Thread: Razor size. Is this 6/8"?

That's what I thought too, until I saw this lineup when I was trying to explain razors to my wife:

http://www.geocities.com/mparker762/...comparison.jpg

From left to right, arranged by increasing edge to spine size:

??? Friodur
5/8 Puma (NOS, Honed once, size ID'd by the sticker on the case)
5/8 Heljestrand (model #31)
6/8 Wacker (size from Crowley)
6/8 Friodur (current production)
??? Heljestrand (model #32)
7/8 Friodur (size from Crowley)

Looking at this photo, what size are the Friodur and the Heljestrand?

Measuring with a micrometer, the Friodur is barely a 5/8, and the Heljestrand is barely a 7/8. Except that I've owned 5/8 Friodurs before and they measured out at closer to 6/8. And the Heljestrand (a) looks and (b) shaves like a 6/8, and (c) is the next model number up from the identical style 5/8 Heljestrand and it's really unlikely that the manufacturer decided to skip a size going from #31 to #32. The small Friodur, OTOH, looks and shaves like a 4/8, *not* a 5/8.

Looking at the photo, it looks like the small Heljestrand is actually smaller than the Puma next to it, this is an optical illusion because the Heljestrand's spine is taller, but the size of the ground portion is the same. Same for the larger Heljestrand, it looks smaller than the 6/8 Friodur and Wacker next to it, but is actually larger because of the taller spine.

edit: Compare this with the photo lynn posted: Regardless of what the ruler in the first post seems to show, the first razor in Lynne's photo (which is apparently the same razor?) is *not* a 6/8, no way, no how, not compared to that 6/8 sitting next to it. I've long been suspicious of this x/16th measurements on new razors, on vintage well-used razors sure, but not on *new* razors. I think this is an artifact of the difference between the way we've been measuring razors vs the way manufacturers measure them.

Originally Posted by mparker762

That's what I thought too, until I saw this lineup when I was trying to explain razors to my wife:

Now there is one brave man.. My hat is off to you.

Well, she did buy me the 6/8 Friodur for our anniversary, so when she asked what the differences were I figured I should humor her.

Originally Posted by mparker762

Well, she did buy me the 6/8 Friodur for our anniversary, so when she asked what the differences were I figured I should humor her.

Ok Now that makes scense.. My wife just looks and shakes her head. I try to keep her interest low so she doesn't notice new additions.

I'd say it's 5/8+

BUT, I think the REAL question is....
How does it shave?

I'll pass up any blade-preferance for a razor that shaves amazingly well.
I guess you could say: It's not the size of the blade, but the cut of the edge that matters.

C utz

Originally Posted by xman

I'm sorry, but what am I missing on this razor. Looking at the pic I'd say it is a 6/8. It can be a little confusing, but I can clearly see 2/8 showing to the right of the edge before the 6" mark on the tape and the spine on the 5" mark. An inch less 2/8 is 6/8 right?

X

I am no expert on razors but I do spend almost all day with a tape measure in my hand. X my boss would crucify you if you told him that measured 6/8 or 3/4. If it ain't on the line it ain't that big. Since razors are stated in eighth's it can only be 5/8 because it isn't a FULL 6/8.

Even I'm not sure I'd go that far, and I think that razor is a 5/8ths. There's some room for tolerances, these things are hand-made after all. If I have a razor that is exactly 6/8ths and I hone it, is it now a 5/8ths just because I took a hundred thousandth off? How about if I use it for a few years and now it's a 64th off? It still shaves like a 6/8ths and not like a 5/8th.

For that matter, anybody that's denickified a razor can tell you that you have to take a *lot* off a blade to change the way it "feels", I've got one razor that started off at 5/8th and is now closer to 4/8ths than 5/8ths, but it doesn't shave like any 4/8ths razor, it still shaves like a 5/8ths - not that I'm claiming that it's still a 5/8ths, but pointing out that it's still ground like a 5/8ths and that has a bigger affect on the shave than how much of a tape it covers.

To restate my argument, I think the OP's wonderedge is a 5/8ths not because it's shy of 6/8 but because it's ground like a 5/8th razor. That it happened to come off the assembly line close to 6/8ths of an inch across doesn't really matter, because *most* 5/8ths come off the line somewhere between 11/16 and 6/8, this one just came out on the high side.

Originally Posted by Wildtim

... Since razors are stated in eighth's it can only be 5/8 because it isn't a FULL 6/8.

I think some refer to razors in 16ths too but don't know how legit this is

Originally Posted by izlat

I think some refer to razors in 16ths too but don't know how legit this is

If that's what it measures, it's perfectly legitimate. It's measuring; it ain't rocket science. I'm not sure what "legit" means in this context. If it measures 11/16, or 15/16, or 9/16, or whatever, that's what it is. There's no law I'm aware of that demands razors be measured in 8ths. Thankfully, measuring is, for the most part, cut and dried. There's not really a ton of room for debating what the ruler says. Where some people believe you should start the measurement might vary a bit, but if two people using the same scale measure from the same place, they'll more than likely get the same result.

The razor's width can be determined by the thickness of the spine. At this point we can talk about how much steel is worn from the the 6/8 is. Just MHO.

X