Thread: Thick, Wiry Beard = Bigger, Heavier Blade?

Originally Posted by Johnus

My ideas on this issue differs from most here. My answer would be Sharper Not Bigger. ...

Check their sharpness.

I Fully agree!

IF your beard is the issue, try working the lather longer:
Get as usual lather on your face, do something else in the meantime and keep the lather on your face. Every 2 minutes add a little water to the brush and work again the lather on your face, try to keep the lather thick and wet, repeat 2-4 times.
That way you keep the wet lather on your face for 10 minutes or more and allow the water enter the hair and soften it.
Then shave, if it doesn't work the issue is not (not only) your beard.

Originally Posted by Johnus

My ideas on this issue differs from most here. My answer would be Sharper Not Bigger. Those who say bigger will tell you that Pressure is the Issue. With Bigger you have Weight and like a guillotine the beard will cut itself as it falls. Sorry I don't think so.

Sharper, not bigger is definitely great advice. I don't think the beard will cut itself, but certainly the weight of the bigger blades requires less downward pressure, when moving down. Moving up, well, now you have to lift the heavy blade. Make no mistake, they are significantly heavier. I have several 8/8,9/8 and 10/8 W&B razors are there is a significant weight difference when compared to a 5/8.
Here is a quick photo of the difference in size, one is 9/8 the other 5/8. There is a significant weight difference. Which is better?.....depends on what you like.

For me, the weight of the razor does not make as much difference in my shaving as the grind of the razor. I don't know why.

I prefer the feel of a small quarter hollow razor (or heavier grind) to a full hollow of any size. Again I don't know why - like Glen said and maybe others (sorry I don't have time to read everyone's posts, so I try to hit the ones I think will be most entertaining - or have the most punctuation, hehehe) try different kinds of well-honed razors if you get the opportunity, and try to make an honest comparison for yourself to find what you really prefer.

And you are likely to find your preferences changing a little or a lot as your shaving/stropping/honing techniques improve

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

For me, the weight of the razor does not make as much difference in my shaving as the grind of the razor. I don't know why.

I prefer the feel of a small quarter hollow razor (or heavier grind) to a full hollow of any size. Again I don't know why - like Glen said and maybe others (sorry I don't have time to read everyone's posts, so I try to hit the ones I think will be most entertaining - or have the most punctuation, hehehe) try different kinds of well-honed razors if you get the opportunity, and try to make an honest comparison for yourself to find what you really prefer.

And you are likely to find your preferences changing a little or a lot as your shaving/stropping/honing techniques improve

Hmm..interesting. I might have to try both a bigger and smaller blade in quarter or half hollows.

I have a 5/8 full hollow ground blade and a 6/8 full wedge for example..full wedge mow's my very coarse whiskers down with more ease than my 5/8 hollow razor..its just more shorter strokes are needed with anything less than a near wedge razor..for me anyways..

I'm one of those who had thought my beard type was just too stiff, or what ever for a hollow or extra hollow ground blade. Yesterday I debunked my own belief in this. I have a Boker 6/8 Extra Hollow Ground that I had put up almost a year ago because I just couldn't get it to shave well. In my mind it was just too thin and I had written it off. I started using 1/4 hollows, and my favorite razor for quite a while has been the Wacker Keilschlief Wedge, and I still like it a lot. Yesterday as I was checking on razors and cleaning off oil and applying Renwax I came across that Boker and thought, I haven't looked at this razor in almost a year. So, I decided to inspect it. I looked at the edge with a lighted loop and if anyone could have seen that edge right then I would have shrunk back with embarrassment. I had tried to hone it back then on my brand new Norton stones, and just plain didn't have any idea what I was doing! I could tell I had used way too much pressure on that thin of a blade, hadn't got the bevel set except for maybe one or two small areas and really hadn't done much polishing at the 8k either, which was a moot point anyway. So, yesterday I reset the bevel on the 1k Chosera, moved to the 4k Shapton, then 6k, 8k and finished on the 16k. I stropped it with CrOx on polywebbing, then with a Neil Miller real linen and Horween Cordovan strop. This morning I had as good a BBS shave as I've ever had with any razor. No tugging, no digging, no nicks, just a great shave. It never was the razor or the grind, just me!! Bad technique, I was using way too high of an angle, stropping? and for sure my honing. Whether there are beards too tough for a hollow grind, I don't know, but mine sure isn't one of them and that Boker is definitely back in the lineup, 1st String!! You might try getting yours rehoned and go with a much flatter angle and see if it improves. Good luck!!!

Best Regards,

Howard

It is my opinion, based upon nothing more than unsupported and unsubstantiated conjecture, that the variation in beard types (in terms of thickness, wirey-ness, density etc) within the adult male population is not as large as people might think it is, and certainly not of sufficient magnitude to merit a relationship to the grind of a razor.

Technique is the key, IMO. Heavier grinds can sometimes be a crutch for a technique deficiency and you do often see "intermediate" shavers touting the wedge-grind's praises in terms of shaving abilities over and above a hollow grind. I did it myself. A lot. lol!

No, it is my humble opinion that grind is immaterial - all razors meet at a tiny, tiny point whether hollow or full grind, and that is where the rubber hits the road in terms of a shave (or should that be "metal hits the whisker"? )

Good Luck!

James.

Originally Posted by Sterm

I Fully agree!

IF your beard is the issue, try working the lather longer:
Get as usual lather on your face, do something else in the meantime and keep the lather on your face. Every 2 minutes add a little water to the brush and work again the lather on your face, try to keep the lather thick and wet, repeat 2-4 times.
That way you keep the wet lather on your face for 10 minutes or more and allow the water enter the hair and soften it.
Then shave, if it doesn't work the issue is not (not only) your beard.

Yes beard prep can go a long way. Do you do any pre shave prep? Hot shower, or towel etc. They will soften the hair up significantly.

In the old days barbers had a few razors and they were pretty much 5/8s and 6/8s hollow ground and they used them to shave everyone who came into the shop no matter the type of beard they had and they all got great comfortable shaves. So that fact should put the "suit the razor to the beard" myth to bed. Of course it doesn't but it just shows you don't need to specialize to get a great shave.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

In the old days barbers had a few razors and they were pretty much 5/8s and 6/8s hollow ground and they used them to shave everyone who came into the shop no matter the type of beard they had and they all got great comfortable shaves.

Except for Mark Twain!