Happy birthday, Rick!

Great shave, Danny!

Nice job! Now, just to be clear, it is NOT required that you lick the alum before applying. That should take care of that issue.

Well Robert....
Looks great, smells great, feels great!
Must be a great shave!
nice!
tp

............................but I though alum was used to clear your palate.

What exactly is a codswallop? I know balderdash as well as falderal and twaddle. Is it something only someone with 8 year old twin grand daughter says?? And you thought nobody read that far.

Only if eating the Arko.

Thanks for the nice report Keith.
tp

........followed with a little sip of Pinaud Clubman Classic !

Thanks. Maybe soon, I don't know. But I definitely will.

Yes, 1445 is one of my favorite scents. And it gets a ¡Que huele! from Sra. Hutchinson every time.

Tapatalk via LG

It looks like you had a good birthday surrounded by your granddaughters.

Awesome, Rick! Thanks for sharing the birthday party photo. You have two beautiful grand daughters, and it looks like you all had a great time!



I'll take a big piece of that cake with 3 scoops of ice cream, please.

Dovo (Dov-oh-no) shavette
Jeeves Black Tea soap and AS
Maggard Plissoft

After my super-fine Weck shaves, I decided to give another go to my only other shavette that uses hair shaper blades: the Dovo.

#@$&.
Now I remember why I hate this thing, and why it has seen no use in a year. It has a magical ability to render an amazing blade useless by taking away the blade angle with its obtrusive gripping mechanism, all while feeling like a toy I might get out of a cheap dollar store toy barber kit. I loathe a light razor, and this is the lightest of them. I have never gotten a great shave with the Dovo, and this one was no exception. The mechanism that holds the blade in place leaves just the tiniest bit of blade exposed, forcing a much wider angle than I prefer. The same blade that glides with the Weck becomes a chattering mess in this thing. After two passes, I could still feel copious amounts of stubble laughing at me. The stubble actually grabbed the Dovo on the way by, gave it a wedgie, got it in a headlock and kicked it in the nuts. The Dovo got in a toe stomp but that's about it. The thing is so light that trying to shave effectively with it feels akin to trying to get Andre The Giant drunk with a thimble of vodka. You might get him there eventually, but the game is so wearying that it loses all joy or meaning. Rescued the blade, put it in the Weck, and gave the Jeeves the partner it deserved, finishing things off in one quick pass.

Any shaving masochists out there want a Dovo? Free to good (or terrible) home.

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Seeing all of the razor porn on TSD made me decide shift my focus back to my original Blackland Blackbird. I purchased this razor from that first Kickstarter that Shane had several years ago. I love this razor and could give up all others for it. The balance of the long handle is perfect and the angular lines of the head help me always have a perfect angle. I think blades last longer with the shallow angle. Popped a fresh Nacet in this evening. We'll see how it feels next Sunday.

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January - Shavettes and Jeeves!

January 13 - Blade Trials

Razor - Gillette Super Blue Blades supplied razor
Blade - (1)
Soap - Arko
Brush - The Canuck
Post - Alum

Well, we know the new version of the Gillette Blue Blades is a winner. It produced three very fine shaves over three days in the Slim. But, not only can you buy the blades you can buy the razor as well - with a blade included. This thing looks like the Rapira razor that I've often semi-demonized. They're cheap plastic handled razors with cheap metal heads. The Rapira version produces a slightly scary "flat" angle on the blade. I'm wondering how closely related they are. They are definitely extremely similar. The Gillette on top, the Rapira on bottom.

​

The angle of the pictures makes the Rapira look longer but they are virtually the same length. Notic, though, the different look on the heads. It's very obvious when holding them. The Gillette head looks like it's thinner metal. This can't be a good thing as the Rapira barely uses metal to start with. I could tell a weight difference in my hand so off to the scales we go. The Gillette weighs 18 grams. 11 of those grams are the head. The Rapira weighs a whopping 29 grams with 17 in the head. The Rapira handle appears to be solid plastic while the Gillette handle is hollow. Less weight in the head and handle for the Gillette. No wonder it feels so light. Holding both by the end of the handle and letting them fall off center it's a world of difference. The Gillette is just so light while the Rapira does feel like it's "head heavy".

So, nothing left to do but try the shave. I loaded the Gillette and they load the same. Four tabs on the corners of the cap lock the blade into place. Arko and The Canuck for the perfect lather. I took about three strokes and knew I had to change technique. It seemed I didn't have the angle right. I adjusted a bit and found what seemed better but still got lousy results. I was trying to let the razor do the work. Stupid me. We're talking 18 grams. I added pressure and finally got to seeing some results. It's never good when a razor requires pressure. I finished the first pass and relathered, noticing how much I had left to go before being done. The second pass I got more aggressive with. More pressure, held the angle well and not only did I not get a good enough result, I was thinking I might need more than three passes. Lathered again, went for the third pass with full ATG and then some Gillette slides on the neck to finish at - a rather mediocre DFS. We know the blade works, and yes, I did complete a shave without hurting myself, but this was disappointing.

It seems like this razor is just plain too lightweight to produce a great shave unless you want to go four passes with lots of pressure. I did the alum check and found it pretty warm. Worse than the blade produced in three nights in the Slim. Too much work to get a decent shave and the quality went off as well. That concerns me. Imagine a newbie seeing this in a store and deciding to join our ranks. He unpacks it, loads it, and has no idea what he's doing. All he knows is it isn't cutting as well as his carts and he has no way of adjusting. Then, if he does manage a finish close to mine he's suffered irritation beyond what he is used to as well, even with carts. His response? He keeps overspending and getting mediocre shaves with his way too expensive carts. Not a good scenario.

At some point I'll throw this up against the Rapira side by side, just to satisfy my curiosity. Thanks to @John Ruschmeyer for sending me this razor and the blades. Always fun to try new stuff and see what's out there. My final grade for this round of trial - for the blade I have to give it an "A". I had three great shaves in the trial razor and finished BBS all three times. No blood and only slightly warm spots with the alum on the last two shaves. For the razor? "D-". It did eventually produce a shave so it isn't a total loss. I suppose it could make a camping razor that you wouldn't care if it accidentally fell in the fire while shaving.

Tomorrow I move on to some blades sent to my by @Linuxguile for trials. The fun continues!

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Interesting results. In hindsight, I realize that I've probably never used that particular razor in its out-of-the-package configuration. Instead, I've usually used the head with a metal handle or with a weight in the plastic handle.

I'd definitely be curious to see a side-by-side of the Gillette and the Rapira. The Gillette seems, to me, to be pretty close to a last generation Tech. I suspect the Rapira is more like some of the Chinese clones. Still, there must be some oddness going on. I wonder how interchangeable the pieces of the two are.

Sorry that you are having trouble with the Dovo shavette. I never really had a problem with using it and always got a DFS to BBS shave. Most men are like a bull in a china store. Using the Dovo shavette requires a nimble touch and getting the right angle to the face. I have used the DE half blades, the Dovo long blade and recently the very sharp Personna hairshaper blades without any problems. Yes, I get nicks and weepers on occasion, but they are very small. Now, I have never experienced chatter with any of the blades. Now, it seems to me that the holder may be too loose in the razor that causes the chattering. A suggestion, take a towel and wrap it around the part where the insert is placed and lightly crimp the entire length so that the bladeholder will fit snugly in the razor and will end the chatter. I am surprised that you would have chatter with a Personna blade in the green holder because the blade has a thick frameback to keep it snug in the razor. Again, maybe the razor opening is a little too wide and you may need to crimp it.

Now THAT'S a report Chris!
Tell us how you really feel!

tp