Since my last disappointment, would this be a good cut throat

[Thomas S]

Hi all,

Since i got a bit burned and disappointed on the last straight i bought ... and first, i wanted to ask first.

Will this straight be a reasonable life time companion ? price would be is US aprox 250.

This time i wont buy anything else than a good straight, its supposed to be shave ready from factory !?

 

[Thomas S]

103 views and no input

Was my question fuzzy ? All i need is basicly a yay or nay on the straight

 

[Gargoyle47]

Ehhmmm which straight are planning to buy? I can't see you saying anywhere what straight you are refering to?

 

[Reevers]

Hi Thomas, I'm not seeing any links or photos in your first post buddy!

 

[Gargoyle47]

My advice would be to get a well known, but not too expensive straight razor to begin with. Larry from http://whippeddog.com/ can help you out without you spending a fortune and his razors come shave ready.

Now if you want a brand new razor, I would go with Dovo. These do not come shave ready from the factory, but some sellers sharpen them before sending them out, check with their website and before buying check the website with people in here again (there is some bad choices in seller out there).

http://www.straightrazordesigns.com should be a rather good and trusted place to buy from, and from what I hear, their straight razors should be incredibly sharp and shave ready.

From what I hear a Thiers-Issard straight razor should be shave ready right out of the factory, but I can´t confirm if that is true, because I don´t have one yet (but I hope to rectify that in the near future ). Thiers-Issard is rather expensive though.

hope this helps you out somewhat.

p.s sorry if it seems like I´m rambling, I´m still on my first cup of coffee

 

[Thomas S]

Ha ha sorry sorry all ....

I can understand that no one could ever understand my question .... i forgot apparently to press CTRL-V

Well i was thinking to get me the Dovo Masters straight, with the right care would this be a good straight. And also would it be possible to have it as a lifetime companion ?

http://thesuperiorshave.com/Dovo_Straights_Pages/Dovo_1176815_masters_Straight_Razor.html

 

[Gargoyle47]

yup thats a nice choice right there. and sure, if you take good care of it it surely can be a lifetime companion.

just a little thing to add, you might want to find someone in your neck of the woods to learn you how to strop and eventually (expecially) sharpen properly. (to properly sharpen is an art in itself which I myself haven't yet learned)

 

[Thomas S]

Thanks ok, pretty sure ill go on the Dovo masters then.

As go for honing ill leave that for the pros I will attend a shave course soon and that will take care of the stroping part as well.

Atm i get training with the crappy straight i have, if i can get that sharp i can get everything sharp

 

[Gargoyle47]

damn good idea, also you can use your dull razor to practice getting you shaving angles down... some of the angles that might work in your head doesnt translate directly to what your arms/hands can do in practice

so youre money is not completely wasted at all

 

[Haggises]

Do you want to make sure you like straights before spending so much? A straight from Whipped Dog might be older than you, but the steel will probably outlive you too.

 

[Haggises]

Besides......if you're not going to hone, you'll need a beater razor to shave with when you send the good one out.

 

[Slash McCoy]

For that kind of money, you could have a Boker King Cutter and enough left over for a pretty darn good badger brush, or one of Larry's Silvertips AND a Big Daddy strop from star shaving! The better Dovos are usually good. There are a couple of models that have impressed me. The entry level Dovos that I tried, sucked badly. Talking major vacuum, here.

Jarrod sells the plain vanilla version of the Dovo Bismarck for around $140, I think, and he ships shave-ready, I believe. You might like that better, I am thinking. I have never shaved with one of his razors but he has a good reputation here, and I am confident that your razor from Jarrod will shave great for you. Have a look at it, as well as the full dress Bismarck. I don't care for all the gold wash, myself. Gold doesn't shave. Steel shaves. The gold is just something else you will be paranoid about, lest you scratch it or wear it off, IMHO.

I don't think ANY factory edge could be considered shave-ready. Some vendors (like Jarrod) will hone your razor for you before shipping, though. Otherwise you are on your own.

Practically any vintage razor in decent condition, or any GOOD modern razor, ought to last for a couple hundred years. Of course this depends on how many razors in your rotation, who hones the razor, your edge maintenance regimen, etc etc etc. Most straight shavers have at least 3 or 4 razors, and I recommend at least two, so you can send one out or practice honing on one, while the other becomes your daily shaver. If you don't want to drop serious coin on a second razor, get a whipped dog from Larry at www.whippeddog.com. I like the Big Daddy strop from www.starshaving.com. I think Jarrod's site is www.thesuperiorshave.com but someone correct me please if I am wrong. Anyway, yes, that Dovo should be expected to last your lifetime, with proper care and use. A Whipped Dog vintage razor ought to also last your lifetime, actually. It will probably already be 100 years old, and still shaving.

 

[john shea]

I have not used the "master's" DOVO razor, but it looks like a good choice for a person that will learn and become committed to straight razor use. I like the fact that it is a shoulderless round point shave ready stainless blade. There will no dissapointment caused by getting water between the scales and then inadequately drying it out causing a new pristine razor to become marred by water spots. The shoulderless design should help with honing and stropping while the round point will help with avoiding a slash from the point. I have a DOVO #41 5/8 round point stainless blade with genuine MOP scales that is a fine shaver, and I enjoy not having to worry about possible water spotting and rust despite my oiling and wiping as I do with all my carbon steel blades.

