Thread: W&B's Edges Are Weak (IMHO, of course)

I've owned 3 Wade & Butcher blades of various grinds and I've been SR shaving going on 6 months. I'm able to get great shaves every time I shave, and while I'm by no means among the experts here, I do believe I'm seasoned enough to make these sorts of observations.

If I could make one observation about the edges of a region/brand, it's that the W&B sheffield steel loses its edge faster than any other brand in my arsenal, to the point where (if you don't know how to hone, which is my case) it's almost not worth having them because of the cost of maintenance on them (both monetarily and in terms of time spent).

On the other hand, my German/Solingen steel holds edges phenomenally. My very first razor, a Robert Klaas 11/16, has never been re-honed in 6 months and I still use it weekly. The edge is still so scary sharp that I can get a way with a 1-pass shave in the morning when I'm in a rush.

I have also been going to my Filarmonica about every 3rd shave, and after about 6-7 weeks that thing is still holding up like a champ.

So, I don't want this to seem like a gripe session (though I guess it probably does), these are the observations of yours truly, and they are expressly the reason why I find myself staying away from the W&B's. \


Now, which way to the gallows?


EDIT: I don't doubt that people get great shaves from W&B's. When I first got each of mine, the first few shaves were phenomenal. The purpose of this post is not to slight W&B quality, just that the steel (as previously documented) seems to be a little soft, and therefore requires more maintenance.

Originally Posted by Oglethorpe

I've owned 3 Wade & Butcher blades of various grinds and I've been SR shaving going on 6 months. I'm able to get great shaves every time I shave, and while I'm by no means among the experts here, I do believe I'm seasoned enough to make these sorts of observations.

If I could make one observation about the edges of a region/brand, it's that the W&B sheffield steel loses its edge faster than any other brand in my arsenal, to the point where (if you don't know how to hone, which is my case) it's almost not worth having them because of the cost of maintenance on them (both monetarily and in terms of time spent).

On the other hand, my German/Solingen steel holds edges phenomenally. My very first razor, a Robert Klaas 11/16, has never been re-honed in 6 months and I still use it weekly. The edge is still so scary sharp that I can get a way with a 1-pass shave in the morning when I'm in a rush.

I have also been going to my Filarmonica about every 3rd shave, and after about 6-7 weeks that thing is still holding up like a champ.

So, I don't want this to seem like a gripe session (though I guess it probably does), these are the observations of yours truly, and they are expressly the reason why I find myself staying away from the W&B's. \


Now, which way to the gallows?


EDIT: I don't doubt that people get great shaves from W&B's. When I first got each of mine, the first few shaves were phenomenal. The purpose of this post is not to slight W&B quality, just that the steel (as previously documented) seems to be a little soft, and therefore requires more maintenance.

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Oglethorpe, you ignorant slut!

While I can't argue with what you have experienced, seeing as that is what you indeed have experienced. But my W&B (wedge FWIW) has an edge that keeps on going and going, smooth and close for months and months. The only reason I eventually needed to re-hone it, is that I took it out back to the shop to modify it, etc.

Are your W&Bs wedges, full hollows, or what?

I hate the old W&B wedges. They're usually uninteresting and they all have warped spines. There are probably a few good ones out there out of the hundreds of thousands (oh, so rare - and millions of the hollow ground. tell ebay please) that were forged, but I haven't had any myself

I have a few W&B's and the ones I'm not touching up regularly are the big "For Barber use " razors. The other one seems to start pulling sooner than the rest. I have one G.W. & sons that acts the same way but two that don't. Age, wear, I don't know maybe one day I'll grow up enough to figure it out.



300 Posts.....Perfect.

IME they are a PITA to hone and somewhat challenging .... to me anyway... but I like them. There is something about shaving with a razor that is 200 years old that is just cool.

As far as longevity of the edge... one of the problems with having so many razors that you're always in rotation is that you have a hard time remembering which you shaved with and how many shaves. So far I know I've gotten a few shaves out of a couple with no degrading of sharpness that I perceive.

If I have any complaints about them it is the toughness of the steel and how long it takes to get them to shave ready. That is for Sheffield wedges in general AFAIC.

From my experiences, Sheffield steel tends to be softer than German steel (with the exception of FR's which I loathe), so that might have something to do with how they hold an edge. It could also be technique - is it possible that your wedge technique is different from your full hollow technique (just a question - I think I am often a bit less careful when shaving with wedges because they tend to be more forgiving)? Small changes to your technique can affect how long the edge holds.

It could also be a question of the honing. The way that one steel reacts to a certain honing progression can be different from how another steel reacts. For example, I know that a lot of guys finish on different hones based on what razor they are honing because different steels seem to "prefer" different hones.

Maybe they are "bad" W&B's? Maybe they were not up to snuff on production or were in some way mistreated such that they won't hold an edge as well.

And of course, it is entirley possible that none of the above is true and it is simply a case of W&B's not holding their edges as well as other blades (exactly as you described it).

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

IME they are a PITA to hone and somewhat challenging

True! It took two days (!!!!) for my last W&B to get it shave ready. But it shaved quite weakly, so I gave it to a friend of mine, who rescaled and honed it for me. The first and only razor, I could not sharpen to my complete satisfaction. It was a "Celebrated Hollow Ground", btw.

I have two W&B wedges in very good shape. Very hard to hone. I find when honed right they really give a lovely shave, but I do also find they degrade faster than my solingen razors. Then again, that may be my honing. But I do love the coolness factor that some dude might have been using it before the American Civil War broke out. I mean how cool is that.

But after a year and half of this, I'm definitely a solingen razor slut. Just love them.

I had one W&B and hated it. As mentioned the edges were weak and after a couple of passes It started to pull.

I can't address the life of the edge for W&B or any other razor I have due to the size of my rotation. If I shaved with every razor 90 times (three months worth) it would take me almost 62 yrs to complete. I can however address the metal and honing of these blades. In most cases I find that the W&B steel and other Sheffield blades have a less hard metal than the Solingen, Swedish and American blades. The way I determine this is by how fast my Norton 8k hone loads up with metal that doesn't rub off the hone. I do have a softer 8k hone that works well with these softer blades and finish them on an Escher. I haven't had any problems honing W&B straights except for one. I can get an edge quickly and it passes my progress test but shaved rather rough. This is a rare occurrence. If you understand the heat treating process you can understand how there will be variances in the hardness of the steel. With the number of razors manufactured it is highly probable that blades were released that were out of the hardness tolerance for W&B. I took the blade in question and honed it as if the metal were harder and it worked out well.

When honing any blade remember that when your hone loads up you are rubbing metal on metal. This will generate local heat and stress that can result in microchipping. Another thing to consider is to what degree of sharp are you bring your edges to and is the entire length of the edge to that degree of sharpness w/o developing a wire edge? The closer you can get your edge to the perfect sharpness using minimal pressure w/o a wire edge developing and on a hone with little metal buildup on it the longer your edge will last with proper stropping and shaving technique.

Due to the extremely fine edge on these razors everything has an effect on the edge quality.