Thread: shoulder design

there are razors with shoulderless designs and those with stabilisation pieces. Is there a benefit to one over the other, or it is personal preference and aesthetics?

Personally, I prefer the shoulderless designs because it seems easier to strop the heel cleanly.

OK, I will step in here...I think the shoulder-less designs are the sexiest by far of the razors I have seen. The lines are spectacular IMHO, I just think they look classy and sleek - now that being said, I think that at some point, when making razors became more of an automated business, the easiest way to grind these things was between to round moving stones and the blanks would be placed just so far in between these things and ground into a hollow, hence the shoulder. If the blades were ground one side at a time on an open stone set up, you could work the tang back and achieve the shoulder-less design, but not with the automated set-up? Of course I could be out of my mind too.

I have several of bother designs, and in my experience, the blades without the shoulders tend to be a little heavier with less hollow - SO, it might follow that with the real deep hollows, they wanted a "stabilizer" to keep the blade from snapping from intense holly-wood style stropping pressure...but that too is speculation, and just my ignorant 2c.

K

OH, and +1 to Steve - I have more shoulders leaving marks in my strops, don't care for that all.

Originally Posted by Kriton

OK, I will step in here...I think the shoulder-less designs are the sexiest by far of the razors I have seen. The lines are spectacular IMHO, I just think they look classy and sleek

I wholeheartedly agree! oh boy are they ever sexy!

I haven't had problems with shoulders leaving marks on my strops (that i've noticed).

I also think the shoulderless design allows some clearance when honing making it easier to hone the heel. i guess the same would apply to stropping.

Shoulderless is my personal preference, so i was simply wondering if there is some benefit to stabilization pieces

Most blades don't need "stabilization pieces". I suspect most of the "stabilization" pieces were the result of multiple step grinding by different grinders at different work stations while the shoulderless design required the experienced grinders to work the blade from start to finish.

On extremely thin extra extra hollow ground razors, it would provide some stiffening at the heel, but I've "fixed" a few of those with chips in the heel by taking off a small section and the blades still shave like champs, so I don't know that it has any significant advantage and consider it more a style option.

I prefer the clean shoulderless grinds and that's what I do mostly. Grinds with stepped shoulders lend themselves very well to manufacturing with jigs while shoulderless designs require careful grinding through the shoulder fade out. Still, I think the shoulderless designs are not only sleeker but do, in fact provide advantages while honing. They're my personal favorites.