It is alo posible to start out less expensively such as a lower priced DOVO, a shave ready Whipped Dog blade that will be cheap, but not look as nice, or a lower end vintage shave ready blade from the classified section.

I assume that all factory new blades will not actually be shave ready, unless first opened and honed by their vendor prior to sale. I also assume that any e-Bay blade will need honing and possibly some restoration work before being ready for shaving.

Learning to strop effectively is critically important because razors must be effectively stropped after each use to retain their shave ready condition and poor stropping can dull rather than sharpen the razor. Starting with a truely shave ready straight is important because it lets a nooby know what a straight should feel like while shaving, at least for the first shave. It is difficult to learn shaving and stropping at the same time because a nooby cannot know whether a problem with the shave is being caused by the shaving technique or by the stropping. Once a person has the shaving techniques down, the problem should be with the blade edge. If one is certain that the blade is shave ready, then the issue is probably shaving technique.

Good luck. HTH

 

[Thomas S]

Thank you guys for your input believe me when i say i appreciate it,

I looked on whipped dog, and i am confident that it will shave just perfect.
However i cant find anything that calls out to me, it might just be vanity for some! But for me the experience must be complete .. if i find a object ugly even if it does the job i just cant appreciate it.

Its like a curse to me, a good looking watch with a scratch is a worthless object to me.

Not saying that whipped dog are ugly straights just to be clear, but they don´t call out to me.

So it should perform but still appeal to me for the ultimate experience

 

[wherndon]

I have a Bismarck, only used it a couple of times, but I like.

 

[totorlekiller]

Actually, looking at the fine-prints, it says it is stainless steel.
I have not tried the Dovo Master, but I have a Dovo renaissance which also retails for $240. A beautifully crafted thing, but not a very good shaver - unless it has just been honed
The problem with stainless steel is that it is not as hard as carbon steel, so it dulls very easily. Like shaving my tough Mediterranean facial hair would do, or just stropping it a bit too hard at the wrong angle.
I have not tried any other Dovo, but a friend of mine is very happy with his carbon steel one - he has the one in Cocobolo, also beautifully crafted and about the same price (a tad cheaper I believe).
Myself, I started with a Thiers Issard - carbon steel. Similar price again and beautifully crafted - I chose the stainless steel body (but carbon steel blade) - there is something about the purity of the lines that really appealed to me. I agree with you on the vanity part. Shaving with a straight is not something that makes sense, it is hard work to get as good as result as one would get with a Mach3 and it takes more time. Yet, there is something zen about it, about the relaxed concentration it takes and I using an ugly piece of plastic would ruin the process for me, no matter how good the blade is.
I have been very happy with the Thiers Issard. It is still one of my favorite and the one I turned too, when I want no surprise.

 

[u2u]

Thank you guys for your input believe me when i say i appreciate it,

I looked on whipped dog, and i am confident that it will shave just perfect.
However i cant find anything that calls out to me, it might just be vanity for some! But for me the experience must be complete .. if i find a object ugly even if it does the job i just cant appreciate it.

Its like a curse to me, a good looking watch with a scratch is a worthless object to me.

Not saying that whipped dog are ugly straights just to be clear, but they don´t call out to me.

So it should perform but still appeal to me for the ultimate experience

If this one calls out to you it will be the right choice as any other will leave you wanting right off the start. I have purchased three Dovo straights this year and all have been excellent shavers right out of the box. I have an eye on a fourth, in preference to TIs of which I have bought three this year. They ranged from shave ready to nowhere near. One Dovo I have is the Encina, which but for artwork, is the same blade you are considering. My oldest Dovo, which I have used since the mid nineties is also stainless. It takes and holds a excellent edge. In my opinion for frequency of honing and stropping it is the lowest maintenance although I prefer carbon as taking care of the blades in part of my enjoyment. The satin finish on the blade you are considering is well done and will aid in covering the inevitable wear and tear you are sensitive to. You can do it cheaper but no one is really on these boards trying to go cheap. If they are using less expensive gear they often make up for it in volume. Many have a business interest.

 

[Haggises]

but no one is really on these boards trying to go cheap.

Wanna bet?

 

[daflorc]

Why don't you get a vintage restored razor? IMO many are infinitely better than any new Dovo or TI. (better=cooler, not better=shave better. Vintage and new both shave well)

 

[Slash McCoy]

Well, I, for one, am certainly trying to go cheap. I own about 15lbs of straight razors, and probably 80% cost me less than $15, and none cost me over $100. Most of my favorite razors were less than $5. I have never paid over $40 for a brush or a strop. My favorite cream is less than a buck, overseas, and my favorite soap is less than two bucks at walgreens. My mug was 50 cents at the thrift store. My DMT stand-in is a set of diamond hones that cost me $12. My only stone is a 1k/6k synthetic combo that probably cost me about $20. I hone on lapping film and maintain with diamond on balsa. I enjoy a big monster strop, the Big Daddy, that costs peanuts. I use Clubman AS. I buy it by the big jug at Sally's. I buy my alum blocks overseas for about 50 cents each. Cheap can be good and effective. It ain't always pretty, and it might not always smell like Chanel #9, but I take great pleasure in doing things for a fraction of the "normal" cost and still getting better than "normal" shaves. I doubt if I am the only one here who is actually trying to go cheap.