Thread: Razor for heavy beard

Price is subjective. What Seraphim is saying is that the old wedges from Sheffield are known for being taking great edges and being smooth shavers. Plus it is a wedge, and heavier blades tend to be easier to shave with; they don't require too much finesse. Since the grind is thicker, the razor won't flex, and there is more material in the bevel, so the edge will deform less as you shave.

A good way to think of how the blades shave is: Wedges are like classic muscle cars, full hollows are like... high power rear wheel drive sports cars without traction control. I guess a half hollow would be a roadster and a quarter hollow would be a cruiser. (I'm assuming you know cars, based on the avatar.)

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Price is subjective. What Seraphim is saying is that the old wedges from Sheffield are known for being taking great edges and being smooth shavers. Plus it is a wedge, and heavier blades tend to be easier to shave with; they don't require too much finesse. Since the grind is thicker, the razor won't flex, and there is more material in the bevel, so the edge will deform less as you shave.

A good way to think of how the blades shave is: Wedges are like classic muscle cars, full hollows are like... high power rear wheel drive sports cars without traction control. I guess a half hollow would be a roadster and a quarter hollow would be a cruiser. (I'm assuming you know cars, based on the avatar.)

A high powered rear wheel drive sports car with no traction control, would very accurately describe a 60's era or 70's era muscle car.
you talking like a Lamborghini or Ferrari, vs Muscle car.
And subjective or not, what is your opinion?

This question is related so its not really a hijack. I though that straight razors are the only shaving instrument that can shave off a heavy beard? I can't imagine attacking a beard with an electric or cartridge blade, I imagine one of my super speeds would get jammed if I used one of them to sahve off a heavy beard.

Originally Posted by jbcohen

This question is related so its not really a hijack. I though that straight razors are the only shaving instrument that can shave off a heavy beard? I can't imagine attacking a beard with an electric or cartridge blade, I imagine one of my super speeds would get jammed if I used one of them to sahve off a heavy beard.

I try to shave more often, but when I shaved once before on monday and once before going out friday, I'd bust out the clippers then hit it with my disposable.

For a heavy beard, you need three things.

A sharp razor but this applies to any razor
A razor with a bit of weight in the spine to keep the blade steady as it mows through the heavy beard
A razor with a bit of width to stop you washing the blade too often. Wider blades hold more shavings and soap.

I would suggest a full hollow 7/8" or a half hollow 6/8".

Blades less than 6/8" tend to be too light. But there are always exceptions.

Originally Posted by stdreb27

A high powered rear wheel drive sports car with no traction control, would very accurately describe a 60's era or 70's era muscle car.
you talking like a Lamborghini or Ferrari, vs Muscle car.
And subjective or not, what is your opinion?

Nope.

Sheffield wedges are like this:


The snow is your whiskers, the DPW truck is a beefy wedge, plowing through anything. And you are the guy comfy warm and sipping coffee in the cab....

$110 for what looks like a decent retored wedge, with handmade scales? Seems reasonable to me.


Holli will be translating any of my future posts, he understands where I'm coming from...

Originally Posted by Seraphim

Nope.

The snow is your whiskers, the DPW truck is a beefy wedge, plowing through anything. And you are the guy comfy warm and sipping coffee in the cab....

$110 for what looks like a decent retored wedge, with handmade scales? Seems reasonable to me.


Holli will be translating any of my future posts, he understands where I'm coming from...

How would the shave differ from C-Mon Cadillac Straight Razor

The C-Mon is a full hollow. A really sharp full hollow can give an excellent shave, but requires a skilled hand to get the best results. The blade edge is so thin it distorts, which can be good for following the contours of your skin, but can be bad as it also can deflect when meeting up with unruly whiskers. That's what I have found anyhow.

I used to have a strong dislike for full hollows, now I really like them alot. Heavy grinds are more forgiving of technique and sharpness, I still love them too!

A well liked new razor that has a fairly thick 1/2 hollow grind (a nice place to start...) is the Thiers Issard "Special Couffier", also named the "Super Gnome" at some vendors. There's a nice review of the Special Couffier over at Badger & Blade.

I've been pondering picking up one of these for some time now. So many razors, so little cash....

Originally Posted by Seraphim

The C-Mon is a full hollow. A really sharp full hollow can give an excellent shave, but requires a skilled hand to get the best results. The blade edge is so thin it distorts, which can be good for following the contours of your skin, but can be bad as it also can deflect when meeting up with unruly whiskers. That's what I have found anyhow.

I used to have a strong dislike for full hollows, now I really like them alot. Heavy grinds are more forgiving of technique and sharpness, I still love them too!

A well liked new razor that has a fairly thick 1/2 hollow grind (a nice place to start...) is the Thiers Issard "Special Couffier", also named the "Super Gnome" at some vendors. There's a nice review of the Special Couffier over at Badger & Blade.

I've been pondering picking up one of these for some time now. So many razors, so little cash....

What I've noticed with the couple times I've shaved with this blade, is that by the end of the second side, I feel a significant difference from the start to finish of the shave. (now I have a strop on the way, so I haven't covered all my bases)

I'd suggest a wedge or quarter hollow 6/8 blade. I have a really thick, heavy beard, and I have found that the use of shave oil greatly helps whatever blade I use soften up my whiskers. So much has this helped, that I've been able to reduce my shaves to a 2 pass shave instead of the 3 pass.