Thread: The Closest Shave

One of my closest shavers is a Crown and Sword that Glenn restored and honed for me; fantastic close shaver; the other is a Dovo Flowing that I bought off this site, used. The two razors both leave me a BBS face every time.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Is not easy to see as the belly is very subtle,see the two ink marks on the toe and the tang end, connect them along the edge of the blade,you can see the belly in the form of sort of a ridge.
Is almost something you cannot see by casual observation.

Thanks for the post, it brings up a point which has been bothering me: browsing online I noticed that some things which are referred to as "bellied" have very pronounced bellies e.g.:

On the other hand, I noticed on my Klaas that the blade thickens up in a much more subtle way just before the emergence of the bevel. Something I can't see in profile but I can feel with my fingers. It would appear that the picture you have posted exhibits that sort of "bellying": so am I to understand that this more subtle bellying is what defines "bellied hollow"?

I recently bought a Palmera 7/8 that is bellied like that. Nice shaver.

Originally Posted by GringoMexicano

How does one measure sharpness? Well, one informal measure might be the ease with which the razor cuts hair, and if that's how you measure, then I agree, the grind is not a factor. On the other hand, it is my experience and belief that the closeness of the shave on final passes has a lot to do with blade geometry, and in this regard, I think the grind possessed by the Klaas presents a distinct advantage.... to you & some other individuals, maybe even me. There'd probably be a bunch of wedge lovers that would disagree. It's always a YMMV thing. I would say as a rule, wedges don't shave me so closely but every now & then one passes my hands that blows me away. Geometry is a factor. I'm just saying it's not the only one.

Yes, the big wedges can be unwieldy but are fantastic if you want to quickly dispatch with several days growth I always use them on the first pass and go to hollow grinds for the second and third. As an example of YMMV. I just took off 5 days growth with a very hollow Swedish blade, an EA Berg. It was one of my first restores & I took off so much steel that it it is almost like a DE in flexibility. I'll say it again . It's not about the grind but about a combination of factors, not the least how you use it.

If you want to try an amazing smaller sized wedge, I can strongly recommend any of the Sheffield "Medium Size Hollow Ground" styles. They are, of course, not hollow ground by today's standards; they are really wedge (though not "true" wedge) grinds. I have the 4/8 version manufactured by Joseph Allen, and while it doesn't cut as close as my Klaas, it may be my most comfortable shaver.

Yes I would agree about the smaller wedges being very nice. I've honed the odd one but after about 30 years of straight shaving I've settled on the kamisori style as my preferred shaver. It works best on my face much like your Klaas works for you. I'd recommend you try one but remember YMMV

Originally Posted by GringoMexicano

Thanks for the post, it brings up a point which has been bothering me: browsing online I noticed that some things which are referred to as "bellied" have very pronounced bellies e.g.:

On the other hand, I noticed on my Klaas that the blade thickens up in a much more subtle way just before the emergence of the bevel. Something I can't see in profile but I can feel with my fingers. It would appear that the picture you have posted exhibits that sort of "bellying": so am I to understand that this more subtle bellying is what defines "bellied hollow"?

cannot answere your question,I think the larger the blade the more subtle the belly,the one I posted is well over 8/8

I have a couple of "magical" shavers... The steel, brand and grind seems to be irrelevent, as I have bought identical models of them that don't shave as well. The honing can't be the culprit, as I have honed all of them through the same progression....

One is a CW Dahlgren frameback, the other is a full hollow 4/8 Bengall.

I think we need to get a bellied hollow club going...there seems to be a dearth of information about this intriguing grind.

very little info indeed,would love to learn more.

George Korn registered a patent for a bellied grind in 1902. You can look up the # in the post below.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/custo...tml#post812945

All things being equal in honing, I've found that I've got a few razors that seem to be that little bit sharper than others. Makers such as Filarmonica, Le Grelot, Hart, Mappin Bros, Puma to name a few stand out.
One of the great joys of straight shaving is finding a razor that unexpectedly fits in that group. A little while ago I bought a French straight from a Thiers maker called A Doupeux. I'd never heard of them. I honed it on my Le Dressante coticule and Wow. I was stunned at how well it shave and it's kept it's edge like few other razors have.