Spanish Points?

I'm interested in buying a Wacker 5/8 Full Hollow 1/1 razor and the only thing I find is a Spanish Point. Now, I thought about posting this over at "Die WackerFans" sub forum, but, the Spanish Point may be more than just used by Wacker. I try to used round points and buy them when I can, and although I do have some square points or "spike" I really prefer the round point. It's just me, as well as liking 5/8 for a nominal size over larger 6/8 or smaller 4/8 sizes. Most comfortable shaves I have had have been with full hollows, my Imperial, "Extra Hollow Ground", my GOTTA 120 "superfine", the Wade & Butcher "Extra Hollow Ground", the Geo. Wostenholm "Superb" and etc. Again, it just a preference thing to me.

What is the take on shaving with the Spanish Point? Is it similar to spike points? It is odd to spend this much money on a razor when one of the best shaves I have ever had came from an Imperial razor (Extra Hollow Ground) that I got for the trade of a bottle of Ice Wine. I was the first one to hone and shave with it, and the box originally said $3.00, and inside was a notation saying $1.00, so I suspect the seller had $1.00 invested in the blade and could not go below that price and still make a profit. Imagine, a straight razor, new, of such quality for $3.00??!!

Back on track, just wanted to get some feedback on Spanish Point razors.

They're pretty much the same as square points to shave with IMO, except they look different! :)

I've got a Wacker and it's definitely one of my best shavers.

I've seen all kinds of variations with spanish points. I have several and they are all different. Some can be just like a spike and some are more muted and some are very rounded at the edge and shave just like a round end. You need to examine the razor and you will see which type it is and how it will behave.

Like thebigspendur says, they can vary wildly in how aggressive a point they have.
Behavior varies from Spike to round point.
Most of mine are more towards the shape of a round-point, but I also have Spanish points with spikes that really requires the utmost attention.

Spanish points excel for those that have facial hair to trim around... YMMV

I have no preference to points on straights. I have round, square, spike, French, Spanish and others. If you dislike a type of point why spend money just because of brand or size unless you are just collecting them. A Spanish point will be similar to s spike with a small radius at the tip.

I have found that quality of shave and cost of razor do not always go hand in hand. Some of my nest shavers cost me less than $40. As long as you are starting off with good steel I would focus on the quality of the honing over the cost or brand of the razor as you have noticed with your Imperial.

Well, let me post a picture of the one in mind.

http://www.wacker-rasiermesser.de/images/1056cellit.jpg
115.00 Euros including the VAT, so for selling to USA, they deduct the VAT, and shipping is 9.00 Euros, so might not be a bad overall price. And, yes, I agree with Joe, that price does not determine shave. I have the Imperial 'EXTRA HOLLOW GROUND" on the blade and it was a trade for a bottle of wine, and didn't cost me extra to have it shipped to me. Then, I have the "Gold BUG" made by A. Witte- Germany that I bought at an antique store for 7.00 and it provides a great shave.

Heribert Wacker is ..what, 85 years old? Been making razors, hand made for 53+ years, starting out his apprenticeship at DORKO, then also worked at Puma then at DOVO for a number of years. Because of his age, if he passes away, the cost of his razors will be more expensive to purchase then. Do I need a Wacker? Not really. I mean, my GOTTA 120 Superfine and Revisors and DOVO are excellent life time shavers. It's just if I want to buy a Wacker in later years after his passing, I might look back at this time and say.. "should have"..

I can get along with a spike, as my Geo. Wostenholm & Sons, (2ea), the XLNT Wadsworth & Sons, plus a few others are spike points. Just that they have usually been the ones to give me ear nicks and have to "toilet paper" the ear a bit. But, that hasn't happened for some time. I do like them for getting the upper lip whiskers around the nose, and as Glen pointed out, for anyone that has to trim around existing beards, they probably excel in that regards.

I hate to mention this, but my ear lobes have both advised me that they're going to be filing for divorce if I don't tame my square and spike points just a tad. In fact, my right ear lobe informed me that this could be done very delicately without deforming the razor. The left ear lobe said this wasn't really necessary, but he didn't get nailed like the right ear lobe did, so what does he know?

