Thread: opinion on a wedge

Gentlemen,

I just purchase a Norton 4k/8k and an old razor in order to learn the art of honing, the razor itself is a Dubl Duck, there is few minor scratches, the edge is dull with a couple of very small nicks but over all it is in pretty good condition, I think it can make a good restoration project. I am not sure if it is a real wedge but when I got the razor I notice that the description was saying Satin Wedge. I have heard that wedges are really difficult to hone, is it really the case, I am wondering if this is the best razor to learn honing. Finally, assuming it is perfectly honed I am wondering what kind of shaver they do. If you have an opinion on those questions I will appreciate

Thanks and have a great day

Norm.

Hi there.
If it is a Dubl Duck in good condition, I would advise against using it for honing practise. DD's are fairly expensive (depending on condition of course) and you don't wat to ruin a 100$ blade on your first attempt.
If you want to learn honing a better option would be to buy one or two blades on ebay to practise on.

As long as the razors are from solingen steel or sheffield steel you have a quality razor. The blades don't have to look nice as long as they are not too damaged to actually hone them.

Norm,
got any pictures? like Brunos says, DD satin wedges are very nice, and above run of the mill. I would suggst that you either hold off working on it until you gain restoration experience or your get somebody to restore it for you, like JoeChandler, Garythepenman or bill ellis (www.billysblades.com). like other owners i love my DD, even though none of them our currently in my rotation.

they tend to be absolutely great shavers.

Bruno's got a good point about not making a good Dubl Duck your training wheels.

I will say though that the satin wedge I have was very easy to hone, unlike my other wedges and quarter hollows.

Norm,
i just noticed you are in montreal, you might want to PM vladsch who has been known to do pure art in his restorations and is also located in the Montreal area.

Gentlemen,

It is not my intension to ruin a good blade, here is a picture of the razor in question, I am not sure if it is the reflection of the light but I believe it looks better in reality, I do not have a lot of experience but I don’t think there is something major on the edge and I am almost sure it can be polish like a mirror. So what do you think? Training razor or not. And by the way how do they shave.


Have a great day

Norm.

Originally Posted by syslight

Norm,
got any pictures? like Brunos says, DD satin wedges are very nice, and above run of the mill. I would suggst that you either hold off working on it until you gain restoration experience or your get somebody to restore it for you, like JoeChandler, Garythepenman or bill ellis (www.billysblades.com). like other owners i love my DD, even though none of them our currently in my rotation.

they tend to be absolutely great shavers.

Originally Posted by syslight

Norm,
i just noticed you are in montreal, you might want to PM vladsch who has been known to do pure art in his restorations and is also located in the Montreal area.

Syslight

thanks for the info, I did not know that vladsch was in Montreal, I will get in contact with him sooner or later

regards

Norm

The DD Satin Wedge was one of the last wedge razors manufactured by any company. It was made in response to requests by barbers for a wedge razor. In some ways they are a wedge technically speaking but are much lighter and easier to hone then typical wedges. They are quality razors. The one you have appears to have a wierd frown to it unless thats just the picture. It may take some work to straighten out. I would send it out.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

The DD Satin Wedge was one of the last wedge razors manufactured by any company. It was made in response to requests by barbers for a wedge razor. In some ways they are a wedge technically speaking but are much lighter and easier to hone then typical wedges. They are quality razors. The one you have appears to have a wierd frown to it unless thats just the picture. It may take some work to straighten out. I would send it out.

Sorry for asking, my English is not perfect but you mean that the edge is not perfectly straight.


Norm.

From my own somewhat limited experience with wedges I don't think they're that much more difficult to hone than hollows. They just might take a bit more time depending on the condition of the edge/bevel. Most of the more recent wedges have at least some small amount of inward curvature from the edge to the spine. Older wedges (Late nineteenth, early twentieth century.) tend to be a bit more slab sided with a "smiling" (curved) edge making it a bit trickier to ensure the entire length of the blade maintains contact with the honing surface. Taping the spine, besides protecting it, slightly increases the angle of the edge on the hone which should improve the results.