Durham Dorset

Stopped by Home Depot to pick up some Personna ArmorEdge carpet blades with round edges (item 61-0417). The blade didn't seat correctly until I pushed up on the spring clip from underneath the bottom plate of the razor. I was then able to slide the top plate into place.



Still waiting to receive a Whipped Dog Poor Man's leather strop, so attempted to shave with only hand stropping of the blade. During my first pass, I couldn't help but think, "this thing is so dull, it's not doing anything." Then I rinsed and realized that most of my 2-3 day stubble had been mowed down! It still took another couple of passes with touch-ups to get down to a DFS, but I was pleasantly surprised for sure. Learning how to use this thing properly should yield some great shaves! Just have to remember that these blades are not stainless steel, so they will need to be dried after each use...

Sounds good. I like the look of these DD's. Very art deco. You can also find NOS blades on that popular internet auction site.

Please forgive my ignorance, but what kind of razor is that? I have never seen anything like that.

I don't know which is scarier: shaving with carpet blades or thar razor.

DE-Noob-at-39 said:

I don't know which is scarier: shaving with carpet blades or thar razor.

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That's kind of what I was getting at. I'm not knocking it but it is not something I have seen or even heard of before.

Good catch! Your razor is actually what they called a T Type, or No.201 in their catalogue; the Dorset was all metal and No.200. Personally, I find it a better shave than the Dorset. I also find it THE best shave I have in all my razors (now over 200), super-smooth and re-growth is soft. Almost zero chance of getting cuts and absolutely no ingrowers even with a super-smooth shave.

Time for a folding razor to add to your collection, I think ...

Enjoy

I just tried using a Durham Duplex today with Stanley brand carpet blades and it didn't go so well. Anyone who has tried the Stanleys vs. Personnas care to comment on which one they think shaves the best in these Durhams?

Nice razor - I had two of those Durham T Types at one time.
They look like they're designed by Klingons and, as Paul has said, with a sharp blade they give an amazing shave.

The angled head (which is identical to the Dorset head) is differentially aggressive - the leading edge is fierce and powerful whilst the trailing edge is milder but gives a lot of fine control for trimming.

And yeah you have to work really hard to cut yourself or get an uncomfortable shave.
The Durhams are like tigers in the zoo: simultaneously savage and safe!

AnthonyD said:

I just tried using a Durham Duplex today with Stanley brand carpet blades and it didn't go so well. Anyone who has tried the Stanleys vs. Personnas care to comment on which one they think shaves the best in these Durhams?

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Personna, without even trying the Stanley.

Although we joke about shaving with carpet cutters, you really do need the hair shaper blades for these razors. Better, the pathology blades. Carpet razors are for carpets - they don't shave well.

Hello all, I scored one of these Durham Dorset razors early on when RAD set in. It came with an information sheet about these razor blades that I thought I would share. There are three photos-

And here's a photo of mine-

pjgh said:

Good catch! Your razor is actually what they called a T Type, or No.201 in their catalogue; the Dorset was all metal and No.200. Personally, I find it a better shave than the Dorset. I also find it THE best shave I have in all my razors (now over 200), super-smooth and re-growth is soft. Almost zero chance of getting cuts and absolutely no ingrowers even with a super-smooth shave.

Time for a folding razor to add to your collection, I think ...

Enjoy

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Ah, thanks for the clarification! And because I was so impressed by the razor, I now have a 300 coming my way

Folks are right, though; I really should pick up some non-carpet blades to give it a real, fair shot. And perhaps a Duplex with stropper is in order, if for no other reason than to have the correct tool to clean smooth out the 99 ArmorEdge blades that I now have.

Morman Bridge said:

And here's a photo of mine

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She's a beaut, and nice box too! My box is a bit squished.

mjclark said:

Nice razor - I had two of those Durham T Types at one time.
They look like they're designed by Klingons and, as Paul has said, with a sharp blade they give an amazing shave.

The angled head (which is identical to the Dorset head) is differentially aggressive - the leading edge is fierce and powerful whilst the trailing edge is milder but gives a lot of fine control for trimming.

And yeah you have to work really hard to cut yourself or get an uncomfortable shave.
The Durhams are like tigers in the zoo: simultaneously savage and safe!

Click to expand...

I feel as though I'm following in your footsteps after reading many of your Durham posts! I believe you or BSAguy had mentioned in a different post that the Durham blades are asymmetrical, but the exposure of the Personna blades appears to be equal on both the leading and trailing sides of the head. As intimidating as the razor appears, I'm still surprised at how smoothly it shaved!

When mjclark first sent me his 'Klingon' to try, it was with a few other razors. I almost politely returned it without giving it a shave. I am so glad I did! In fact, I think I kept hold of it for a good few shaves. I've since found my own, which was a little rusty but it's cleaned up okay and I've used it quite happily ... it's now with the re-plater. To me, it have the smoothest shave I've had and I keep saying it, but re-growth was also smoother.

Lovely razors, those 201s.

Good catch on the 300, jarz21. The long combed folding razor is one of my favourites, so having the longer comb head on a stick is just a huge amount of fun.

Because it's interesting to see, here's my Durham 201 compared with a Gillette ball-end Tech

My dad and I watched a video of a guy on youtube shave with a DD OC and a handle that was travel size. The shorter handle really made the head look like a rake. The guy had a thick moustache and really didn't look like he had many whiskers to shave but you could hear the razor cutting as he did all three passes. I think the guy mentioned a few blade brands he uses but I didn't catch them. He did mention one is coming out with a titanium blade that is supersharp and they would retail for about $100 bucks for a 100-pack.