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"Wrong" Razor - Please chip in your ten cents

Good Afternoon:

I would like to ask the advice and indulgence of the members here, since you have probably seen and answered this before. And, moderators, please feel free to put this inquiry anywhere you find suitable.

I must apologise in advance if this has been posted before (especially on a first post like this one). My attempts are searching this by keyword yielded 400 results and I did not look at all of them. This post will take a bit of back story, so please bear with me.

I shaved daily with a straight for close to twenty years, until a friend of mine dropped it a few years back, putting a huge, deep (unrepairable) warp on the cutting edge. I was unable to find another one and so, switched back to cartridge razors. As a result, I now sport a closely trimmed beard, since I can only handle shave trimming it once every two or three days.

The reason I could not find its mate is because the blade (made by Henkle, I believe) was much shorter than the "standard" blade length available on the straights I was able to find. This was very easy to manoeuvre around on the chin, etc and I find the "standard" blades much more difficult in this regard.

I finally got tired of the beard a few weeks back and began looking for a replacement straight, trying to find one like I had previously used. There is one store here that used to deal with shaving supplies and, when I talked to him, he started to laugh. "You were using the wrong razor", he chortled.

Apparently, I had been shaving for all those years with a "corn razor". Hey, it worked for me.

So, the question at last, for those of you who did not skip directly to the bottom: Are there shorter razors available? For instance, are the "slip in" style razors that hold half a double blade easier to move around? And, since the same gentleman warned me that the current crop of those are no good (made in China, apparently), what are my options? I surely am not going full face shaves with a cartridge, now or ever.

Thank you very much in advance:

John (MUCH more salt) P
 
Yes there are shorter razors, it just depends on how short you want - how long was your old corn razor?

The TI Super Gnome is a bit on the short side, and the vintage Heljestrand #31 and #32 are also about a half inch shorter than normal.

Corn razors show up on ebay every now and then, so you might be able to find a replacement for your old razor.

Or you could buy a normal-length razor that has a chip or crack in the toe, and get its tip reground. One of our members here has a very attractive Puma Gold that had that treatment done to it.

You could also get one of the new generation of custom razor makers to make you one in whatever size you want.

lots of options...
 
If you're used to a very short blade you might really like the shavette style razors that use half a double-edged blade. People here at B&B don't seem to care for them much, but you might feel differently. I impulse-bought a Sanguine shavette and it surprisingly seems rather well made - it's certainly cheap enought to give it a shot!
 
Welcome to B&B

check out LR Harner razors at http://straightrazordesigns.com/ I have one and it is quite smaller then a regular straight, at first I wasn't too sure about but I found it to be extremely easier to maneuver was quite surprising actually

I guess I should add it may be best to call SRD as LR Harner (Butch) custom makes his blades some are larger as well.
 
Welcome.

Some straight razors are "chopped" at the point. Sometimes, when a razors has a broken point, or just because someone wants a different point, the razor has its point ground in a new form, either making a round point, a spike or whatever.
As a result, the blade length is shortened. If you want a shorter blade, you can put a WTB ad on the classifieds here or at SRP and there might be someone who has one for sale.
 
I think that most everyone is missing the obvious answer, namely that it is perfectly possible to shorten a standard razor and provide it with matching, shorter scales to achieve the same sort of thing that you are looking for. Naturally, this involves cutting the blade of a standard razor. The operation isn't so difficult and could be done fairly eaisly with the (very) delicate application of a Dremel rotary tool with a small cutoff wheel, only making sure that the blade receives plenty of coolant throughout so as not to draw the temper of the blade. Following that, the blade would need some gentle forming at the freshly cut end and then a final resharpening and honing as required. Add the scales and you are done. However, although simple in principle, this wouldn't be totally without cost. :sleep:
 