I have a Spanish Point Wacker, and I think it is my best razor. The point on it is not spiked. and I love the shave it gives. You are mking a wise choice.

PMFJI --

What exactly is a "Spanish point" ? I've been looking at photos of razors, and most "Spanish Point" examples have a squared-off end, with a fairly large radius between the (dull) end and the (sharp) toe of the blade.

So I'd call them "muted square points" -- with a substantial mute.

Is there a "standard" for "Spanish point" ?

Thanks --

Charles

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gibbs

Well, let me post a picture of the one in mind.
115.00 Euros including the VAT, so for selling to USA, they deduct the VAT, and shipping is 9.00 Euros, so might not be a bad overall price. And, yes, I agree with Joe, that price does not determine shave. I have the Imperial 'EXTRA HOLLOW GROUND" on the blade and it was a trade for a bottle of wine,

---

__________________________________________________ _____

Gibbs

I have several Spanish points, including two Wackers, and they all shave well. Also, I have an Imperial Extra Hollow Ground that I bought NOS back in the 60's and would not trade it for anything. It's definitely a one pass razor.

Doesn't look too bad for a point. I can try it for a while and see how it works. If it gives me fits, it can alway be rounded. Not the first time I have put a round point on a square point razor. My AK-SAR-Ben was a square point and after I took out the nick in the front, I made it into a wonderful shaver with a round point.

BEFORE

http://vernsdidj.com/pictures/misc/r...n_b4_notch.jpg

AFTER

http://vernsdidj.com/pictures/misc/r...en_after_L.jpg

And the Wacker razor pictured above would look something like this after about 30 minutes of work....

http://vernsdidj.com/pictures/misc/r...er_rounded.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mrsell63

Gibbs

I have several Spanish points, including two Wackers, and they all shave well. Also, I have an Imperial Extra Hollow Ground that I bought NOS back in the 60's and would not trade it for anything. It's definitely a one pass razor.

---

Thanks for that, Jerry! Those Imperial were some razors, huh? I've wondered who made those in Germany? I know the AK-SAR-BEN I have was actually made by Grah & Plumacher, same maker as Black Diamond and GOTTA. So, is some regards I have 2 Grah & Plumachers, just under different labels/names.

Do you mind sharing the website info for getting the Wackers directly? I am interested in looking at Wackers.

Thanks.

Schärfe ist unsere Leidenschaft

If you don't read German well, then copy the link that Birnado provided, go to Google.com go to their language tools on the right side, and paste that link into the translate web page German to English and will give you "some" idea of what is being written. It's a literal translation, and as such, does not gramatically correct the sentence structure, but will be useful, nonetheless.

For a direct Google translation, I came up with:

Google Translate

It shows everything in English translation.

Thanks for the help. What a great bunch of razors.

DLB, if you like the pics of razors, look at this link for a video of Heribert Wacker (and Boker) making some razors. Some are made the old fashioned way, by heating and ounding out layers of steel. link: http://www.boker.de/videos/damastrasiermesser.wmv for downloading. BTW it's all in German for those that understand it's great!

Is there any current collaboration between Revisor and Wacker?

The steel designs and razor decorations seem to have great similarities.

Don't belive so. There would be more simlarities between Wacker and DORKO or Wacker and earlier Puma or DOVO since Heribert Wacker also did work for them. Also, if I recall correctly, a lot of mass produced steel blanks made at DOVO (and others) were farmed out to various shops and craftsmen in Solingen for the grinding and a lot of the finishing work. Around 1950 there were about 600 to 700 razor manufactureres in Solingen, and the razors were produced mainly by homeworkers. Carl Freidrich Schmidt was the main person behind Revisor, and if they have revived production, such shops, here and there to finish out some blades or models, it woud be rather unlikely that Heribert Wacker was one to work on them.

I have one Spanish point and it's one of my favorite shavers. You just have to be mindful of where the point is at all times, no different than any other razor imo.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v517/wid/_MG_8716.jpg