Different kinds of Friodurs

I have a vintage friodur 5/8s with caramel plastic scales that had the twins logo and the word friodur on them, and it that came in a very old and ratty yellow friodur box with green lettering. It's a wonderful basic razor and I'm trying to figure out where it fits in the friodur universe so I can get it a sibling, but don't want to accidentally buy something very different.

So there are these old friodurs with caramel scales with twins and "friodur" and often yellow boxes.

I've also seen friodurs with that kind of scale [old style caramel with twins and the word friodur] in much newer looking red friodur boxes. Are those just more recent vintage models, or is henckels making these new again?

And I've seen a couple with interesting yellow/back checkerboard designs on the blade, but still with the vintage caramel scales with twins/friodur on them.

And then there are the innumerable monster NOS Friodur 7/8, 8/8 with decorated spines and dramatic points, which always seem to come in custom scales or mismatched non-henckels scales from other German makers. Are these really friodur blades, are they friodur blanks redone by Herr Wacker or someone like him, and why are they so much bigger than what appear to be the vintage ones?

Cat man, I too have a 11/16 vintage Friodur I think we discussed this in the past...

I swear that it is a totally different steel then the 7/8 and 8/8 razors that I am getting in to customize / hone...

In the past I always just told myself it was because of the size difference that I like the smaller razor better, but I am convinced now that the older Friodurs are a smoother feeling steel...
In fact the process I go through honing them is different just to get the bigger ones to feel smooth too...

That my story and I am sticking to it :confused:

thanks that's helpful. I've never thought it made sense that there didn't appear to be any vintage used 8/8 scalloped back etc etc friodurs, just 5/8s or so ones, and yet there seems to be an endless supply of the monster friodur blades all of a sudden.

Makes me scratch my head.

Are the model number Friodurs a part of what you are asking? I have a 50 1/2 shoulderless round point 5/8 with 2 pins with the twins/Friodur on scales. Also a 451 spike 11/16 that is a 3 pin plain scales razor. My 7/8 is the Spanish point fancy spine like everyone has.
Rick

+1 on the 451 I have one of these and its super smooth. Aparently its not a easy one to find I have seen only 1 on ebay this year a SRP member got it. Mine has plain jane 2 pin scales and says Friodur "no stain" and also has 2 sets of twins one set on each side of the Friodur logo.

I find my scalloped 7/8 to be pretty smooth. As smooth as the 5/8 50 1/2. I give the big one 3 layers of tape & the 5/8 2 layers when honing. That seems to keep any harshness at bay.
I read somewhere that the scalloped blades were found as blanks. They may have been intended to be ground down, or maybe Henckels just weren't happy with the quality at the time & abandoned them?

3 of those "NOS" 7/8 scalloped back Friodurs have passed through my hands. (I own one myself) They are among the best shavers I've ever used.
But I'm still as skeptic as ever about their whereabouts. Here's a recent thread where I posted about my skepsis about the origin of these razors: http://straightrazorpalace.com/aucti...es-more-2.html

I agree with Glen, not that they are less smooth, but that they sure seem to have other steel than the old Friodurs that came to me from more individual sources.

Bart.

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Originally Posted by loueedacat

I have a vintage friodur 5/8s with caramel plastic scales that had the twins logo and the word friodur on them, and it that came in a very old and ratty yellow friodur box with green lettering. It's a wonderful basic razor and I'm trying to figure out where it fits in the friodur universe so I can get it a sibling, but don't want to accidentally buy something very different.

So there are these old friodurs with caramel scales with twins and "friodur" and often yellow boxes.

I've also seen friodurs with that kind of scale [old style caramel with twins and the word friodur] in much newer looking red friodur boxes. Are those just more recent vintage models, or is henckels making these new again?

And I've seen a couple with interesting yellow/back checkerboard designs on the blade, but still with the vintage caramel scales with twins/friodur on them.

And then there are the innumerable monster NOS Friodur 7/8, 8/8 with decorated spines and dramatic points, which always seem to come in custom scales or mismatched non-henckels scales from other German makers. Are these really friodur blades, are they friodur blanks redone by Herr Wacker or someone like him, and why are they so much bigger than what appear to be the vintage ones?

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They are absolutely original Henckels Friodur blades (440C cryo hardened stainless). The grinder not only does the basic grinding but jazzes them up for the modern market. It is unfortunate but they won't be available very much longer. The NOS blanks that the grinder purchased are gone or very close to gone. I have never received a straight answer but I believe the grinder works for DOVO and does this in his spare time. Compare his scalloped back grinding to a Dovo Bergischer Lowe.

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Originally Posted by ben.mid

I find my scalloped 7/8 to be pretty smooth. As smooth as the 5/8 50 1/2. I give the big one 3 layers of tape & the 5/8 2 layers when honing. That seems to keep any harshness at bay.
I read somewhere that the scalloped blades were found as blanks. They may have been intended to be ground down, or maybe Henckels just weren't happy with the quality at the time & abandoned them?

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Until the past few years the 7/8 and 8/8 razors never sold. To this day the Europeans are convinced that 5/8 is actually the "standard" size and 6/8 is huge. TI got smart and decided to make 7/8 blades a few years back and have done well with them. Dovo refuses and I believe it is their loss. The really big blades were for a nitch market even back then;however, when Henckels decided to abandon the straight razor market they still had a good sized stock of the large blades and low and behold American's decided we like them. After all we are unsophisticated gun loving cowboys who like BIG sharp things!

You should never tape the spine. You are working against the basic geometry of the blade. Eventually the bevel witll thicken. Your problem probably is that you don't need it as sharp as you think you do. Sharp for one person may or may not be sharp enough for the next.

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Originally Posted by Bart

3 of those "NOS" 7/8 scalloped back Friodurs have passed through my hands. (I own one myself) They are among the best shavers I've ever used.
But I'm still as skeptic as ever about their whereabouts. Here's a recent thread where I posted about my skepsis about the origin of these razors: http://straightrazorpalace.com/aucti...es-more-2.html

I agree with Glen, not that they are less smooth, but that they sure seem to have other steel than the old Friodurs that came to me from more individual sources.

Bart.

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They are the same 440C that they have always been made of. I was told by one of the people at Dovo that they have purchaced their stainless blanks from the same foundry.

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Originally Posted by John Crowley

You should never tape the spine. You are working against the basic geometry of the blade. Eventually the bevel witll thicken. Your problem probably is that you don't need it as sharp as you think you do. Sharp for one person may or may not be sharp enough for the next.

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Thanks John. The problem i was having was that though i was getting a good edge, I was finding that it didn't hold so well. After a few shaves i was noticing that it was getting duller.
After reading this thread, http://straightrazorpalace.com/basic...e-friodur.html, I experimented with taping a little more.
I know that i'm altering the geometry slightly, but find i've now got a good sharp & durable edge. I wouldn't add that much to a 5/8, but find that the 7/8's are so wide it has less of an effect & mine has responded well.