A headshavers first go with English steel

[fchan]

Hey Everyone,

I thought I would capture my thoughts here in case anyone might be interested. First off, I have VERY coarse hair. I used to get slivers from hair that I had cut with an electric clipper before I moved to wet shaving and I dull most razors very quickly, and a little stubble on my head will destroy any pillow cases that have over 300 thread count... my girlfriend says its like shark skin.

For this reason, I have passed on my Dovo Pearlex and have moved to a thicker and sturdier blade in my quest to find the right blade for me.

What I settled upon is a pair of wedge razors that I wanted to compare head to head (no pun intended).

After much searching and eBaying, I settled on a couple razors that I thought fit the bill. I ended up having to send them off to be honed because the sellers were unable to hone the blades to a shave ready state. I learned a lot in this process as well. Old Sheffield steel can be a headache for the honemeister that has to deal with it, so you might want to consider looking at blades that only come shave ready if you're not able to hone it yourself.


I ended up with a 7/8 Wade and Butcher as well as a WM Greaves 6/8. Pictures are below.

The Wade and Butcher went to Lynn for a honing and the Greaves ended up with Phil from the Classic Edge. They both came with a beautifully sharp edge were well packed. Feedback I got from both Lynn and Phil was that these razors weren't as flat and perfect as mentioned by the sellers. I get the feeling this is a trend among old wedge razors, but if anyone can correct me here, please do so.

Anyways they both did a wonderful job on the first shave, and I have to say if you've got coarse hair that dulls blades like crazy, I would suggest looking in to a wedge. One thing I noticed between the 2 is that the Greaves holds an edge MUCH longer than the W&B. I have found that after 1.5 headshaves, the W&B won't do the job anymore and is in definite need of a fresh hone. The Greaves seems to still be doing well and just needed a little refresher on a pasted strop to get it passing the HHT again.

All in all, I'm happy with the wedge over a hollow-ground and actually prefer the more direct feel of the blade. The W&B is also very round and soft in my hand which makes me worry it will slip out one day.

I'm now going to move on to a Kamisori to see how they compare against the Sheffield steel. I have a Blue steel Kami that has been a bear to hone but once thats shave ready i'll compare to the other 2 I have en-route and hopefully somewhere there I will find my perfect razor.

A final thought from myself though. I don't think I will want to look for more wedges to add to my collection. Chances are, once I find the right blade for my head I will thin out the herd as space is very limited for me. I think the pain I put the honemeisters through as well to get these shave ready is also something I wouldn't want to do again, but damn these old English wedges have an iconic look and feel!