Thread: J.A. Henckells question

So to my understanding the 72 1/2 Friodur is a 6/8 Round nose in cryo treated stainless. As a newb to honing, is there anything I need to be aware of?

You are correct. Once it is properly honed, all should be good. Depending on where you got it, it may come shave ready. If it does come shave ready don't strop it until after your first shave, that way you are actually shaving with the sellers edge and you know it is undamaged by ineffective stropping.

It is NOS in the original packaging. never used and factory edge.

you should get it honed. At various times in the past, factory edges were shave ready. Overtime that standard has slipped. Henckels has a very long history of making razors, since 1781 I believe. Seeing as we cannot be sure how nice that edge is, when you receive it, do a quick assessment of the edge. If it can pass a few calibrated sharp tests it may be worthy of a shave test. Unless you bought it from someone who knows what shave ready really means it is unlikely you will get an accurate answer from the seller. I have not personally experienced a shave ready factory edge, they are usually sharp but not shave ready.

Originally Posted by RezDog

you should get it honed. At various times in the past, factory edges were shave ready. Overtime that standard has slipped. Henckels has a very long history of making razors, since 1781 I believe. Seeing as we cannot be sure how nice that edge is, when you receive it, do a quick assessment of the edge. If it can pass a few calibrated sharp tests it may be worthy of a shave test. Unless you bought it from someone who knows what shave ready really means it is unlikely you will get an accurate answer from the seller. I have not personally experienced a shave ready factory edge, they are usually sharp but not shave ready.

Thank you very much for the advice. Looking forward to a great Henckels experience.

I have several of each. The Friodur Inox is by far my favorite. You simply cannot get a better shave than one of these can produce. All Henckels are great though. It is a wonderful starter razor for anyone

If you have used a shave ready razor and are confident in your stropping technique you will know what it feels like to shave with. You could just clean the NOS blade, give it a good stropping and do a few shave strokes, sideburn down, to see if it is shave ready out of the box. Alternately just send it out to be professionally honed and you are sure then it is shave ready.

A shave ready Friodur is a pleasure to use, enjoy.

Bob

Originally Posted by cubancigar2000

I have several of each. The Friodur Inox is by far my favorite. You simply cannot get a better shave than one of these can produce. All Henckels are great though. It is a wonderful starter razor for anyone

+++1 on the Inox - great steel.

-john

This was my first great razor. Previously I had tried some ⅝ full hollows from whipped dog which infuriated me, and although it was surely user error, they just didn't seem to have the mass I wanted to get the blade moving and keep it moving. I almost bought a Hart just to get a ¼ hollow, but then I was drawn to one of noah's beauties (shaveready.com) and ended up with the same razor you just bought. Day and night: this razor just plain shaves! It is huge and wonderful, 73g of nostalgic elegance. It is a round point, but the roundness does not get in the way at all, and has all the reach I need for under the nose. It wan't in NOS condition, but that hardly matters. Good choice!

Originally Posted by Straightandproud

Well I took your advise and bought a NOS 72 1/2 friudor. Cant wait to give it a test drive.

Originally Posted by RezDog

you should get it honed. At various times in the past, factory edges were shave ready. Overtime that standard has slipped. Henckels has a very long history of making razors, since 1781 I believe.

I agree, Henckels standards slipped towards the end. I bought a NOS Friodur (black scales, no model number) and it proved one of the most difficult razors to put a decent bevel on.
As it was my 3rd or 4th Friodur, I knew how good Friodurs can be and didn't give up.
They might have lost interest in straight razors towards the end, but in general I don't find Friodurs more difficult to hone than carbon steel razors.

Among my Friodurs I own one of the 250th Anniversary razors, they show "1731-1981" on the blade, so Henckels seems to trace their history back to that year.

It's a pity they gave up making straight razors.



B.