Thread: the friodur factor- makes a big difference?

well, hello all i've been a lurker here for weeks and i've thoroughly enjoyed everyone's post. Most newbie questions are already covered here so i need not post but to break my silence i'd like to ask a question. (oh and sorry for the quirky english- it ain't my first language )

From where i am, all the JA Zwilling henckels stores are on sale till the end of the month. The white scaled, stainless razor goes for 58$, while the friodur version of it (same scale, same width) goes for 116$. The friodur is twice the price!!!

...even if both are 35% off they're way expensive compared to vintage carbon razors on ebay. (it seems stainless razors are a modern thing? but you guys tell me what the story is...) Another way of looking also, is that i could buy 2 non-friodur razors for the price of a friodur one.

I'm not hesistant of paying good money for a good razor actually. I guess my question is, is the friodur worth the big price markup?
if you were in my place would you buy a single friodur or two non friodurs instead?

oh by the way, something that i just noticed: there are two log-in forms in this site- the one on the left (seen as a frame i think) and one for the forums- both are mutually exclusive to each other! i can't see the purpose of that and it might be an oversight, i'd like to point that out... regards =)

Welcome to the Forum. I can't tell if this is your first straight razor purchase from your post. If so, I urge you to buy a razor from either Tony Miller or Urleebird, both members on this site. You will get an excellent product in shave ready condition for the price of the cheaper Zwilling. If you want to spend 100.00 + Dolars, then I would reccommend a Thiers Issard razor. The fit and finish are superb, they are just about shave ready, and they are beautiful pieces. The friodur razors are a little tricky to hone from my limited experience, though some very experienced members love them once they are keen.

Welcome to the forum,
and I for one would LOVE to be so close to a place actually selling those razors (Zwilling J A Henckels) and personally prefer the Henckels product to the TI products I've tried; That said, I haven't tried any of the top-end TI's (damascus-hand forged, etc) . I just have good luck with the Henckels.
I also second the idea of buying from somebody on the site....its amazing the difference a properly honed razor makes.
John P

Hey again,
Another Hit and run post from your’s truly haha…
If I was in your shoes altec, I would buy two of the non-friodur to start with. The reason would be that you now have a small but excellent “rotation” from which you can practice the honing and stropping and shaving all at the same time. If you kind of mess the edge up on one you have the other to still shave with while your work out the learning curve on the razor you may have dulled in the process.
Even if you don’t damage or dull one in the process of learning the hone you will still have the luxury of giving one blade a rest between shaves.

Now, after you have some experience with the normal blades and your shave technique is refined a little and your honing and stropping technique is effective you can then invest in the friodur and have a basis to form your own opinion as to weather or not they are worth the money.
In a worst case scenario, your “stuck” with three excellent razors…. And should you decide that one is better than the other and would like to get rid of the lesser razor there are plenty of people here that would gladly take one off your hands.

has henckels stoppped making straights? Browsing through the net and their brick-&-mortar stores seem to suggest so. Not much choices left in terms of scale colors & materials, point style, and no more carbon ones afaik. (And the store clerk told me that only several were left and i felt it wasn't a sales pitch.)So I'm guessing they're just letting the last ones made sell out and that's it. Anyone know for sure?

btw, i hope someone could point me to a site that explain the numbers they put on the tang...

Henckels seems to have stopped making razors a while back. There are still some hiding in stores here and there, mostly in germany I would think.

A few of us have access to re-handled Henckels blades like the large 7/8 and 8/8 Friodurs. Some Henckels blanks have been reground and are available as well labled Rudolph Stehlo in various sizes. I have a few of each available as do some other dealers.

Tony

There seems to be some debate as to where Zwilling stands on the razor production. There is no question as to weather or not Henckels International has stopped producing razors for the world market.. in fact I emailed them a while back and they confirmed that there are no products available for the U.S. market for sure. However, Zwilling (Twins) still has a selection of razors listed on their site (in German) as well as a couple of Injector style shavers as seen here:
Zwilling

There are still several shops in and around Germany that has these razors available in good supply, however as to weather that supply is limited or not has never been answered as far as I've seen.
My suggestion is if you want a Zwilling razor get it, and get it now.. because there is no question as to weather or not the production of these great tools is dwindling. Soon DOVO will have monopoly on this market and we will all be buying second hand razors at ridiculous prices.

http://pourhomme.zwilling.com/

USA site, still expensive...

Hey now that's interesting!
A year ago I contacted the US Distribution center for Zwilling/Henckles and was told that those were no longer available nor would they be available... and now Nordstrom’s and Tweezerman is carrying at least one model??
That is very promising to see... but I agree that a buck fifty is a trifle much to pay.

What's more, is that the one offered by Nordstrom’s even seems to have new modern packaging

Hmmm,
A buck fifty could still get you a much bigger 7/8 Friodur than those little 5/8 blades.<g>

Tony