I think that most everyone is missing the obvious answer, namely that it is perfectly possible to shorten a standard razor and provide it with matching, shorter scales to achieve the same sort of thing that you are looking for. Naturally, this involves cutting the blade of a standard razor. The operation isn't so difficult and could be done fairly eaisly with the (very) delicate application of a Dremel rotary tool with a small cutoff wheel, only making sure that the blade receives plenty of coolant throughout so as not to draw the temper of the blade. Following that, the blade would need some gentle forming at the freshly cut end and then a final resharpening and honing as required. Add the scales and you are done. However, although simple in principle, this wouldn't be totally without cost. :sleep:

:thumbdown
Why in the world are you advocating destruction of a perfectly good razor? :cursing:

Its one thing to cut down a razor because the toe lost a chunk of steel, as in the case of the Engels, but its a completely different issue when you chop down a razor for no other purpose than to shorten it to make it more maneuverable.

While I wouldn't care if it was done to a DA or a Wapi. I would cry if someone chopped down a perfectly good Dovo or TI. I would cringe if someone did that to a vintage.

Not trying to be mean, but please, think before posting.
 
If you dont mind paying that bit extra theres a very nice one on the invisible edge site. 6/8 Sheffield blade with humpback and handmade box wood scales. The blade is only 2.5 inches long and not shortened as the markings are centralised.
 
Wow, lots to think about.

I have contacted the Invisible Edge that Steve M mentioned and Rasage Poulin is going to set me up with a shavette that Gilgamesh pointed out to start off with.

Thank you to everybody.

Now, if I can only remember which end does the cutting . . .
 
:thumbdown
Why in the world are you advocating destruction of a perfectly good razor? :cursing:


Grinding off the tip of a razor to make it more suitable for shaving *your* face is no more destruction of a razor than regrinding it to fix the bevel. Both improve the suitability of the razor for its intended purpose, it's just that one is a bit more user-specific than the other.

These aren't some mystical or religious symbols, or even (generally speaking) historically significant artifacts. So it should not be particularly controversial to buy a TI or Dovo and regrind the tip to shorten it. It's your razor, do with it what you want.
 
Grinding off the tip of a razor to make it more suitable for shaving *your* face is no more destruction of a razor than regrinding it to fix the bevel. Both improve the suitability of the razor for its intended purpose, it's just that one is a bit more user-specific than the other.

These aren't some mystical or religious symbols, or even (generally speaking) historically significant artifacts. So it should not be particularly controversial to buy a TI or Dovo and regrind the tip to shorten it. It's your razor, do with it what you want.

+1
"Most" straights are just tools. Craftsmen have been modifying tools for specific uses for centuries.
 
Grinding off the tip of a razor to make it more suitable for shaving *your* face is no more destruction of a razor than regrinding it to fix the bevel. Both improve the suitability of the razor for its intended purpose, it's just that one is a bit more user-specific than the other.

These aren't some mystical or religious symbols, or even (generally speaking) historically significant artifacts. So it should not be particularly controversial to buy a TI or Dovo and regrind the tip to shorten it. It's your razor, do with it what you want.

My comment was geared towards grinding off an old Sheffield blade or other vintage razor. Sorry if that was unclear, I spend so much time with old blades that I forget they still make new ones these days. :blushing:

That said, yes, the old blades do have historical value. Again, property is property and one of the rights is destruction. But advocating grinding down the tip of an old blade is generally bad advice to a new member. Most people have no idea of the potential value of their razors. In addition, resetting the bevel and grinding 1/2" off the tip are not the same. Why? Because sharpening the razor adds to the value of the razor. Grinding off the tip on the other hand, will devalue the razor.

ALL OF THE ABOVE DOES NOT APPLY TO NEW RAZORS. I doubt anyone will care what you do with it. But by grinding off the tip you will be subtracting from the value.
 
That said, yes, the old blades do have historical value. Again, property is property and one of the rights is destruction. But advocating grinding down the tip of an old blade is generally bad advice to a new member. Most people have no idea of the potential value of their razors. In addition, resetting the bevel and grinding 1/2" off the tip are not the same. Why? Because sharpening the razor adds to the value of the razor. Grinding off the tip on the other hand, will devalue the razor.

