats) and third of all, the interior of the wooden scales aren't finished and look like hell. Oh - and to add a little more fun, the edge is uneven - and it's ground more on one side.

It was "pre-honed" (a lot of places ONLY sell pre-honed razors, which is irritating) and it was quite obvious someone did a pretty decent - but fast job of getting an edge on it - but with the manufacturing defects, it wasn't nearly up to par for my tastes. I couldn't imagine them being able to hone these suckers up on a regular basis to 10/10th's just due to the amount of time it would take - given the condition of the grind/blade.

Long story short, I break out 5 different hones (including 2 DMT's) and give it some much needed TLC - and yes, it's turned into a lovely little shaver - but this is quite troubling. As the years have gone on and demand has increased - Dovo's have gotten worse and worse with regards to fit and finish and overall quality. They used to be the defacto choice, but now - i'd argue new TI's are better built.

It's quite troubling that they can get away selling such mediocrity at such hefty prices.... this razor retailed for $190, and was shoddy. I don't know who - but it's time someone open's up shop with the intent to make a good, reasonably priced, top quality razor - and knock these fellas in line.

This isn't a new thing.... I ran into the same issue with my $500 Mammoth Ivory Dovo. The quality of the top of the line Dovo's being pumped out as fast as possible now - would get a craftsman fired from Dovo a mere 5-6 years ago.

These just aren't that hard to make, and at these prices they should be absolutely flawless - and if you've ever had the pleasure of seeing/using an older Dovo, you'd know they used to be.

Anyone else tired of these high priced - crap quality razors?

 

[Seraphim]

Yup. I went through this a year ago.

Three, yes, three brand new stainless #41 razors, each one had the exact same warp to the blade.

The vendor was great about dealing with the returns. After three tries we both gave up. I ended up buying a "vintage" #41 from EBAY (7 years old), and it honed up straight and true.

I contacted Dovo to voice my concern and was told to send the razor back so that they could "look at it". I sent along plenty of photo documentation of what I had discovered, but I'll be damned if I'm going to be on the hook, out $150 for a razor while they "look at it". :mad They need to do quality control on razors before they send them out the door, not after a customer has to return them!

One warped blade, I could let slide. But THREE?! And all warped exactly the same way, on the same side? Two were pearlex, and one was Ebony (we thought perhaps it would maybe come from a different batch or something).

 

[maierar]

As you said, the older Dovos were brilliant. My 5/8 pearlex purchased new in 1959 is a wonderful shaver (even looks good, although, sadly, the gold wash is long gone). I guess I have been lucky in that I purchased my newer ones before "professionally honed to perfection" was ubiquitous.
The two that I did buy prehoned were both problems that were made right by the vendor. I think you hit it on the head with your assesment of the time constraints placed on even a good honer with too many clients.
There is still one vendor (that I know of, there may be more) who sells Dovos factory sealed at a much lower price, for those who do our own.

 

[BeBerlin]

Truly sorry to hear that, Joel. I've seen about 500 new Dovos over the last 2 years, and less than 1% of them were imperfect, even less in an unusable state like yours obviously is. It is widely accepted that Dovo did have QA issues until about 2007 - maybe yours is from an old batch. Would you mind letting us know where you got it?

As far as value for price is concerned, I would still rate Dovo higher than, say, TI, or even Wacker (on a bad day). As I said, I'd blame it on bad luck. Not that that's any consolation.

 

[BigRich]

It is truely sad. How is it that with a resurgence of interest and sales, the products get worse? I know it's because they are trying to sell as many as possible but it's going to end up turning a lot of people off, thus hurting future sales.

 

[Seraphim]

It is truely sad. How is it that with a resurgence of interest and sales, the products get worse? I know it's because they are trying to sell as many as possible but it's going to end up turning a lot of people off, thus hurting future sales.

I saw an article that said they are making like 4 (or more) times as many razors as they were like 5 years ago or something.

Haste makes waste...

 

[BeBerlin]

I saw an article that said they are making like 4 (or more) times as many razors as they were like 5 years ago or something.

Did that "or something" also include an analysis of their staff numbers, and the new QA measures Dovo put into place? If not, they maybe didn't research the company well enough.

Haste makes waste...

Oh, I have seen some truly horrible craftsmanship coming from companies that are well less organised than Dovo. Exception, rule, you know the drill.

