Is there any function to the "Barber's notch?"

[Finnigan]

Just wondering.

[Bruce]

I've wondered about that, too.

Bruce

[Xavier]

What is a "Barber's Notch"? Any images?

[Howard Newell]

I've always thought that it was for shaving your philtrum. You just put your opposite finger in the notch for stability and shave away. But several guys on SRP also said that they've had their nostrils shaved with a barber's notch!:eek:

[SilkySmooth]

Straight razor with Barber's Notch.

[Isaac]

I dont know the function...but i enjoy owning razors with them.

[FloppyShoes]

There are conflicting theories:

1: They were designed to do the nostrils and ear hair
2:They were part of a mechanism used to secure the razor in the shut position while in storage.
3: They were a stupid gimick or accidental design that looked nifty and became popular.

[Taz]

There are conflicting theories:

1: They were designed to do the nostrils and ear hair
2:They were part of a mechanism used to secure the razor in the shut position while in storage.
3: They were a stupid gimick or accidental design that looked nifty and became popular.

Number 1 I think is right

[mparker762]

No. 1 is right. They didn't have the little electrical rotary trimmers back then, so your barber did this for you. No doubt in a hundred years men will marvel at vintage shavettes, and scoff at the idea that barbers in the late 20th century actually trimmed mens sideburns and shaved their necks as part of a haircut.

[ignatz]

My feeling is that the notch is an interesting design idea. It certainly does look good. :smile: So my vote goes for #3

Regarding getting into tight places such as under nostrils or around the ears, a razor with an oblique point (you know it as a French point) would be better.

[Finnigan]

Interresting. Any pictures of a "French point?"

[mparker762]

Regarding getting into tight places such as under nostrils or around the ears, a razor with an oblique point (you know it as a French point) would be better.

I'm not so sure, at least not in the range of sizes that the barber notch appears. I've got a wide selection of obliques and modified obliques, and while they work well in the smaller sizes I'm quite certain that my 7/8 french point would not fit far enough into my nose to usefully trim the hairs, while my 8/8 barber notch razors do this just fine.

One other advantage the barber notch has over an oblique type tip, even in the smaller sizes, is that it has a built-in stop for added safety.

OBTW, here's a french point: Dovo French Point (http://www.classicshaving.com/catalog/item/522940/337195.htm) - it's basically a canted round tip. There's also variations on this that are generally known as "modified oblique"; one common version is basically a canted spanish tip; I've got more razors with this style of tip than I do with the standard oblique tip (it was a popular Puma tip for some reason).

[Papa Bull]

The barber's notch makes it a good fit inside the nostril for trimming nose hair. I've used mine for that before. It works very well.

[The Invisible Edge]

I always thought they were a fashion of the era and have always heard them referred to as a 'Sheffield notch'. They come in various radiuses but I have never ever heard the one about them being to expedite the trimming of nasal and ear hair. Sounds pretty kamikaze to me! :c6:

[heavydutysg135]

I was under the impression that they were also useful for barbers to trace around a mole in the lather to help them avoid giving their customers a nick in these difficult areas.

[mflemming]

I have an antique hand saw that belonged to my grandfather and probably goes back farther than that. It has a similar sort of notch on the top surface near the tip with a small vertical post about 1/8 inch wide and 1/4 inch high, almost like a front sight. I never understood what it was for until I took it to a saw shop that had a lot of really slick German-made sharpening machines for every type of saw blade you can think of, up to and including the 8-foot two-man variety. I asked the elderly German craftsman who ran the shop what that front sight was all about; he looked at it and the first thing he said was "this is really old, they haven't made them like this since before 1900". He said that back then the saw makers did that to mark their best quality items. Then he scraped a bit of the back of the saw and held it to catch the light and said "look, you can see that there are two layers of steel laminated together here, they did that to make it flexible, watch". So saying he (I kid you not) bent the tip of the saw around until it was within in inch of touching the handle. I gasped, he let the blade go with an almighty SPROINGG! and then held it so that I could sight down the back and see that it was still perfectly straight. "They don't make them like this anymore". So it seems that blade makers may have known even more back then than they do now.

This is pure speculation on my part, but based on that I would guess that the notch was like the notch on my saw, used to identify blades of the best quality. Since those would be the ones that barbers would need to stand up to constant use, it would have become known as a "barber's notch".

