Quote Originally Posted by PaulFLUS View Post
Well let's shake the dust off this old thread why don't we.

I have had a renewed interest in some Weck sextoblade razors recently that I've gotten in lots with other stuff. Long uninteresting story but I came across one with sentimental value and cleaned her up. I posted a SOTD a while back comparing a couple of different blades. Since I have picked up a few boxes of the original Sextoblades and I have to say that they all work pretty well in that razor functionally but the original Sextoblades seem more......made for it so to speak.

I get Shaun's original comment about the sterile feel. It might be interesting to hear your take on them now Shaun with this much water under the bridge. They all seem better to me after a stropping. I haven't done an out of package vs stropped out of pkg comparison, at least not in a single shave, but that might be a good test. I do really like the.shave from the original Sextoblades although I felt it is not as crisp as the Fromm and Personna. It feels more like a straight shave to me, at least from the one I have used so far. In general I find that the surgical/shaper type blades are pretty consistent but there is the matter of them (Sextoblades recentlyacquired) being carbon steel made in the 50s-60s so that might affect them some I guess.

Anyway, what led me to post was an interesting conclusion that came to me while messing around with these. Whether you love the Sextoblade and the shaper type razors and blades or throw rocks at them I think we can agree that they do all come out of the package pretty crisp with fairly consistent keenness. Also the Sextoblade razors shave pretty similarly to a straight, at least in comparison to some other disposable options. At least thats my take. As such they can be good for those learning how to shave with a straight for judging what the keenness level of the edge should be. Some may disagree but that is how I took it. But another thought I had is that they are a good benchmark to judge how you're doing while learning to hone. When you first start, all the effort of the process can make you want to be pleased with the results and perhaps not judge fairly, especially if you don't have good edges honed by experienced honers to compare to. Also a person might be "settling" for subpar edges not knowing that it can be better, especially if he is doing it all in a vacuum. An experienced honer should be able to consistently surpass the edge quality of the best prep/shaper blade. They then have at least that use, whether you choose to shave with them as part of a rotation or not.

At least those are my thoughts...currently. I'm sure this has probably all been discussed before.

What do you think.
I agree.
I think shavettes are a good thing to start with and an aid to see what the edge should feel like.
The trouble for some is if they send a razor out to use as a benchmark they get exactly one shave to recall and use for future reference. If they are not proficient at stropping ,and why would they be just learning, they will mess the edge up and all reference is gone. Simply replenishing blades in a good shavette is invaluable.
I have tried a few over the years and unlike many I think the motion, care and technique required to use one efficiently is similar enough to a straight to see if its something you would enjoy.
Trouble is some are just awful - Parker for example. Size, weight, everything is off but the blade is well secured and that is a must!
Weck's are pretty good overall and they can be honed and stropped as an aid in stropping as well.
Sort of easing into the maintenance aspect as well although I think someone is better served using a dull razor to learn stropping techniques.
Finding one that is similar in size and weight helps for the transition.