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Thread: A hollow apology
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08-04-2008, 03:23 PM #1
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- Feb 2008
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Thanked: 735A hollow apology
My first two razors were full hollow Henckels Friodurs. I liked them, but then after trying a couple of other razors (Dovo Renaissance, vintage LeGrelot) I sold them, as they seemed to give a harsher shave on my face than the new razors.
I chalked it up to the new razors having a stiffer grind. The Renaissance is a hollow, but not as hollow as the Friodurs, and the blade is quite stiff. The vintage LeGrelot is maybe a 3/4 grind.
I then proceeded on to get a 1/4 grind LeGrelot, and restored a W&B wedge, and all was well in the shave den. Actually, the W&B wedge is my smoothest shaver, really very, very nice, and seeming to confirm my notion that a heavier grind is the way to go to shaving nirvana.
I recently spent a week in Osaka on business and brought the stainless Renaissance with me. It had been a couple of weeks since I had used it (1/4 grind LeGrelot and W&B wedge had been the previous two weeks rotation). I realized that it did indeed shave quite differently than my heavier grind razors, yet I still really enjoyed the shave, and felt that I needed to use a lighter touch when using it. This got me to re-think my stance on heavier versus lighter grinds...
I just recieved a full hollow Otto Busch Worldmaster on Friday. Nice razor. What I'm finding is that it makes me have to use a light touch. The wedgey blades I can push all around my face without much thought and they give a nice shave, they just plow on through like a tank.Nothing wrong with that actually!
With the full hollow if I bear down too much it starts to feel harsh, so I have to back off a bit. And the audio feedback is more with the full hollow as well, a much louder shave. If the angle is getting too steep the tone changes, and you can adjust to it.
It's like the scene in the old Kung Fu TV show, where Kwai Chang has to walk lightly across the rice paper so that it does not tear.
YouTube - Kung Fu - Rice Paper Walk
Anyhow. I think that now I am coming around to realize that the issue wasn't that full hollows didn't shave me as well as heavier grinds. What was going on was that I couldn't shave as well with a full hollow as I could with a heavier grind. I now feel that a full hollow makes me have to be a better shaver.
My apologies to full hollow razors everywhere!
The happy ending to this story is that there are now that many more razors on my radar screen for aquisition now!
Seraphim
"Grasshopper"