 

[Seraphim]

Found it:

Production of straight razors has jumped sevenfold in the past four years worldwide, said Will Lubrano, chief financial officer at Palm Springs, Calif.-based ClassicShaving.com, the world's largest retailer of straight razors.



Lubrano said his own revenues have doubled or tripled every year in the same period. "The demand is amazing. We're seeing dramatic growth in an industry that hardly anyone thought about four years ago."

Linked article

They also quote some guy named "Joel" in the article.....

 

[BeBerlin]

Found it:

It doesn't say anything about Dovo, though. Dovo themselves claim to produce 150 razors per day. Given the QA standards in Germany, you guys really must have had a severe case of bad luck - or a really old batch.

 

[Seraphim]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Seraphim
I saw an article that said they are making like 4 (or more) times as many razors as they were like 5 years ago or something.

Did that "or something" also include an analysis of their staff numbers, and the new QA measures Dovo put into place? If not, they maybe didn't research the company well enough.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Seraphim
Haste makes waste...

Oh, I have seen some truly horrible craftsmanship coming from companies that are well less organised than Dovo. Exception, rule, you know the drill.

I love the good Dovo #41 I have,and also loved the Dovo Renaissance I used to own.

I also experience myself, three truly defective razors, as outlined above. Scratches, uneven scales, I can live with. A warped cutting edge on a brand new production razor is unacceptable. Or rather, on a single razor, it may be acceptable, as you say, exceptions to the rule. I fully understand that.

But THREE? That's what really burned my butt!

Here are the letters I wrote to Dovo:

Hello,

I have recently purchased one of your 5/8 stainless straight razors. But the razor would not hone correctly due to a curvature in the blade.

The blade makes contact in the middle only on one side, and only makes contact at the toe and heel on the other side (see attached photo).

I returned the razor to the vendor, who has been very good about trying to get me a good razor. So far he has sent me three of these razors (two were the Pearlex model, the other one was the ebony handled one), and ALL of them have the exact same blade curvature.

I have 8 other razors in my collection, and have honed many other besides, and the only other razor that had a similar problem was a $22 Wapinieca razor from Poland.

I have one of your Renaissance stainless 6/8 models, and that razor was, and is one of my favorites! It was one of the easiest razors I have honed, and it took a fantastic, long lasting edge.

It was because of that razor that I wanted to try the 5/8 model.

But I must say that I have been very dissapointed in the quality I have seen so far. If it were only one razor that had this problem, I can understand that.

However, the fact that even after trying three of these razors, and they all have the same problems makes me very unsure of your product.

Can you tell me anything further about my experience?

I also wanted to let you know the method I used to determine that the blades were warped, it may help when discussing issues with the manufacturing/QC department, as I know there can be many variables (a hone that is not lapped correctly, etc..). It only took me about 30 seconds to determine that razors 2& 3 were curved, as I knew what I was looking for at that point. The first razor I spent 30 minutes trying to hone before I finally took a look under the microscope and saw that there was something not right with the razor (I'm an engineer...)

I have a precision flat granite plate, certified flat to 2 microns accuracy (see attached pics), I mount a sheet of diamond lapping film (3um grit) to the granite plate. I put a line of marker pen down the edge of the razor and then give a few passes over the lapping film. In the third attached picture it can be clearly seen that material is being removed only at the toe and heel of the razor, the main portion of the blade is not making contact with the hone at all.

On the other side of the blade, the reverse is true: it makes contact only in the middle, and not at the ends. While contact only in the middle is usually indicative of a "smiling" razor, the fact that the other side of the razor makes contact only at the ends shows that it is curved lengthwise.

All three of the razors were curved exactly the same. The side of the blade without the gold wash & etching was the side that made contact only at toe & heel.

I would encourage your QC department to employ some sort of test such as this to determine blade flatness prior to shipment. The precision plate cost me $20, and the test only took me about 30 seconds to complete. The fact that the three razors all were curved in exactly the same manner would seem to also indicate a possible tooling error, or something that is causing repetitive defects, not just random errors.

Again, I hope this helps.

And the pictures I also sent:

 

[BeBerlin]

I also experience myself, three truly defective razors, as outlined above. Scratches, uneven scales, I can live with. A warped cutting edge on a brand new production razor is unacceptable. Or rather, on a single razor, it may be acceptable, as you say, exceptions to the rule. I fully understand that.

