Thread: The Butcher Shop

Originally Posted by omgmarclol

Here are my W&Bs
FBUs: The hollow is 17/16" and the wedge is 8/8"


Hollow ground 7/8" and 11/16" Bow Razor

Beautiful razors, thanks for sharing.

I love FBU's but I also love the bow razors. My first straight was a bow straight razor.

Originally Posted by engine46

I love FBU's but I also love the bow razors. My first straight was a bow straight razor.

I have a butcher now - near wedge.


What do you think are the main differences between these razors (FBU and The Celebrated)? In relation to the sensations of shaving.
Celebrated razors have a slightly more significant hollow, does it somehow affect shaving?

When honed & stropped correctly, they all should shave nicely but the more hollow a blade is, the more it will sing. I imagine the type of steel may make a difference. It just depends what you want. A person with a coarse beard usually prefers a wedge type which is how my beard is but a hollow grind can be just as effective for some. A hollow grind might need honing sooner than a wedge but that's just my opinion. Others may differ.

There are a couple variants of both the For Barber's Use and 'The Celebrated', but any two of those razors with the same size and blade thickness is the same. The slogan (For Barber's Use, The Celebrated, etc) is just a slogan.

Thanks for the info! I just thought that razors with a different concavity (wedge and hollow) give different quality shaving. But I realized that it does not really matter. There are only small differences in tactile sensations, the wedge gives less response.

I've been shaving this wedge for weeks. He gives an incredibly soft and comfortable shave, shaves without any effort or pressure on the razor, and a big smile of the cutting edge allows you to cleanly shave the complex areas of the neck. When using razors without a smile, this was very, very difficult and with much more damage to the skin.

in my experience, hollow ground razors do offer a bit of flex around your face, especially when shaving with an extra hollow grind. the thinner grind also allows for more tactile and audible feedback, which i believe is a bit more significant an attribute than the flex.

a wedge, being beefier in stature, will provide a bit more momentum as you shave; which does provide that additional cutting power meat cleaver razors are known for. as said earlier, they don't provide as much tactile or audible feedback.

as far as sharpness, i've found that neither gets sharper than the other. however, i've noticed that i have too touch up hollow grinds a bit sooner than wedges. also, in my experience, very hollow grinds can get away from you a little easier than wedges. YMMV.

Originally Posted by omgmarclol

in my experience, hollow ground razors do offer a bit of flex around your face, especially when shaving with an extra hollow grind. the thinner grind also allows for more tactile and audible feedback, which i believe is a bit more significant an attribute than the flex.

a wedge, being beefier in stature, will provide a bit more momentum as you shave; which does provide that additional cutting power meat cleaver razors are known for. as said earlier, they don't provide as much tactile or audible feedback.

as far as sharpness, i've found that neither gets sharper than the other. however, i've noticed that i have too touch up hollow grinds a bit sooner than wedges. also, in my experience, very hollow grinds can get away from you a little easier than wedges. YMMV.

For me, this topic is very important because I 5 months struggled with skin lesions on the neck and redness on the skin.

During this time I tried 7 different razors. 5 razors with hollow grind (made in england, france, japan, china), 1 razor narrow wedge 4/8 Japanese without a smile (did not like at all and caused and led to a strong red on the skin) and wade and butcher 8/8 near the wedge with a smile. I agree with you that razors with a hollow grind give more flexibility (if the steel is not very rigid and the thickness of the blade is small, full grind). But these razors are light. You need to press on the razor or make an effort to shave off the stiff bristles on the very delicate and sensitive skin of the neck. Otherwise, even an acute light razor does not shave a stiff bristle. in short, all razors with a full hollow blade inflicted superficial damage to the skin of the neck. The situation is aggravated by the fact that on this site the skin is not as smooth as on cheeks or cheekbones and has a microscopic relief and small folds and wrinkles. And even a flexible razor damages them without bending because the skin is very soft here.

*I found some solutions - shave less often so that the skin could recover (once every 3-4 days, not every other day) or shave not clean, leaving a small part of the bristles, but not damaging the skin.

After I shaved this several times with this wide wedge, I almost completely solved the problem of soft neck skin damage. I shave without any effort or pressure on the razor, only I easily hold, this and the great weight of the razor is enough to shave, but do not damage the skin and slide even over the irregularities. Yes, the wedge is not flexible and does not bend, but the shape with a smile helps a lot to shave all the cavities in the neck or in difficult places. A razor with a straight blade without a smile, I had to use only the end (round point type) and at the same time keep the razor at an uncomfortable angle, considering that the second pass should be done only against hair growth. This also led to excess skin damage and its redness.

it's good that you found a razor that works well for you!

for me, i find that i don't really need to apply any difference in pressure with a wedge v. a hollow grind. i find adjusting the shaving angle to find the optimal blade contact works much better for me than increasing pressure, which isn't necessarily something i would want to do if i were trying to ease irritation. but your beard and skin is different from mine so; so my technique may not necessarily be best for you.

Time to add my latest Wade & Butcher, The Celebrated Hollow Ground Razor, For Barber's Use, to the Shop...restored magnificently by Karlej and scaled in bone.