Thread: Are Filarmonica razors really that great ?

While I have absolutely no doubts that they are great shavers, I'm glad that I think they look cheap and tacky. To me, they come off as almost toy-like in appearance. To me, they are just not worth the price tag, no matter how great the shave is. Obviously that is just my opinion and there are many out there who would be quick to disagree with me. It's all personal preference. If you like the way something looks and it's a reputable manufacturer and you're willing to pay the price for it...get it!

I like the old vintage Fillys and glad I got 4 before they went nuts on them. I've never tried one of the NOS examples. Vintage or NOS, they aren't worth the price they are bringing on ebay now unless you collect them IMHO. Not as shavers anyway.

anyone have a comment on the differences between a Jose M. Pou without the fili tang brand (maybe pre-filarmonica) and the branded? not the DT versions, but a Medallion Tauro or something like that..

They are very good, thats for sure, even though the scales are a bit tacky. But they are great shavers and take a wicked edge.

They feel very similar to Wackers in my opinion.

Although there are many shavers as good or even better than Filarmonicas out there, the difference is the availability, and the size...

Finding a 6/8+ size DD, C-Mon, or Boker, is as rare as Hen's teeth and don't even think you are blessed enough to even see a 6/8+ American...

As crazy as that sounds bigger blades have an intrinsic value, just because of "more steel", add the 7/8 and 8/8 size to a buttery smooth edge and you get stupid prices

Same thing happened with the big Sheffield blades...

So as the saying goes "size does matter", and it pushed the value of the brand higher just because of name recognition...


That is all JMHO take it for what it is worth, and yes I own Fili's but I haven't ever paid more than $105 for a #14 DT

I borrowed a Filarmonica 6/8, and shaved with it a few time. I'm glad I didn't buy one like it. First, I don't particularily like the 6/8 larger blades. And, I have razors that have cost me under 10 bucks that could shave rings around it.. my opinion, my face. I will say it was a very pretty blade. But, for shaving I thought I wouldn't like it as well and probably would not use it as much. Revisor makes quite a few 6/8 blades at their website.. .or did. They are exceptional things of beauty, but I would not go for them, even though I love Revisor, because of the larger size.

The cheapes razor I own, a Gold Bug made in Solingen Germany by A. Witte, that I bought for about 5.00 gives a bettr shave then the Filarmonica I had for a while. In all due respect, it was not my razor and as such I did not try to hone it, or improve on it. It might have done better with a little work.

There's an old saying about success. It's 5% more. If someone would spend 5% more time on whatever they are doing, many times it's the difference between excellent and "ok".

Originally Posted by Gibbs

I borrowed a Filarmonica 6/8, and shaved with it a few time. I'm glad I didn't buy one like it. First, I don't particularily like the 6/8 larger blades. And, I have razors that have cost me under 10 bucks that could shave rings around it.. my opinion, my face. I will say it was a very pretty blade. But, for shaving I thought I wouldn't like it as well and probably would not use it as much. Revisor makes quite a few 6/8 blades at their website.. .or did. They are exceptional things of beauty, but I would not go for them, even though I love Revisor, because of the larger size.

The cheapes razor I own, a Gold Bug made in Solingen Germany by A. Witte, that I bought for about 5.00 gives a bettr shave then the Filarmonica I had for a while. In all due respect, it was not my razor and as such I did not try to hone it, or improve on it. It might have done better with a little work.

There's an old saying about success. It's 5% more. If someone would spend 5% more time on whatever they are doing, many times it's the difference between excellent and "ok".

2 questions,
1)how do you hone your razors? and 2) do you know how the owner honed the borrowed fili?

Well, No to the second question. I am not exactly sure how he hones.

As for me, I will start out at 1K level and get the bevel set to that point so that you can easily shave hair on your arm. If you can't get it sharp all the way along the blade at that point, going further is just a nightmare of time spent. The finer the grain of the hones the less and less they do to remove metal, so it's real important to look at the edge of the blade and NOT see the edge at the 1000 grit level.

I do a lot of circular motion honing and that keeps the minute scratch marks on the bevel at more than one angle. If you were to plow a field and then go straight back down the furrows with a disk harrow, you wouldn't get as much effect of smoothing out the field if you actually went somewhat diagonal to the furrows. So, imagine tiny furrows on the bevel edge. Going criss-cross helps to take out the hills and smooth out the valley.. for me anyway. Many do not do it this way and that is all well and good. In the end, at the finish, I have a tendency to hone, then strop on the wool felt and then back to the hone, doing this back and forth. Maybe doesn't make a lot of sense, maybe most everyone doesn't do it this way, but for me it seems that the stropping aligns the edge very minutely so that when I re-hone it just polishes more and more and defines the actual edge just a bit. Perhaps it's my 5%. Many don't do this and many have great success with honing. All I know is under 20X my bevel has very minuscule scars on the surface, and the edge stays pretty free of minor chipping. It is, like I said, my way of doing it and many may differ greatly from this way I do it.

The last hone I work with is a very hard C 12K stone with dark intrusions. Only time I ever saw a slurry on it is during lapping to make sure it is flat. Since it seems so hard and slow I probably spend a little more time on it. At that grit level it can remove metal but it's not likely to cause great inroads into wearing out the razor too quickly. Does a very nice job of polsihg to a mirror in the sunlight, though! When it's done the razor glides across like butter. BTW I have finished the last part in the process with the hone dry, most of the time

thanks Vern, i understand your method, i was just curious as to your tools. thanks -Jon

I am just approaching my sixth month of straight shaving so am still pretty much a Newbie. I have read all the hype on Filarmonicas and seen the astronomical bids on eBay. Among my goals in building a 28-day collection was to find new and vintage razors from different countries in a variety of grinds and sizes. My first 26 razors included razors from the United States, England, Germany, France, and Sweden. I had despaired of getting any Filarmonicas (Spain) because of the high cost. Fortunately, I finally found two (one in France and one in England) that did not have the exorbitant prices on eBay.US. I did settle for a 4/8 and 5/8 size. The available larger sizes carried a pretty steep price even in the European Union.

Early this morning, I received a NOS 4/8 Filarmonica DT Stainless from England. I sterilized it and used it for for the time. I decided to see how it shaved right out of the box with a factory honing. Wow! What an incredible shave. It was smooth, comfortable, and close. 95% to a BBS with one pass. I can't wait to see what happens with a normal preparatory stropping. I was prepared to be unimpressed with this 4/8 razor so was a bit taken back by its excellence. I can see why so many people love Filarmonicas. I have some very fine razors but I would certainly place this one in the top tier. This razor completed my 28-day set.

Last Thursday, I got "Razor No. 27", which is a NOS 5/8 Filarmonica Doble Temple from France. I was busy with a house guest and have not gotten around to using it yet. However, after my positive experience with the 4/8 Stainless, I am now looking forward to seeing how the 5/8 DT stacks up.

I will not generalize on all Filarmonica razors but my first experience with a Filarmonica has made me a convert. YMMV.

Happy Shaving!


FOLLOW-UP:
The shave I got yesterday with the 4/8 Filarmonica Stainless was so close that, this morning, I didn't have enough beard growth to even contemplate a shave. This is the first time I have experienced not needing a shave after 24 hours. Actually, I was a little disappointed because I had planned on trying the new 5/8 Filarmonica for the first time.