Thread: What is this and what the heck is it for?

I tried searching around for my own answer but it is hard to find something when you don't have a clue what you are looking for! It almost looks like the predecessor to the modern electric clippers.

Pretty sure it's a comb...

May have been used for thinning out hair?


My hair thinned out all by itself, however......

that's the razor from that popeye documentary.

It's called a Zebra razor. They were popular back in the day. They died out after people realised how difficult they were to hone.

James.

How would they work? Are there essentially two cutting planes. What I mean is are the end of the tines sharp as well as the valleys between them and the razor would cut high and low at the same time on different parts of the face? Doesn't seem to make much sense to me, but then again I didn't even know what the damn thing was called. :-) I wonder if it's purpose was to relieve some sort of pressure while shaving a thick beard (goes to Seraphim's comment...sort of)?

Were these beasts made for cutting hair (scalp hair)?

They used to make slip-on slotted guards to cover straights with so that you could cut your hair with them, then take the slotted bit off and shave your face.

The Durham Duplex was a similar idea - a haircutter and a razor.

I remember a similar thing in the 70s - a holder for a razor blabe, with tines, which claimed it made it as easy to cut your hair as just combing it.

I dont think the tines would be sharp - I hate to think of the state of a persons head if they were! The object in the picture probably worked the same way as a leather-beveler does - the cutting edge meets the opposite end to form the bevel, then you just hone one side to restore the bevel, leaving the tines flat.

Regards,
Neil

I have one of those , and it's made by Dovo . Got it off ebay cheap . I believe they are used by hairdressers to thin hair . It's not hollow ground but it does have a bevel on both sides of the blade .

Originally Posted by dave5225

I have one of those , and it's made by Dovo . Got it off ebay cheap . I believe they are used by hairdressers to thin hair . It's not hollow ground but it does have a bevel on both sides of the blade .

And here for your viewing enjoyment are the pics !