Thread: What are decent Solingen razors

In my last antique store shopping for "honing practice" razors, there were a lot of razors that were stamped solingen on one side and a maker on the other. In that trip i did buy a W&B "special" for 45 dollars, with a slight smile, I did hone it up and it is very nice. The Sheffield steel was hard to hone all togethor i put about 10 hours into it and i am happy with the result, shaves nice. I ask about Solingens becuase i want to go back and buy some, my DE buddy wants to make the plunge to straight shaving. Any makers to esp look for, obviously Dovo sticks out, but what are other quality shavers that are made from solingen?

There are very few manufacturers still in existence. Henckels are another famous make, but apart from them, any vintage blade will be good steel. It's just whether you can restore it.

Best bet would be to check out the wiki/FAQ for the recommended brands and the list of brands to completely avoid. But in general most of us agree that almost any Solingen made razor is a good buy.

The real question would be "Can you name a vintage Solingen razor that is NOT at least decent?" Anything from Solingen is a good bet.

If the Special was hard to hone, it's not because of the steel - Specials are full hollow and are not overly hard steel by any means. Maybe the smile made things tricky or maybe she was just very dull to start with. But that's what practice and learning are all about.

6/8 full hollow Solingen razors may be my very favorite razors. Take a gander in the Razor Club section "Sophisticated Solingens" and if you spot pretty much any of those out in the wild below $25 nab them. (in acceptable condition of course)

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

The real question would be "Can you name a vintage Solingen razor that is NOT at least decent?" Anything from Solingen is a good bet.

If the Special was hard to hone, it's not because of the steel - Specials are full hollow and are not overly hard steel by any means. Maybe the smile made things tricky or maybe she was just very dull to start with. But that's what practice and learning are all about.

good deal then. on the special, the smile was tricky but i used the rolling x and got it pretty sharp. still learning though. ok then these posts are making ti pretty clear, you cant go wrong with solingen.