Thread: wedges?

Perhaps this has been posted before, if it has, forgive me. I've been seeing guys on the board looking for wedges, and talking about having them. My question is this: are wedges any differant to shave with than hollow ground? I would assume (I know what you get when you assume...make an @ss of U and Me) that it's essentialy the same. So what's the difference? The reason I am asking, I've got an uncle whom I'm talking to about making me a custom razor, he makes knives as a hobby, but am not sure how he's set up for grinding.

I think wegdes, or lewss hollowed grinds at least, do better on heavy, stiff beards. I have a few old heavy, "meat chopper" wedges I seldom used because of the bulk and size but recently discovered smaller, more modern wedges and love them.
The past week I've been startiung my shave with a wedge for with the grain passes and a hollowed razor for against the grain.

Mosdt wedges are not 100% wedge shaped but may show a very slight concave profile but are certainly far from most half or fully hollowed razors.

Tony

Originally Posted by freebird

The reason I am asking, I've got an uncle whom I'm talking to about making me a custom razor, he makes knives as a hobby, but am not sure how he's set up for grinding.

Pure wedges with straight sides are annoying to hone because you have to remove so much metal. Even a little hollowing improves the situation dramatically - see if your uncle can do a quarter or an eighth hollow for you. Another thing to keep in mind is that wedges are *very* heavy for their size and this gets exponentially worse with size so don't ask for an 8/8 razor unless you're sure you really want one. 5/8 isn't too heavy, 6/8 is still manageable, but the 7/8 and 8/8 sizes are a handful.

I agree with everything in the above two posts.

I have a couple of full wedges and they are a pain to hone.

There's also a big difference in weight - as mparker mentioned and I find 6/8 to be a great size.

Wedges are incredibly stiff and don't flex at all - which is one of the reasons you can get wedge burn if you don't use a light touch.

I really like heavier grinds (1/2 hollow and up), but do shave with a full hollow from time to time as well.

Good info here. The only thing I would add is while shaving with a wedge the experience is totally different. With a hollow you get alot of feedback from the razor. With a wedge you get none. It just plows through your beard. Its like the 18 wheeler of razors however they can if handled properly give a very comfortable and close shave.