Thread: What degree of hollowness are these?

Those are both full hollows. There is an easy way to see if a blade is double ground, which is the case for most full hollows. Hold the blade so that the face is reflecting a light source. Rotate the blade on its long axis so that the reflection moves from the spine to the edge.
If the blade is single ground and therefore has no belly, then the reflection will uniformly travel from the spine to the edge.
If the blade is double ground and has a belly, then as the light approaches the belly, the reflection will also appear at the edge and two light reflections will merge at the peak of the belly.

+1 they both look like full hollows, the first one looks to be a #105 Ice Temper blade SS... They can get Wicked Sharp ...

The second is a slightly older Dovo...


Both of these are great razors....

Originally Posted by gssixgun

+1 they both look like full hollows, the first one looks to be a #105 Ice Temper blade SS... They can get Wicked Sharp ...

The second is a slightly older Dovo...


Both of these are great razors....

100% correct Glen, the first one is SS Ice tempered.

The second one is the mystery to me, I can't find any info on it on the internet, or from Dovo's catalogue. Do you know anything about it?

Seems to be a singing blade, and I got it unused, for a real steal from a local shop that's had one in stock for quite a while.

Cheap white plastic scales though, but that can always be remedied one day!

Originally Posted by leadingedge

100% correct Glen, the first one is SS Ice tempered.

The second one is the mystery to me, I can't find any info on it on the internet, or from Dovo's catalogue. Do you know anything about it?

Seems to be a singing blade, and I got it unused, for a real steal from a local shop that's had one in stock for quite a while.

Cheap white plastic scales though, but that can always be remedied one day!

The only ones I have seen like that one are from the guys in EU I have had a few come over for Custom work and honing....
I know TI does different Goldwash for different distributors maybe Dovo did/does too?????

Try this it has some illustrations that may help. STRAZORS.com - all about classic razors - Construction and history

I call them both full hollow ground

as thin as those razors are, I would not call them half or quarter ground, and I am unfamiliar with any 3/4 hollow designation

Originally Posted by Rookie1

Try this it has some illustrations that may help. STRAZORS.com - all about classic razors - Construction and history

Thanks for this! The illustrations in the barber manual are different than those in the wiki. I can see how the razor in the first picture of the OP matches the full hollow in that manual. I am still at a loss, however, as to what the terms mean. In fact, I am more confused now than I was before. Yesterday I thought I had it figured out. Today I am sure I don't.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

+1 they both look like full hollows...

Glen, is that based entirely on just that they "look" like full hollows?

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

I call them both full hollow ground
as thin as those razors are, I would not call them half or quarter ground, and I am unfamiliar with any 3/4 hollow designation

When you refer to hollow are you looking solely at the thickness of the blade? If it tapers down to being very thin, and a uniform thickness at any point above the bevel it's full hollow?
The barber manual that Rookie posted a link to refers to a 3/4 hollow.

Is there a tangible way of measuring this? Where do the terms come from?

Originally Posted by gssixgun

The only ones I have seen like that one are from the guys in EU I have had a few come over for Custom work and honing....
I know TI does different Goldwash for different distributors maybe Dovo did/does too?????

Hmm, could be, I got this one here at home in Hong Kong, so it may be the same range as the ones you got from the EU. Even though it's new, the goldwash is pretty faded, so I guess it's been sitting in the shop for a while.

I assume that it is Carbon steel?

Eric:

The double shoulder cuts are my first clue...to full hollow, now as Ron pointed out we can't tell if it is farther than full hollow from these pics... also some of the 3/4 hollows can have double shoulders, but often I find those to be Shoulderless...

But that double shoulder is a huge hint that is is most likely Full at least, that combined with I have held razors like both of them in my hands and that they are Dovo's...IIRC that #105 might be an Bellied Blade it has been awhile since I have held one... Feel the blade from spine to edge gently, you can feel a bulge if it is, as it is hard to use the sight test on that one, because of the etch patteren...

There are very few absolute rules in this hobby, and that takes some getting used to, and causes a bit of frustration sometimes...

Originally Posted by HNSB

The barber manual that Rookie posted a link to refers to a 3/4 hollow.

How interesting, I had not seen that until you mentioned it and I went to take a look. I guess it could be a 3/4 hollow - I don't know

I like to distinguish the razor based on how it feels when I shave, and there seems to be a neatly close correlation between that and how hollow the blade has been ground. That's why I said a blade that thin I would call a full hollow. But lest I be like gugi the charlatan, I will stop short of saying it is officially and definitely a bona fide full hollow