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Thread: 2/8 Razors

  1. #11
    Senior Member jcsixx's Avatar
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    I have a really small boker warrior. It may be 2/8 (3/8 at most). I use it to touch up in case I don't thoroughly get a spot.

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    Gibbs (06-13-2011)

  3. #12
    Special Agent Gibbs's Avatar
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    I believe that razors of the size of 2/8 3/8 had special functions. They were tools of the barbers. Just as mechanics needed tools to perform their work, since an adjustable "Crescent" wrench and a pair of pliers just won't do, so did the barbers need special tools, and of these, razors of various sizes and shapes were needed. It's one thing to have a mustache that is simply uncut whiskers, trimmed somewhere down around the corners of the mouth, but when someone would come into the barber shop and want to have their beard trimmed in a certain fashion, even have a mustache trimmed just so-so, like the late W. Clement Stone of Chicago, these small razors were the right choice for the tool of the job at hand.

    W. Clement Stone and his distinguishing shaped mustache.
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  4. #13
    Master of insanity Scipio's Avatar
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    You say that Gibbs, but there is nothing I can not do with an 8/8 that I can achieve only with a smaller razor, so there is no symmetry in the functions of the smaller tools to which you refer to, highlighted that being professionals barbers would likely have been just as proficient if not more so than SR users. Certainly they may have made it easier, but 'hard to reach areas' are not precluded without utility of smaller tools.
    Last edited by Scipio; 06-13-2011 at 09:33 PM.

  5. #14
    Senior Member ignatz's Avatar
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    These small razors were especially prized for cleaning up the last bits of a haircut. In particular, getting the last bits of hair above and behind the ears (as well as at the nape of the neck) is where this smaller size of razor really shines.

    My local barber still uses straight razors for exactly that cleanup work and he won't touch a razor wider than a 4/8... and even then he finds it a bit too wide.

  6. #15
    Master of insanity Scipio's Avatar
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    They may be useful for cleaning up a haircut where a larger razor could be dangerous, but that is not shaving of facial hair as has been suggested.

  7. #16
    The Hurdy Gurdy Man thebigspendur's Avatar
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    I don't think many barbers used these small razors (meaning 2/8s) and most I've seen seem to be from the 1950s or later. I don't know if they were made for the general population or some other specialized audience. In the 1950s and 60s razor haircuts cuts were popular but they used electric razors for those. They are rare so my guess is they were just a tonsorial oddity. Maybe a razor without a real purpose and now we're trying to second guess them.
    No matter how many men you kill you can't kill your successor-Emperor Nero

  8. #17
    Master of insanity Scipio's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by thebigspendur View Post
    Maybe a razor without a real purpose and now we're trying to second guess them.
    Which is why so few exist.

  9. #18
    Special Agent Gibbs's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scipio View Post
    Which is why so few exist.
    ...hmmmm That makes my Henckels 3/8 a little more valuable that what I thought it was. I just figured it was a great lip and chin shaver.
    ~~ Vern ~~
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    Former Nebraskan. Go Big Red

  10. #19
    Senior Member PaddyX21's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gibbs View Post
    ...hmmmm That makes my Henckels 3/8 a little more valuable that what I thought it was. I just figured it was a great lip and chin shaver.
    I think I might be going back to the shop to see if they still have the razor that started this discussion now!

  11. #20
    Special Agent Gibbs's Avatar
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    Well, keep in mind tha a razor "made" to be 2/8 or 3/8 is altogether different than one that started out, say 5/8, and was ground down over the years to near nothing. There are plenty of those on eBay I have seen. Newer 2/8 or 3/8 might be something to look at, but a worn out 5/8 or 6/8 razor that has been really honed to death probably won't be worth much.
    ~~ Vern ~~
    I was born with nothing and managed to keep most of it.
    Former Nebraskan. Go Big Red

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