But THREE? That's what really burned my butt!

I feel your pain, Craig, and I really do empathise. Thing is, as sad as it is, your story dates back some time. As I said, Dovo's pre-2007 QA issues are old news. Doesn't make your faulty batch any better, but what counts is what they deliver today. And I haven't seen anything resembling what Joel described here in almost three years. Which, quite honestly, makes me wonder. Particularly because the razor was pre-honed, which leaves only a few vendors as possible sources - and they should have spotted the problem. Unless they're not really good at what they're doing, which is why I was asking for full disclosure in the interest of public safety

Thanks for your careful response, though!

Best regards,
Robin

 

[Seraphim]

I feel your pain, Craig, and I really do empathise. Thing is, as sad as it is, your story dates back some time. As I said, Dovo's pre-2007 QA issues are old news. Doesn't make your faulty batch any better, but what counts is what they deliver today. And I haven't seen anything resembling what Joel described here in almost three years. Which, quite honestly, makes me wonder. Particularly because the razor was pre-honed, which leaves only a few vendors as possible sources - and they should have spotted the problem. Unless they're not really good at what they're doing, which is why I was asking for full disclosure in the interest of public safety

Thanks for your careful response, though!

Best regards,
Robin

The three razor I purchase were from one year ago. Last Fall.

The good #41 I have, I bought on Ebay, and the seller said he had purchased it in 2001. Honed up easy as pie, and is a sweet shaver.

Just sharing my experience, not trying to out and out flame Dovo.

 

[Thebigspendur]

Wow, you paid $500 for the mammoth Dovo? I got mine on Eboy used for $120 and personally I think thats what its worth. Very poor balance, doesn't feel good in the hand, mediocre finishing and matching on the scales. However its shaves great after I honed it.

 

[professorchaos]

Tired of high price, crap quality razors? Absolutely. The last new production razor I purchased was 7/8 TI. Absolutely, unacceptably **** poor QC. And that was several price hikes ago. I'll take my chances searching out vintage blades. Even if some restoration is required.

 

[Kees]

It's quite troubling that they can get away selling such mediocrity at such hefty prices.... this razor retailed for $190, and was shoddy.

Joel, you answered your qestion above yourself:

Long story short, I break out 5 different hones (including 2 DMT's) and give it some much needed TLC - and yes, it's turned into a lovely little shaver

Sorry to read about your misfortune. Stick to vintage, they keep their value much better and quality control used to be much better. Hardly any competition nowadays. In the 1950s there were 700 razor makers in Solingen alone. http://www.revisor-solingen.de/html/historie.html
You can imagine what would happen to a crappy razor manufacturer in those days.

I heard from David Loft of TI that they are creating an entirely new range of razors with better quality control and the latest in steel technology. They even made a new machine to machine-hone the razors to give them an edge you can shave with out of the box.

 

[TstebinsB]

I purchased one new Dovo a few years back and I was utterly unimpressed. I haven't touched a new Dovo since.

 

[jzono1]

I like my renaissance (bought it off Seraphim). This makes me unsure if I'll even consider a new dovo anytime soon tho :/

There's not many choices for stainless razors.

 

[BeBerlin]

I must admit that I cannot help but feel a bit surprised by how fast time flies. You know, not so very long ago, another company was considered a Point Of Sale by one of the posters in this thread:

When I got my DOVO, I actually was a little stunned how well that thing was weighted, finished and designed. Gotta hand it to the German.... they sure do build stuff right.

Or how about this one?

I might have to post some close ups of the damn kink at the end of the tourtise handled TI AND the retarded thing as these weird lines all over it. What a miserable product. I don't care how well it shaves, it is absolutly a crime to sell such a ***. Buyer beware! (oh, and I went to town with pasted hones and what not with the TI.... still just ok. I don't know what problems DR moss has with his dovo's, but I'd like to shave with one and check out the problem. My 5/8 pearlex dovo look and shaves great.)

In a nutshell, I still have to see a truly faulty Dovo from a reputable vendor, and I would like to gently remind you that Dovo employs German master craftsmen. While some of you claim to be something-Meister, a German Meister is not what you might think it is. The Wikipedia article may give you some insight, and also put your ideas of quality assurance into perspective.

Regards,
Robin

 

[82R100]

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[Slartibartfast]

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Is this a definition for those that cannot google or your position on the quality of dovo razors?