Thread: Please give me some feed back.

Please let me know what you think.

For a start it looks like you will not be able to pivot the blade out of the scales. As a personal preference I do not care for the point on the heel. It can be hard enough keeping track of a point at the toe never mind adding a second one at the heel. Depending how sharp the scalloped edges are you take a chance on scratching a strop up. Never did see the point of a long tail on a straight razor. I would be nice to see what kind of grind you propose for the blade.

Just curious, are you a knife maker wanting to branch out into making straight razors?

Bob

As Bob said looking at your design you wouldn't be able to pivot the blade out of the scales, also your heel should be more rounded including the toe or otherwise your strop will certainly suffer the consequence, If you want my advice look at a good few vintage razors then take all that's best from them and add a few minor alterations and never go to far away from the original design that's worked so perfectly for centuries. PS you can't reinvent the wheel you can tart it up but at the end of the day it's still round.

Yes, it is pretty hard to vastly improve/reinvent the wheel on a design that has matured after over 300 years of manufacture and use. They look the way they do because it simply works. Do you shave on a regular basis with a straight razor?

Bob

I think that:
The points at the end of the spine and tang look like they could be uncomfortable and potentially damaging to a strop (the one at the toe end).
The scallops in the tang would be uncomfortable.
The transition between tang and heel end of the razor could be smoother.
The point at the heel while good looking just adds an extra risk during use.
The blade (probably) wouldn't open as the toe looks like it would catch on the wedge.
For my taste the blade sits too low in the scales.
Possibly only put the scallops down the spine, or just a single notch in the toe rather than 2 (would hint at a barbers notch)

Ditto to what the others have said. It's what we refer to as a 'Razor-Shaped Object' - an interesting design that definitely fits into current design trends amongst some knife makers, but not at all a usable straight razor design. The others have given good suggestions, I will add one of my own: put a bit of smile (convex curve) in the edge. I find that the only truly straight edged razors that are comfortable to use have full hollow grinds with thin flexible blades. The older wedge and heavy hollow grinds of the 19th century have smiling edges which allow them to address the contours of the face and are very comfortable to use. I have attached a few examples.

Please don't take any of this personally; I'm assuming that the reason you joined this forum and made this post was to get honest critique, and our best service to you is to give just that.

The scales, as they are designed now, are going to be very uncomfortable to hold and strop with. Look at traditional scale shape, they are not straight but curved, there is a reason for that.
Aesthetically the spine work does not appeal to me at all, I think a more subtle design will look better. The deep scallops may also scratch the strop if not smoothed properly, and will not feel very comfortable in hand. The sharp toe and heel will definitely scratch a strop.

IMHO when it comes to razor design function comes always before form.

Have a look at other custom razor makers designs, the ones that sell well are the more classic look. Designs that are a bit "out there" dont fair so well as straight razor shaving is a niche market and this type of design may alienate many potential buyers.

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

Have a look at other custom razor makers designs, the ones that sell well are the more classic look. Designs that are a bit "out there" dont fair so well as straight razor shaving is a niche market and this type of design may alienate many potential buyers.

Exactly right.

There are many makers out there now, and a lot of them rely on fancy looks to stand out of the crowd and sell product. However tons of them forgot to make functional pieces that actually work. If a razor shaves well it will have a following even if it is not fancy looking, function over form always.

It might be nice if you would introduce yourself. Do you use straight razors or just sell them?