Thread: Why are some razors such smooth shavers?

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

If I've honed them, they are amazingly smooth ....... can't think of any other possible reason

Jim, you must have amazingly flexible shoulders and long arms; certainly useful in the honing biz.

Pretty sure this thread could go on to the end of time and eventually bring just about every other Forum topic into it.

Originally Posted by WW243

Pretty sure this thread could go on to the end of time and eventually bring just about every other Forum topic into it.

Yes, that is no joke.

Bob

There are just too many variable to nail it down - the steel, how it was tempered, the profile of the edge, the flex of the blade, how it's handled, the hair, the skin, the prep, the cream/soap, then... honing - which, I agree, is probably the one most influential aspect of the whole experience. I have dozens of hones but have narrowed my absolute preference down to about 7 different JNats that I rotate around. Right now I'm shaving with a vintage Henkels Inox 6/8 - for some reason I find stainless alloys to be the best for me. But I also have a few Hart's that I also love and the Dorkos, and the Filarmonicas and the... I've been through and survived RAD and HAD - now I'm enjoying the results.

-john

We have discussed this at length before.

My take has always been, it's because everything about the razor is absolute perfection. The ingot it came from was perfect, the tempering, forging, the guy doing the grinding and everything else in the fabrication is all perfection. Razors like that are rare, very rare. Many think they have one like that but they don't. if you do you will know it.

It has nothing to do with the brand or where it came from. I had two TI's from the SRP LE edition sequentially numbered. One was one of those razors and then other was far from it.

I agree with thebigspendur. Although a great honing job is a necessary condition to a supersmooth razor, honing alone is not sufficient to produce the magic razor. I think he's right, all the razor stars have to be properly aligned, as he lists in his post.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

We have discussed this at length before.

My take has always been, it's because everything about the razor is absolute perfection. The ingot it came from was perfect, the tempering, forging, the guy doing the grinding and everything else in the fabrication is all perfection. Razors like that are rare, very rare. Many think they have one like that but they don't. if you do you will know it.

It has nothing to do with the brand or where it came from. I had two TI's from the SRP LE edition sequentially numbered. One was one of those razors and then other was far from it.

Yes - I think I remember someone wrote that one of the reason vintage razors are so popular and shave so well is that if it's still a razor after 125 years plus, it was obviously superbly made, everything about it clicked, otherwise it would have been melted down and turned into buttons or something long ago.

Indeed, it is the combination of the quality of the forging, temper, grind, honing … and all the other variables we can think of that make a good shaver.

Some brands have those variables pinned down better than others.