Thread: Future Proofing.

I got a 5/8 full hollow as my first razor and I love it. Then I got a 7/8 W&B and couldn't use it, WAY too big for me. I'm swapping it for a 5/8 W&B but I'd actually like a 4/8; saw a nice Spanish one I think a while ago....

I purchased both a 5/8 and a 6/8 for my first razors. I actually found the 6/8 better (but that's just me, maybe I'm a freak)

I think i like the weight of the blade, i find it help with the cut. Since then i have also now got a 4/8 and I'm really am not a big fan of that.. Although i have used it ever day for the past week lol

Maybe saying I'm really not a big fan is a bit strong, its just not my preferred razor..

I think as long as you get something around the 4-6/8 and either a half hollow or full hollow in a good brand you will be happy and either way you will find out what you really like once you get your second.

:You will figure out what works best for you. There are very few hard and fast rules (like stropping every time you shave, etc...). A 5/8 or 6/8 round points are suggested for beginners. However, many of our members have cut their teeth with spike points, larger, smaller, etc...

I started with a full hollow as well (spike point!!!)
I found myself going larger with each purchase until I shaved with a 10/8 blade. That was the end for me. I find myself back into the 5/8 range these days and even creeping into the smaller realms. I have cut myself back there as well as I found the 3/8 difficult to hone and strop after all of those larger blades. If I had to grab the best shaver out of my bunch right now it would probably be about 5/8.
As for selection which one to choose, don't worry too much as you can usually get most of your money back on a smart purchase. I would just try something different by deciding what I liked about my current razor, then accentuate that by a small degree.

The angle of the edge doesn't vary much, so long as the wider razor has a thicker spine to compensate. A good healthy bevel might be 0.02in. wide, and a human hair might be 0.003in wide. So the degree of hollowness has nothing to do with the ability to cut hair, which could be accomplished without its ever touching the concave surface. A hollow grind lightens the razor, for a given width, and increases its ability to collect lather and, should you wish, wipe it back onto your face, instead of falling into the basin.

Long ago I was a fair-to-middling good university fencer. The height of my career was when I defeated a Scottish champion, and some of those schoolgirls are good. Part of the art is in making the small movements of the weapon by rolling between forefinger and thumb, with the other fingers ready to clench up tight when you do something more decisive, or have it done to you. I found myself far more prone to making inadvertent wild movements of the foil than of the épée, which is 50% heavier.

It's true, though, if you look at eBay etc., the really wide razors seem to attract prices hard to justify on utilitarian grounds. I think it is mostly a matter of "mine is bigger than yours", or somebody's anyway. I always wonder if the people who used 8/8 razors, personal or for barbering, also had a 4/8in. one for tight corners such as under the nose. That might explain why makers such as Wade and Butcher seem to have produced more than their share of these two extremes. I also think the heyday of the 8/8 razor seems to have coincided with the near-universality of moustaches.

I started out with a 13/16 full hollow and from there I have had and have anything from 4/8 to 7/8 of different grinds, and waiting for my first 15/16.
Of the ones I have used, I have found that I prefer razors from 6/8-7/8, but I also have 4/8's and 5/8's that are wonderful shavers, it's just that I prefer the extra weight in the bigger blades and I find them easier to use. Type of grind doesn't matter that much to me.
But again, as most, if not everything within this hobby, YMMW.
You just have to try different razors, and figure out what suits you best.