I know it is a silly question, but for those who own one or both of this razors, could you please share with me your opinion with this beautyful tools when shaving?? which one do you prefer??
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I know it is a silly question, but for those who own one or both of this razors, could you please share with me your opinion with this beautyful tools when shaving?? which one do you prefer??
I only have a Henckels Friodur and it shaves about as well as my other 30 odd assorted razors do. I don't imagine that a Philly won't be as good also. I would go with the one that pleases your eye more.
Bob
Gotta say, they are both pretty sweet. I think my Filly is just the tinies hair sharper, and the Friodur just a fractional bit smoother.
Of course, that could just be from my honing!
I've had a few Fillys, sold them, and a couple of Friodurs and sold them as well. They are fine shavers. I have a lot of razors so when I was thinning the herd those were bringing more $ on the market and that is why I sold them.
If you are new to straight razor shaving I'll only say that a Dovo will shave you just as clean for a lot less $ and is a lot easier to find.
Quality Razor is a Quality razor,Makes no diff who made it,Like Jimmy I have sold off most of the pricey stuff just because the market was right and I still lost money on every one of them:(
Buy a nice 6/8 Dovo and never look back:)
+1...My first razor was a Dovo Best Quality. Since then, I have bought around 25-30 razors; some cheap, some expensive (including a Henckels 401, no fillys though). You know what though? I keep going back to that Dovo...it's def my goto shaver, and at 80 bucks you can't go wrong! It shaves just as well as any of my others, if not better IMO
The cheapest Dovo will give you a great shave,as good as any to a point.
The best spanish and sheffy blades?? Japanese,swedish blades,Than a new can of worms opens up,How they hone,how they hold an edge,how they retain an edge,how they feel,is more to the story than meets the eye.
You will learn this down the road,A razor seems like a very simple tool, but IMO they can be very complex in many aspects.
Any Dovo,properly honed,will serve you well my friend,Enjoy
go with what you like, not what other like and prefer. do some research and decide wether or not you want a vintage or a new razor. what other people like and prefer is NOT going to be what you like or prefer. I hope this doesnt sound to harsh but in a sense, be a leader, not a follower. Go with what your heart and gut tells you :) sincerely,
shayne.
Too bad there's so little done in the way of real comparisons.
I read many posts where folks say a razor is better than average or is one of their best shavers, but when questions like the OP's are asked, everyone backs off and says it doesn't really matter. Why fall back on cliches, platitudes, and appeals to subjectivity, instead of qualified recommendations?
Another poster hinted that there's more to the question, such as edge holding, ease of sharpening, &c. Perhaps the differences in geometry, materials, and heat treat are negligible or highly inconsistent? I'd love to know how products compare on real criteria, even if the differences are minor.
I'll be honest. The best shave of my life came witha razor I got on eBay for $40. It's an old Wade and Butcher 5/8 wedge tha TI recently had honed. It shaved better than myp Philly or Friodur.
You have to seperate the Face and the Razor :)
What I mean is most people rate the razor by how it "Feels" on their face, this is pretty much useless to anyone else, most people make those statements without even explaining how that razor was honed, or to explain that this is a Type (Grind, Size, Steel) that appeals to them.. Basically it is all personal opinion...
I find to my way of thinking, how the razor behaves on the hones tells me more about the actual quality of the razor, I can feel the steel, I can see how even the grind was done, and how well the razor was balanced, and how hand friendly it is with fit and finish.. The temper and the hardness of the steel, along with how well that hardening and tempering was done can all be felt on the stones much better then the face..
The razor of course has to also shave well, but keep in mind that is prejudiced by the persons face, ie: I don't like the way the Heavy Sheffield razors shave, they just do not feel good to me, does that make them bad razors ??? No, and I know this because of what I feel and see on the hones, they just don't agree with my face...
Just some thoughts
To the op
Taking the face out of the equation :) Filarmonicas are an excellent razor, the steel and grinds are exceptional, only the very very end of their production runs, the very newest razors do you find flaws..
The Henckels have a few generations (IMHO) of razors, the older Vintage ones are exceptional, the Bigger newer Friodurs are good razors, but they lack the skill of the vintage ones in the grind, the steel is very good.. The third generation which are the newest are good razors but again not quite as nice as the Vintage ones...
I have both, the Filarmonica 14's I have all provide a better shave than the Friodur.
Tierdaen
It is almost impossible to say what the best razor is for everyone to use because aside from the basics like type of steel used, the razors dimensions and who made it everything else is a subjective opinion. There are just too many different things that add up to a good shave from a razor. I have had a razor that went from giving good shave to very good and smoother shaves by just changing the finisher I was using. The changed my perception of the razor. Someone else may not perceive it that way. In the end I have had excellent shaves from razors sized 4/8 to 8/8 from different makers in different grinds and steels and different blade shapes. You can't determine if a car will suit you based on tech specs along you have to drive a few to see what suits you best and even then somebody else will feel your choice is wrong because it doesn't suit them specifically. That is why most people waffle a bit when it comes razors and opinions on them.
Bob
Afraid I didn't suggest that one should claim a razor to be the best for everyone, nor that it was possible. I simply think there is too much of a habit among users here to fall back on the stale subjectivity cliche. There are more interesting things to be learned about razors, I think, than what most seem to settle for. I was just lamenting, as I suspect it can't really be helped much. Good luck to the OP and apologies that I can't offer anything useful.
Followed by the statement "to my Face"
What I was saying is that same W&B could have multiple other flaws that you might not even be aware of, unless you slide that razor across the hones and learn what is really going on with all the elements of the build, then you are simply saying "It shaves Good"
I am not arguing that fact, but it is only one element of an excellent razor..
In fact your statement that you had the razors Honed means that you really don't know much about the true quality of the build.. I had this same discussion with one of the most prolific Review writers on this very forum in the past. He was writing review after review and had never honed one of his own razors, I tried to explain the same thing to him, that there is much more to a quality build then simply "It shaves good"
One of the razors he was touting was a brand that is known to every one that hones as being very prone to micro-chipping, and the edge has to be finessed out during honing.. Yet he was explaining how they were a better razor then a Filarmonica.. I explained that near every Filamonica was a dream on the hones with even geometry throughout the grind, an excellent temper that was designed to draw out a keen smooth shave... His response was, "But it shaves good" I explained that wasn't the razor, that was the skill of the guy that honed it for him..
But this discusion could circle back to exactly that, If it shaves good that is all I care about, so it could become a circular arguement :) Once you hone a few different brands and types you will begin to see the other side :D