Thread: Thinnest razor in production right now?

Don't forget the Dovo Bergischer Lowe which is/was a very fine grind and they also make/made a stainless with real pearl handles which has a very fine grind.

Originally Posted by CoffeeAddict24

Yeah, I know. Some online vendors have W&Bs here in Mexico. Filarmonicas seem to be hard to find.

Which American makers would you recommend? I know about Tim Zowada but I don't have too much info.

My choices for vintage American cutlers would be Shumate, Case, Robeson and anything made in Little Valley NY, Cattaraugus, George Korn, Union to name a few. Some really fine razors with arguably the best steel of the time came from that region.

Edit: for new stuff you'll be relegated to custom makers for things made in the US. If you could ever find it for sale (which you won't) I would get a Charlie Lewis original.

Bluesman also has some very nicely ground razors, for modern. I think Paul hit the theme of what I was suggesting for vintage American makers. There were many more though. There are threads around here dedicated to the early American blades.

Dovo are not the company they once were but some of the lower production manufacturers are still producing lovely grinds
Dovo Bergischer

Ralph Aust

Boker

Korrat produce beautiful full hollow bellied razors

Somehow my Bergischer Löwe looks less hollow ground.
Mine has "Made in Western Germany" on it. So it was made before or shortly after the Iron Curtain was pulled down.

If it’s a full hollow just by the nature it’s thin, but as for a Zowada razor he may now do full hollows but most of the custom makers are 1/4– 1/2 hollow guys. But if your willing to spend the dollars, some customs are great, my collection is 75% custom and I have a Zowada. I got a deal but it’s still close to 1k

Originally Posted by RezDog

Bluesman also has some very nicely ground razors, for modern. I think Paul hit the theme of what I was suggesting for vintage American makers. There were many more though. There are threads around here dedicated to the early American blades.

I was thinking of this when production razors was mentioned.

I am sure that Victor is under 5,000 razors a year. LOL

Originally Posted by CoffeeAddict24

So, I've been reading and exchanging knowledge on razors with some other straight razor shavers.

We've so far discussed on the ground, and it seems that modern-production razors are not as ground (or "thin") as some vintage razors. I've been told that even modern day (i.e. current production) "singing" TIs and DOVOs are actually closer to a "half hollow" and that the "extra hollow" or "singing hollow" titles are only marketing.

Is this true?


I'd also like to know which is the thinnest razor in production right now? TI Evide Sonnant? DOVO Prima Klang?

Unfortunately this is absolutely true. The real razor grinders that had mastered their handcraft belong to a dying species. The razors are not thin enough, the bellies and the area to the edge are wavy, thickness of spine is uneven. And this applies to most of the still existing companies. Forget the "evide sonnant" - absolutely nothing is singing on that razor. Thick as an axe - like my old master would say. Dovos are not much better nowadays. There are two companies in Solingen that still do the handcraft in the old way with experienced and skillfull grinders. Wacker and Revisor. If you order a full hollow razor here, you will get one and not an axe with an absolute perfect gold etching "full hollow ground".
Regards Peter

I still vote for Victor.
American made!

Originally Posted by hatzicho

Unfortunately this is absolutely true. The real razor grinders that had mastered their handcraft belong to a dying species. The razors are not thin enough, the bellies and the area to the edge are wavy, thickness of spine is uneven. And this applies to most of the still existing companies. Forget the "evide sonnant" - absolutely nothing is singing on that razor. Thick as an axe - like my old master would say. Dovos are not much better nowadays. There are two companies in Solingen that still do the handcraft in the old way with experienced and skillfull grinders. Wacker and Revisor. If you order a full hollow razor here, you will get one and not an axe with an absolute perfect gold etching "full hollow ground".
Regards Peter

Peter, I’ve always thought that if we could go back in time to the great days of Filarmonica, Sistrum, Dreifus, Peres, Heljestrand, and many other great hollow grind makers, and look into their shops, we would find someone that looked like our grandmother, with Coke bottle glasses, smoking unfiltered cigarettes and knocking out Filarmonicas, Bartmanns, Dorkos, and Heljestrands one after another for 40 years until she retired!

I have a reason for saying this. I used to rebuild Harley Davidson engines in a past life, and they had a peculiar two-part flywheel that served as the crankshaft, and it required that both halves be trued to each other. It took me and my friends 30 minutes at best and sometimes an hour or over to assemble one of these motorcycle crankshafts. Well we went on a tour of the Harley Davidson factory, and saw, yes, your mother, trueing these assemblies on the factory production line. She had a copper hammer, a truing stand, and a wrench. ‘Whack, whack, a pull on the wrench, and she did in one minute what took us 60x as long to do. That’s because that’s all she did every day and she was so much better at it than we were it wasn’t even funny.

Practice makes perfect.