Thread: Solingen Vs. Sheffield

I am curious about everyones experiences with Solingen vs. Sheffield razors.

I have a lot of each and of different producers. But I have found I get just slightly but noticeably better results with my Sheffields. I just honed up and used one called "The Blake" this morning and it was really nice. My main go to is an old Wade and Butcher that is very consistant.

I don't know if it is manufacturer related.

But does everybody find they are about the same or one a little better than the other. Or maybe they are all good and it's in my mind.

Thirty years ago I used to go into barber shops trying to get the old barbers to sell their razors to me. I used to pick their brains about razors and hones even then. To a man they preferred the Solingen full hollows but did add that Sheffields and some USA razors were good too. I have the same point of view. I like the Sheffields and the USA vintage razors but I get more consistently better results with Solingen made razors.

By better results I mean that I find they are, in general, easily honed to a shave ready edge and that they shave well and hold the edge. The Sheffields and some of the USA razors, Torrey for example, are more difficult to get shave ready IME. Once there they are fine too though. Just IMHO.

I'm of the school any quality razor is just that and when properly honed will give great shaves. Yes there are some razors that seem to be a tad special but that's an individual thing reflecting its fabrication not where it was made or the type of grind or size or metal used.

I have few razors from both Solingen and Sheffield. All shave ok. I do not think it is the origin that makes the difference, but rather a shape of the blade, and how many times i've shaved with that blade. It takes at least few shaves before i get familiar with fresh honed blade.
Sheffields are much harder to hone and it takes a lot more time before they get ready. But once they are done, they shave well.

I have both makes and I like them both. They are all good shavers once honed up, though I do agree that the Sheffields can be a little more fiddly to hone.

Originally Posted by Stubear

I have both makes and I like them both. They are all good shavers once honed up, though I do agree that the Sheffields can be a little more fiddly to hone.

Me too but with a slight (like the OP) preference towards Sheffields. Is it just my limited sample or does the difficulty of honing depend a bit on previous owners attempts?

Thanks for everyone's comments. I don't have as much honing experience as all of you, so I cannot comment on the difficulting to make shave ready. I was strictly going on shave quality. And by that, I also mean condition of my skin following the shave.

I also thought it might be individual razors as opposed to location of production or manufacturer. So back to rotating through the stock and taking notes.

David

Here are my thoughts, but I really want to emphasize that YMMV (that's why I put it in bold )

In terms of looks, I love the sheffield style. Big chunks of steel with wicked smiles and barber's notches. They seem to have a medieval elegance to them, and they give me great shaves. I love the variations and the aesthetics of those old sheffield blades.

On the other hand, the german (and most american vintage razors) generally seem pretty vanilla to me in terms of looks, but man -oh man do those blades perform! I would have to give solingen blades an advantage in terms of performance ----YMMV---- over sheffields. they seem to take wicked edges, and the full hollows get downright nasty sharp. After some time, I have come to agree with those who believe that they get the closest shaves (with the least work) from full hollows.

Now, I hate to add a wrinkle to your question, but if you pressed me on the issue I might say that I prefer swedish razors over both solingen AND sheffield razors And I have a few american razors that are on the tippy top of my list as well.

When I think of Sheffields, I think of wedges, some with a slight hollow, but generally quarter hollow, which is more wedge than not. There are exceptions and some are full hollows, but in my experience the majority of Sheffields are wedge type.

Solingen blades however, are mostly hollow ground towards the full type. Again there are exceptions, for example I have a 9/16 Schulze Stosse which is a quarter hollow, but most in my experience are full hollows.

So as a very broad suggestion to your very broad question, you are in a way comparing wedges to hollows, which I believe is part of one of the reasons as to why an earlier response agreed that some Sheffields are harder to hone.

Having owned many of both I personally think both are great, but there are few like for like comparisons in terms of grind and size. +1 on Solingen blades being more consistent in quality.

Joseph Rodgers are extremely high quality, and I find the shaves and workmanship to be very consistent. I love Wade and Butchers but can not agree their quality is as consistent.

By the way YMMV

I've been honing for a couple of years now and am still learning. When I shave with a razor I honed early on it has a different feel than my more recently honed razors. When I go back and 'touch up' the razor with some of my more current learnings it falls into my current acceptance zone and changes my perception of the razor. So, just because a razor is honed and can shave hair doesn't mean it is honed up to it fullest potential. Like I said, I'm still learning and probably will till the day I die or go senile.