I have been debating buy one of these for a while as my foot in the door to straights. Do they handel well? Is this a good intro to the straight razor? Any thoughts at all? Thanks for your help guys
I use a str8, but never tried a shavette. Some will tell you it's a good start, others will say to avoid it and go straight to the real thing (no pun intended). So then it's up to you. Have you read this?
I started with a dovo shavette and used it I think a total of 5 times before switching to a proper straight. There wasn't anything wrong with it other than it is VERY light. It is a good start but once you put the real thing in your hand the learning curve takes a few steps backwards. I do still have it and use it for travel a lot of the time.
I bought a Magic shavette to try the str8 game. As far as whether you go this way or not, the main reason that I did was cost. The Magic was 8 bucks. And after using it for about two weeks, I knew that I wanted to invest in a real str8 razor. Keep in mind, that the cost of a good razor is the beginning of your journey. You will also need a strop and some strop paste, a barber whet stone and or a couple of water stones and a lapping stone to keep your blade razor sharp. OR you can find a Honemeister to send it to and have them do this for you, which there is a fair nominal fee, not including shipping. I have some real gems as far as Str8 razors go, but I don't have the money to have them restored or even sharpened and I can't seem to get the hang of sharpening a pocket knife, much less a razor. Besides what may have been construed as negativity, there is nothing more satisfying than a great shave with a str8! Enjoy your venture, my friend.
I recently bought a Weck Sextoblade, and have been taking sectionals from my face, over the past week. Not quite that bad, but it is definitely making me develop my technique, which is a good thing. Purely for cost, and to see if you like it, the Dovo is probably a better deal. I like vintage razors, so even if I don't use it often, the Weck was okay, by me. Blades were $5 at sally Beauty Supply, locally. I would definitely agree with scribbler- I've been looking at straights online since my second shave with the Weck. the decent hones & strop being the major factors holding back the Buy It Now bug. Unless you find some super thin straight, I wouldn't say there would be much comparison in handling (I don't use straights, but have handled my grandfather's old cut throat, many moons ago). Primarily, it will teach you about positioning and stretching your skin.
I've had a Devo Shavette. It works, but as a "trainer" I don't know if I'd recommend it. You might consider a Durham Duplex with a pack of Dog Dresser blades from Amazon. It's a much more "forgiving" tool for developing straight razor shaving skills.
I can't speak to the Dovo personally, but I do think it is overpriced. I've read many people say that the plastic blade holder is cheap and the hinge gives out and needs to be replaced. I do have a few other shavettes though. A Parker, a Majestic, a couple Durhams, and many Wecks. I love the Wecks. Due to the thicker blades that they use and the way they are held, I believe they are the closest you can get to an actual straight shave, from a shavette. I use straights, but I also keep going back to the Wecks. If I travel, sometimes I take a Weck with me (in checked bags, of course) if I feel like straight shaving while I'm gone. I don't look at the Shavettes as a training tool for straight razor shaving. The technique between then is quite different, especially if you have one that takes a DE blade. It is a cheap way to try out the idea of straight razor shaving though. And if you like the shaves you get from a shavette, then you will love using an actual straight razor.
thanks everyone for your input. taking in to consideration everyones thoughts and having much delberation on the subject I ended up going with the parker sr1 I picked it up on sale for just over 10 bucks with shipping so cost was minimal comparitive to the dovo better weight less (no) plastic involved wish me luck i suppose.
You're on the right track but I'd go to the Feather Artist series. Nice razor with a great choice of blades.
Let us know how it goes! I have a SR1 delivering in today. I like the looks of the artist series but they are pretty pricey. I started out down this road with some straights, barbers hone, leather and cloth strop. I bought a nicely honed razor from a fellow on another site and did pretty good with the technique of shaving and had several BBS shaves. But I just could not hone a razor and keep it nice and sharp. I still love my DE's and will always use them. But I have always wanted to try the SR1 as well. So, let us know how it goes!
I used my Parker SR1 today and really liked it! I used the Red Tip as a back up on places that I was not sure about. But overall it was the SR1 and I really liked it! Like my friend Swarden says, Slow, easy and no pressure... you can feel if your gonna make a big mistake and stop in your tracks. Enjoy the journey!
I have a dovo shavette and I can't recommend it. It's too light in the hand and is not very similar to a real straight. If you really have a desire to pursue a shavette, I would highly recommend a Parker SR1. It has good weight and a feel very similar to a straight. The parker SR1 is the best shavette I've ever used and I keep one in my rotation.
These things are attractive because you don't have to sharpen them so it avoids the honing issue. The price you pay for that is you're shaving with a blade that isn't really that sharp which is a real problem. My advice: go for a real straight, learn to hone, get a great shave, live a long life. If you're in Massachusetts feel free to give me a call and I can walk you through honing.
I used straights in the past and the task of honing and stropping did not appeal to me. I just could not give the task the time it would take to do it well. Upon using the Parker Sr1 I have found that the shaves are comparable to the straights I used and the blade really is sharp. I mean a Feather is a Feather is a Feather, weather it is half a blade or a full blade, those babies are sharp. I think is boils down to what you are comfortable with using.
Absolutely! If it's not comfortable or it's taking too long to maintain, it's not going to be around for very long. I've seen this happen with other people and before you know it the enthusiasm wanes and they're back to a Gillette Sensor.
I don't care for the dovo shavette because of the weight. It's too light so for someone with very thick coarse hair (working on softening it as much as possible) I nick myself a lot because I have to add pressure that I don't want to add trying to to it to cut through the hair. I tried it with many different soap, cream, and pre-shave oil combinations. Nonthing! It's just too light.
I get a lot of customers telling me they've used them but aren't that happy with the shave and think they can do better with a straight razor. It seems to be a good starter razor but once shaving skills are developed, people move on.
