Thread: Some thoughts on razor sizes...

How do you know what the size of a razor was when it was made ????

Many times I see people quoting sizes of razors by what they measure now, let me explain..

Take a Fili #14 that is now honed down to a 6/8 do you call that a 6/8 ????

One thing that you can look at is the thickness of the tang this will give you a good indicator of what went on with the razor over the years..

8/8 and larger razor have tangs that are near 1/4 of an inch wide

7/8 are going to be just shy of that

6/8 are smaller yet but noticably thicker than their 5/8's cousins

4/8 and smaller are in the 1/8 inch thick range

These of course are not locked in stone, but they do give a good indication of original blade size..

1/16 sizes are actually fairly rare I have seen only three sizes ever marked on razor coffins & razors 9/16, 11/16, & 13/16 unless the razor or the coffin is marked I always assume the razor is a 5/8+ or a 6/8- and not a 11/16 refer to above to tell the difference between the two.. What is a 5/8+ ???? well lets look at TI's way of measuring right now they measure from the spine mark so their 5/8 is actually from top of spine to edge closer to an 11/16 but is sized as a 5/8

So when you take that in to account, the fact that razor manufacturs don't measure the same anyway and all this gets very confusing as to what size a razor is/was, add in a chip or two in the edge and things get even more confusing...


Just some things that were going through my head as I was out in the shop today so I decided to share

Clear as mud!

Just kidding, I got it. Thanks for the info!

Originally Posted by gssixgun

1/16 sizes are actually fairly rare I have seen only three sizes ever marked on razor coffins & razors 9/16, 11/16, & 13/16 unless the razor or the coffin is marked I always assume the razor is a 5/8+ or a 6/8- and not a 11/16 refer to above to tell the difference between the two.. What is a 5/8+ ???? well lets look at TI's way of measuring right now they measure from the spine mark so their 5/8 is actually from top of spine to edge closer to an 11/16 but is sized as a 5/8

Where does this one fit in?

I want to say you got a sick mind, but then I would admit to not being put together right myself

I was having some thoughts in the same direction a couple weeks ago when I found a interesting Norwegian razor at a flea market, at the first glance I wrote it off as rubbish as it had the thickness of spine and tang you usually would find on a 7/8 or 8/8 but only a tad over 5/8 blade, but something made me go back and take a closer look, and when looking at the grind and wear I highly doubt it ever was any bigger than about 5/8, it's a strange little razor, but it made my mind spinning for a while

What you say really make sense when you think about it, most of my razors, and any I have seen isn't exactly 1/8, they're usually a little more or less, and given that razors wasn't machine made back in the days some clearance would be just natural.

I think you've failed to take into account razor regrowth. Maybe some of those 13/16s were originally 6/8s and just grew a little bit?

A filly 14,say a true 8/8 honed to 6/8 would be a very ugly razor,Heribert Wacker has writen that the true way to measure a blade is from the edge of the spine,not the top to the edge,Guess thats the euro way.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

A filly 14,say a true 8/8 honed to 6/8 would be a very ugly razor,Heribert Wacker has writen that the true way to measure a blade is from the edge of the spine,not the top to the edge,Guess thats the euro way.

Nope just the Wacker way and a few others

So far I haven't found any rule that fits for all the razors, it has been another of those things that has so many "rules" and "solutions" much like why are there Barber's Notches even though that isn't what they are called There have even been thoughts of different measurement systems being used but those ideas didn't hold up either ...

I love the 8/16 mark that is awesome BTW has any one seen an actual 15/16 mark ????


It is an interesting conundrum

Sadly.alot of this stuff is lost to history and may never be resolved,razor measurements,Numbers such as 12s-13s-14s.
Barbers notches,I should know all this stuff,I have been a Barber since 1/14/48.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Sadly.alot of this stuff is lost to history and may never be resolved,razor measurements,Numbers such as 12s-13s-14s.
Barbers notches,I should know all this stuff,I have been a Barber since 1/14/48.

Since 1948?

Originally Posted by randydance062449

Since 1948?

Yes,Born 1/14/48,My Name is:William H Barber