Just a guess, but I think it makes sense.

BTW, Hi, guys! Been lurking for a while and registered just so I could chime in on this.

[Steerpike]

Ever seen a fully hollow razor with a notch? My suspicion is that it was an early means of making a razor lighter- important with the really broad barbers razors.

[mparker762]

Sure, I've got a couple of them, and Joe Chandler has a full set (5/8-12/8) of the full hollow Celebrateds with the notch. Not to mention they already had a way of making the razors lighter - the frameback grind. Also not to mention just going with a smaller razor. I don't think they were that worried about the weight. And even the early 1800's framebacks had barber notches, and these were *much* lighter than the wedges they replaced.

[gugi]

My understanding is that these were useful to open the razor with a single hand on a ridge of a pocket for example.

[JonnyAngel]

Interesting theroies.....

[mdunn]

My understanding is that these were useful to open the razor with a single hand on a ridge of a pocket for example.

yeah, that was what I thought.


Ever seen a fully hollow razor with a notch? My suspicion is that it was an early means of making a razor lighter- important with the really broad barbers razors.

would that tiny chunk of steel missing really make it that much lighter though?


This is pure speculation on my part, but based on that I would guess that the notch was like the notch on my saw, used to identify blades of the best quality. Since those would be the ones that barbers would need to stand up to constant use, it would have become known as a "barber's notch".

But there are tonnes of quality razors without barber notches, and no hollows with notches - even though there are lots of top quality hollows.

ps -welcome!


I was under the impression that they were also useful for barbers to trace around a mole in the lather to help them avoid giving their customers a nick in these difficult areas.

surely a spanish point would be better for this so you could be more precise, because if you keep the mole in the notch then there is like 5mm of distance between it and the blade that ends up unshaved


The barber's notch makes it a good fit inside the nostril for trimming nose hair. I've used mine for that before. It works very well.

quite possibly - though if it were that good then you would have thought that all blades would have this development

[Antique Hoosier]

Interesting theroies.....

I agree..... I think they just look cool!

(My Great Great Grandfather George Rook's 1850's Wade & Butcher with genuine Ivory scales, lead spacer, thumb notch, AND BARBER'S NOTCH!!!)

[strr]

Thats a nice razor!

[Antique Hoosier]

Thats a nice razor!

Thank you...obviously it is one of my most cherished items.

[gugi]

jesus christ, mike!!! that's just awesome!

[Fnord5]

Ever seen a fully hollow razor with a notch? My suspicion is that it was an early means of making a razor lighter- important with the really broad barbers razors.

I have one.
I'll post pics of the notch up close in the morning.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b337/fnord5/DSC00375-1.jpg

[citizensoldierny]

Whatever their intended purpose was they do serve to make the razor look really cool.

[mwengerd]

Is there a function to the deep notch at the heel of the blade that I've seen in combination with the Barber's notch?

[GFlanagan3]

WOW, mike!!! that's just awesome!

ftfy :wink2:

[drawonme]

I thought it was to make the blade easier to open and close?

[smalltank]

Getting under your nose is the "point".. ;-)..the only link I could find

http://straightrazorplace.com/razors/74023-truth-about-barbers-notch.html#post842238

[CanisiusHistGrad]

I've always thought that it was for shaving your philtrum. You just put your opposite finger in the notch for stability and shave away. But several guys on SRP also said that they've had their nostrils shaved with a barber's notch!:eek:

I actually had to google philtrum, found a nice example too if anyone else wasn't familiar with the correct term.

223280

[KeithTheSnake]

These theories are all nice, but I have a hard time believing people would use a razor to shave the inside of their nostrils.

[Seraphim]

These theories are all nice, but I have a hard time believing people would use a razor to shave the inside of their nostrils.

I agree. Personally, I think the idea of shaving around one's nostril with a barbers notch a load of baloney until someone posts themselves doing so on YouTube.


The real reason they put a barber's notch on a razor is as a conversation starter. Barbershops are well known as places where gentlemen have gathered for ages upon ages to sling a bunch of BS with each other. The barber's notch was a brilliant invention that is still fostering BS slinging 100 plus years later.

[Woodash]

My understanding is that these were useful to open the razor with a single hand on a ridge of a pocket for example.
Yep. Let's not overthink this...My opinion...