I assumed the OP was asking about new razors, since his Henckels corn razor was probably no more than 50 yrs old, and he was also inquiring about shavette style razors. Maybe I was wrong and he was really looking to get into restoring Victorian-era choppers so he could cut one down...

At any rate, the historical value of just about any razor you can find on ebay is just about nil, unless you happen to luck on the razor that John Q. Adams used to shave his wife's delicates, and even then it had better come with a solid paper trail. But your average W&B or John Barber is one of many thousands still lying around in attics and still flowing through ebay like water. The closest modern equivalent to these old razors would be something like this Chandler chopper-style razor, but those fetch a much higher price than the supposedly historically valuable Sheffields. And for any razor that does have real historical value, regrinding the edge to restore the bevel will definitely seriously reduce its value, even cleaning off the corrosion is a big no-no on something like that unless there's simply no alternative.

But the razors we're getting? They're just tools. Who knows, had you not bought it some woodcarver might have bought it and turned it into a wood scraper.
 
I assumed the OP was asking about new razors, since his Henckels corn razor was probably no more than 50 yrs old, and he was also inquiring about shavette style razors. Maybe I was wrong and he was really looking to get into restoring Victorian-era choppers so he could cut one down...

God, no. I'm not a real antique fanatic but I'm the guy you see making a Model T engine produce all of its 22 horsepower, not the guy who's jamming a small block in.

But the razors we're getting? They're just tools. Who knows, had you not bought it some woodcarver might have bought it and turned it into a wood scraper.

Absolutely. I bought a completely un-fancy Dovo the last time I was in Europe and would shed no tears about cutting it down, other than I have no way of restoring temper to it properly. A "real" razor from David Thompson's time would be pretty neat but it would go in a display case, along with my Rolls Razor and my CPR station master watch.

Sorry to give any poor impression. I'm after a clean face again and am finding the proper tool to do it. If one of you guys would invent the face laser, I would buy it. Until then, I will use a hot, wet foamy face and a blade I can control.
 
I assumed the OP was asking about new razors, since his Henckels corn razor was probably no more than 50 yrs old, and he was also inquiring about shavette style razors. Maybe I was wrong and he was really looking to get into restoring Victorian-era choppers so he could cut one down...

At any rate, the historical value of just about any razor you can find on ebay is just about nil, unless you happen to luck on the razor that John Q. Adams used to shave his wife's delicates, and even then it had better come with a solid paper trail. But your average W&B or John Barber is one of many thousands still lying around in attics and still flowing through ebay like water. The closest modern equivalent to these old razors would be something like this Chandler chopper-style razor, but those fetch a much higher price than the supposedly historically valuable Sheffields. And for any razor that does have real historical value, regrinding the edge to restore the bevel will definitely seriously reduce its value, even cleaning off the corrosion is a big no-no on something like that unless there's simply no alternative.

But the razors we're getting? They're just tools. Who knows, had you not bought it some woodcarver might have bought it and turned it into a wood scraper.


I see your point, I'm not saying my way is the right or only way, but we should be careful before saying to cut down a razor on a public forum. Cutting down a razor destroys most of its value. The person doing the cutting deserves to know this before undertaking the "surgery." Esp. when there are much cheaper and better alternatives avaiable. Ie, shavettes, or razors that were damaged and cut down due to the damage to make them serviceable again. IMO the latter are much cheaper and much better options than taking a dremel to a perfectly good razor. Even if the razor is just a tool.
 
I've seen many very small razors... here is one that I currently am working on to restore. in the picture, it is next to a fairly "standard" size 6/8 hollow ground blade.

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Actually, after I get it finished, its for sale! hehe.
 
... a display case, along with my Rolls Razor and my CPR station master watch.
Perhaps some pictures are in order? I for one wouldn't mind seeing a neat railroad watch...:biggrin: And a hearty welcome to B&B!
 
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