Thread: Barbers notch Why?

I don't subscribe to the theory that it was for opening the razor one-handed. Why couldn't the tail be used, if you absolutely had to hold something so resolutely with the other hand that you could't even bring yourself to put it down to open the razor?

I think that a more likely explanation is that it helped shave up close to and around things like ears, nostrils, etc.

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

I don't subscribe to the theory that it was for opening the razor one-handed. Why couldn't the tail be used, if you absolutely had to hold something so resolutely with the other hand that you could't even bring yourself to put it down to open the razor?

I think that a more likely explanation is that it helped shave up close to and around things like ears, nostrils, etc.

How, exactly, does it help to do that?



I've heard that explanation before, but looking at teh geometry of a barber's notch, i cannot see how it would in any way facilitate any of these manuevers...


The baber's notch is an enigma, unexplainable, a mystery, a myth....

Neil, I think you're absolutley right. I can see the notch being particularly useful as a handy dandy depth gauge when the razor is spun around in a nostril for removing those vexacious nose hairs.

Originally Posted by Seraphim

How, exactly, does it help to do that?



I've heard that explanation before, but looking at teh geometry of a barber's notch, i cannot see how it would in any way facilitate any of these manuevers...


The baber's notch is an enigma, unexplainable, a mystery, a myth....

Exactly right, it's a corundum.

Originally Posted by Seraphim

How, exactly, does it help to do that?



I've heard that explanation before, but looking at teh geometry of a barber's notch, i cannot see how it would in any way facilitate any of these manuevers...


The baber's notch is an enigma, unexplainable, a mystery, a myth....

Well, it is hollow pointed, so it wouldn't overhang the point like, say, a round point would. It would get closer than a square point. But it wouldn't score over the closeness and precision of an oblique point.

I agree, its a conundrum, but the nostril/ear explanation is as likely (more likely IMHO) than the opening one-handed myth.

Perhaps it would be instructive to know when the term "barbers notch" was first used. I'm pretty sure that "hollow point" was used in Sheffield instead of or before "barbers notch" - maybe barbers just preferred the hollow point, so it became named for this reason and the other explanations just grew up around it as time went on? I don't know. I don't think anyone does.

Maybe its function is completely aesthetic. At some point, someone liked the way it looked and ran with it.

Well, I've always heard (and read) that it was to catch on the breast pocket of the barber's smock...although I hadn't considered it as a depth gauge or some sort of instrument to ease going around the nose and ears.

Bit of a quandry, but I always took it as easier to open, and less likely to cut someone with a sharp corner (like a square point).

Mark

Well, if you really must know... The barbers notch was created by the Masons in the 18th century. On a specific day of the year, the blade is held with the notch pointing straight up. Whether a shadow is cast upon the wall or not forecasts how many weeks of winter are left.

Oh... and the blade being easy to open hooked on the pocket or shaving around facial objects is good too.

Here's a link to the same discussion from 2007 on B&B:

Is there any function to the "Barber's notch?" - Badger & Blade

Here are some links to similarly definitive discussions on SRP:

Barber's Notch - Straight Razor Place Forums

Barbers notch why? - Straight Razor Place Forums

Barber Notch - Straight Razor Place Forums

Barber's notch: what's the point? - Straight Razor Place Forums

Barbers notch - Straight Razor Place Forums

Barbers notch - Straight Razor Place Forums

Barber's Notch - Straight Razor Place Forums

info on the barbers notch and other points - Straight Razor Place Forums

Barber's Notch? - Straight Razor Place Forums

What does a barber's notch do? - Straight Razor Place Forums