Thread: Chinese Double Arrow

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

I really like mine, I had to put a bit of CS in the bottom of the scales to keep them together and it got uneven hone wear on the spine when i honed it up but other than that is a nice razor with cheap scales...It shaved pretty well too. 13 bucks shipped is worth it for some one new or looking for an inexpensive razor.

you could make a real cheap 7 day set if you wanted, just put new scales on them and your good...

I have a tentative translation for the characters inside the scales from someone who has been studying Chinese for a year or two (not a native speaker or reader). He says they mean something like "gold yuan" or "gold coin". So they don't say "double arrow" after all.

I'll try to paste the characters here, but I don't know if they will make it through the post editor:
金元
If anyone else here reads Chinese, can you confirm this translation?

Edit: After I posted this, I realized that my translator said the words in Mandarin are "jin yuan." Now I suspect this might be a transliteration of "Genuine". So these should probably be referred to as the "Genuine" Chinese razor.

I got one of these from stamps222 last week. I was impressed with the quality of the razor vs the cost for sure. It's reasonably sharp*, and carries a larger blade which I've been interested in trying out. As others have mentioned, the scales are probably the worst part of the razor. Someone could make a nice business out of buying these up and re-scaling them.

I've yet to shave with it, but I don't think I would call it junk by any means. For the price, I could easily buy 5 of them and throw away all but the best one of the bunch.


* I'm not new to honing in general, but I can honestly say I'm no expert at straight razors either. Personally, I don't think it would give a bad shave as-is even if there's some room for improvement on the hone. Then again, maybe I got a good one...

I bought two DAs from Wojtec a while back, last year, I think. Both had misaligned scales, which I replaced. The blades are very good. About two months ago I bought two more, this time from stamps222. To my surprise, these scales were good enough aligned to keep them. Yes, the pins were a bit long and rough, but that could be fixed in just a few minutes. I didn't need more than 15-20 minutes of honing for any of those four DAs, and I'm certainly no honemeister, not by a long shot! All of them are now part of my weekly rotation, along with my three Wackers. Everything else in my razor box, Wapis, W&B, Torrey, Puma, is just decoration. My RAD is cured, I guess. The Wackers and DAs I already own are all the razors I'll ever need for the rest of my life. The shave quality of both is pretty much on the same level, - excellent!

Originally Posted by BurnBeGone

I have a tentative translation for the characters inside the scales from someone who has been studying Chinese for a year or two (not a native speaker or reader). He says they mean something like "gold yuan" or "gold coin". So they don't say "double arrow" after all.

I'll try to paste the characters here, but I don't know if they will make it through the post editor:
金元
If anyone else here reads Chinese, can you confirm this translation?

Edit: After I posted this, I realized that my translator said the words in Mandarin are "jin yuan." Now I suspect this might be a transliteration of "Genuine". So these should probably be referred to as the "Genuine" Chinese razor.

Double Arrow = Gold Coin = Gold Dollar?
Seems clear to me.

FYI...Stamps222 has more of these for sale on ebay.
Just bought 2 myself. Will let ya know when they arrive.

I own one of these from Stamps. I love it . It gives a better shave then the much more expensive brand names that I own and I own quite a few brand name razors. Did I get a fluke razor from him? "maybe". I would buy another if this one was lost. Honing is a breeze also.