Thread: Why on Earth were Square Tips Produced - it beats me?

They will also scratch the hell out of a hanging strop if you are not careful.
After honing they can be worse.
Under the windowsill they go!

A spike got me this morning. Took my eye off the blade and paid the price. I am a follower of Tom's window sill cure but forgot to do it to the blade i used this morning.

Those are not my favorites, those are the only razors I get scratches or cuts from even when I'm really careful

I prefer shaving with square tip

I'm in the square tip club, but I do like to mute the point. 45 degrees and just the width of the bevel. Any chamfer wider than the bevel doesn't help I think.

Cheers, Steve

I have a Geneva with a spike point and I live in fear of it. I have no intention of getting that thing shave ready. It says “Kings expert barber” on the scales, and that certainly isn’t me.

Definitely less worried about scratches with my round tip, but I see the benefit of the spikes. Unfortunately I spiked the back of my index finger sanding a blade today. Fortunately it wasn't too bad.

For me it is essential that ever razor is super sharp at the toe. I have a goatee and shave the area between the two sides of my mustache in both directions from my lip to my nose side to side if that makes sense. It was also on one of these square tips a case manganesE from my grandfather that I learned to hone and shave. I also find the tip in the square tips great for side burns and working around the goatee for straight lines.
So I am a square tip fan. I feel like using the right stones with these razors makes all the difference in how quick these are to bite you. My case was evil and mean till I found this out.

"Why on Earth were Square Tips Produced"? It might also have had to do with the concept of shave-a-buck (or perhaps two bits, back in the day). Square-tips involved that much less labor at the factory, lowering the price. Or, American razor production was not as refined as their Old-World counterparts, leading to a square-point expectation as to imports, based on the domestic standard?

No clue why square tips were ever made but they sure do look macho and maybe that is why. Why bother with a square tip if you are only going to blunt them? I use then occasionally with great care not having blunted mine. Still manage to cut myself once in a while though. Not my first recommendation for a beginner to get either.

Bob