View Poll Results: What Size Blade ?
- Voters
- 88. You may not vote on this poll
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4/8
3 3.41% -
5/8
14 15.91% -
6/8
41 46.59% -
7/8
19 21.59% -
8/8
7 7.95% -
9/8
2 2.27% -
10/8
1 1.14% -
Big as they can make it !
1 1.14%
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07-16-2013, 05:49 AM #16
- Join Date
- Nov 2006
- Location
- Greenacres, FL
- Posts
- 2,874
Thanked: 599I cast my vote for 6/8" blade-width razors. Here's why: You didn't give me the option of any /16" blade widths. If you had done so...
- 4/8" Just too small. I suppose a 4/8" wedge be just the thing for trimming a moustache or goatee, but certainly not for keeping my cheeks, jaw, or neck clean-shaven.
- 9/16" I have five razors of this size: two AE Berg's, two Union spikes, and one "Case's Ace" (the first four are near-wedges/quarter-hollow, while the last is full-hollow ground). I often turn to either of the AE Berg (Eskilstuna) razors, and find that their very stiff grind more than compensates for their lighter weight -- provided that I don't go more than two days without shaving.
- 5/8" I have thirteen razors of this size, of which five are near-wedges/quarter-hollow, and the other eight are full-hollow ground. I regularly use the stiffer grinds, but rarely pick up any of the others; my reluctance to use the hollow-ground razors is due wholly to a preoccupation with getting cut by them (this is totally absent with the stiffer grinds).
- 11/16" I own eight razors in this size, and seven of them are among my finest shavers. Here, too, I prefer the stiffer grinds, and one of these can easily handle four days-worth of unshaven beard. This is my favorite size.
- 6/8" I own six in this size, of which only one is a stiffer grind -- my Wheatly Bros. Wheat Sheaf. This is my favorite razor. The other five don't get used very much.
- 13/16" Only one of these -- an F.W. Engels Leader -- and most definitely a full-hollow razor. In too many instances, it's an unwieldy size, which very quickly takes me back to that "getting cut" place. It rarely gets handled, and I haven't shaved with it in at least five years.
One other factor is the blade tip: I have come to learn that spike/square tips do not play nicely with a "meatier" neck, while round/French tips are quite accommodating.
Conclusions:
- Grind, size, and weight are a triangle, in which any two can generally compensate for the third.
- Beard prep, #-of-days-growth, and honing influence that compensation.
- Visceral feedback accentuates any fear of getting cut, increasing the likelihood that you will.
- For me, with minimal beard prep, mediocre honing skills, and a track-tested tendency to go 3-4 days between shaves, a 6/8" near-wedge/quarter-hollow ground, hunk of patinated Sheffield steel is the ticket.
Interesting. As I've written this, I've come to realize that those full-hollow, square/spike-tipped razors ought to be in the hands of others, who will use them...