What is this cut out on the point?
Hello all... this being my first post here I should start off by saying thanks to everyone involved here for creating such a great community. It has been especially useful for someone like me who is just taking the first tentative steps into the world of straight razor shaving.
The Ern razor pictured below just recently fell into my possession. It has seen a LOT of heavy use and apparently less than careful maintenance. The blade is uneven and poorly honed, the scales are replacements that are too short so the razor cannot be properly shut, etc. etc. The notch ground into the point is odd too and I figured that it was just another strange alteration of some sort carried out by someone with too much spare time and too many files. However, I have recently seen several photos of razors with this same ground out area on the point... I assume that this must have been a common alteration? Does anyone know what the purpose of this half-circle cut out was? I have searched the forum but cannot find any mention of this type of alteration. Any info is appreciated.
Thanks, Justin
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...f/100_1516.jpg
Sorry for the photo quality.... photography is not one of my better honed skills.