Thread: Chinese Double Arrow

I picked up 2 from stamps and was more than impressed with the performance compared to the price. Great starter razors by price point and not so expensive that the newbie honer has to feel worried about screwing up.
Mine needed just a minimum of honing and they perform admirably. The scales are cheapo but I dont shave with them and later on if I feel like rescaling I can make them look like a million bucks.

Originally Posted by GollyMrScience

I picked up 2 from stamps and was more than impressed with the performance compared to the price. Great starter razors by price point and not so expensive that the newbie honer has to feel worried about screwing up.
Mine needed just a minimum of honing and they perform admirably. The scales are cheapo but I dont shave with them and later on if I feel like rescaling I can make them look like a million bucks.

Last year somebody mentioned they were going to rescale seven of them to make a set. I recently honed a couple more of these and I am so impressed with them. I also agree that these are a very good razor with which to learn to hone. They will give good feedback to the novice honemeister.

I bought a couple from the Polish dude the other day and got them pretty quick. They arrived as a greasy mess, and the handles are utter crap. One of them actually fell off the blade.

This is not a big deal, I was actually buying them to rescale, but still :-P

Reasonably sharp from the get go, about as sharp as a new Dovo would be. After a couple minutes on a 1200 waterstone to set the bevel right, then regular pyramids, some work on a swaty, and a couple swipes on the strop, this thing is sharp!

Just sharpened it last night, so I haven't gotten a chance to shave with it yet, but from how it handled the gamut of tests I put my razors through, this thing sharpened up as well as a Dovo, but with WAY LESS EFFORT. I had this thing ready to shave in under 20 minutes, very minimal work on my part.

This is my first straight razor. I bought it on eBay from stamps222, and I just started using it after getting Kenrup to hone it for me. He was able to put a very good edge on it. I have nothing to compare it to, but I'm very pleased. Considering the price I paid on eBay, this razor is an insane bargain. The only negative thing I'd have to say is that the scales are bad. When I received the razor they were horribly misaligned. The edge didn't contact the scales, but it was still darn ugly. I will eventually get them rescaled, but it works for now.

All in all, if this is the only razor I ever own, I wouldn't regret it.

I have one Double Arrow razor and it's been very difficult to hone. At $13 shipped it's not an expensive gamble but I'll stick to the Wapis.

it's peculiar to me that some people report poor quality of the blade on the double arrow while kenrup has been using them for his starter sets, purchasing them at different times, and reports no problems with any of them. i understand that quality control could be an issue, but were that the problem, i would expect kenrup to have eventually stumbled on to a bad razor.

ken, care to weigh in on this? could your honing process/skill explain your successes with this razor?

Originally Posted by ragamuffin74

it's peculiar to me that some people report poor quality of the blade on the double arrow while kenrup has been using them for his starter sets, purchasing them at different times, and reports no problems with any of them. i understand that quality control could be an issue, but were that the problem, i would expect kenrup to have eventually stumbled on to a bad razor.

ken, care to weigh in on this? could your honing process/skill explain your successes with this razor?

I've not had a bad blade yet. However, the quality control is pretty poor for these razors. Lately, I have had to repin all of them to get the scales to align. The original pins have been cut to long and not finished. Every pin has been bent. The steel is very good. Under a microscope, they look better then some of the new German razors ($60-$70 range) that I'm getting from clients to hone. Before I resell them, I have repined, smoothed out the scale edges and honed them. I would venture to say I'm close to or at the 100 mark for dealing with these razors. I firmly believe that these are a better razor to learn to str8 shave then a taking a chance on an eBay junker or flea market special.

I believe the confusion comes from the black handled Chinese razor that actually has crossed arrows stamped on the tang. These are junk, they also cost more.

Originally Posted by Kenrup

I believe the confusion comes from the black handled Chinese razor that actually has crossed arrows stamped on the tang. These are junk, they also cost more.

Interesting. Which is the real Double Arrow?

Just got mine in the mail today from Stamps222 (Marek). One scale is bent and actually looks a little longer than the other, but the razor closes fine and the scales are tight so I don't mind. (Wasn't celluloid was the "cheap plastic" of its day before "cheap plastic" was invented?) It's actually sharper than I expected, though definitely not shave-ready (had trouble getting hairs off my arm with it). The blade is actually a bit over 6/8 (like 25/32) from spine to edge.

The razor has no markings on the blade or tang, as others have mentioned. Funny we call these "Double Arrow" even though there isn't one! How do we know that's what they actually are? As someone else mentioned there are two Chinese characters inside each of the scales -- the only marks on it anywhere -- I will see if I can find someone who can translate them. I hope it doesn't say, "Crummy, cheap razor to export to Americans who don't know any better"!

I bought one from Stamps. Got it in the mail day before yesterday. It honed up very easily, and gave me a great shave! It has a nice feel to it.


Yes, I replaced the scales. They're pretty bad.

Good price, and an excellent razor for that price. $13.00 shipped

Steve