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Yesterday I honed this old Union Cutlery Spike. With the Norton 4k/8k and a few strokes on my barbers hone I achieved a nice edge. I have to thank mrsell again for his pointers. Using a jewelers loupe to SEE my progress has helped a ton! Anyway, this thing is my favorite beard edger. I would recommend it to anyone who keeps a well maintained beard with sharp edges.
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All my cut-throats are good beard edger's. I think it's just the nature of the beast. And as for the loupe. I wouldn't be without mine either. A very handy, portable, electricity and battery free device that makes a great edge checker.
Mick
Awesome! I did the same thing last night -- honing an old Union Cutlery "Spike" on a Norton 4K and 8K, then finished on a Spyderco UF. Used it this morning, and (like you) had a great shave. Great minds, eh? :tu on these small wedges (most of mine are 9/16)Quote:
Originally Posted by wyobarbershop
That's pretty cool JB! Great minds for sure! I started collecting any kind of Union Cutlery Wedge that I could find and now I'm beginning to get them all honed up and ready to roll. In addition to being one of the coolest looking American made razors, they shave very well!
Those "modern grind" wedges are indeed smooth shavers. I had a complete 7 day rotation of them as I started straight-shaving. Nice Spike!
You'll find the honorable Mrsell to be a deep mine of good sense in blades and honing.
Allow me to be the devil's advocate here but to achieve the best beard outline, I have found that a barber shavette (used with a Derby blade in my case) is the best tool for shaping a beard. I encourage you to try it. The short length of the cutting blade is key to have a great definition and precision.
Nothing beats a nicely honed straight for a comfortable full clean shave but they are too long in my opinion.
Now if someone made a shorter straight for this specially designed. A 5/8 hollow blade that is 1 1/2 inch long would be ideal. Anyone know of such a razor or is has to be custom? I have thought about sawing a cheaper razor of mine to length.
No need for that! I have a pile of broken blades. I would send you some candidates! I could also shape them for you.
Hi Samir,
Blade length does seem to matter - but it seems to vary w/ what each user finds to be their ideal. Shortly after RAD wore down some, I noticed I was buying primarily for ergonomics - what's easiest for me to use, articulate. The attributes I select are not what everyone else does, but have settled into a fairly consistent pattern.
On the shorty - have you ever seen/used/heard of:STRAZORS.com - all about classic razors - DePew, "The Perfect Razor"("monkey tail").
It looks like more of an oddity/novelty, but are very capable shavers.
Sharpton, sure thing :)
If you have a good candidate for it, I can post about my modifications and share a review. Pm me the details of what you have and we can go from there.
Pinklather, that is intersting, no I had never heard of it or seen this amazing website either by the way. thanks for sharing. that would be the ideal razor especially for the upper cheek area.
are they hard to find?
I have not run across any good small ones for a while. I do have some: A DePew, a Mab, A Heljie, a Rogers, A Temporal, and an old Maw Son and sons. The Henckels on the bottom is a 5/8.Quote:
Originally Posted by samircanada
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This one of 7 that I'm working on as well!
Samir - "are they hard to find?" Yes. I've seen two and heard of two others in the last 3 yrs.
Thanks to Sharptonn,
we will see what I can do with some of his broken razors, perhaps the ''detailing'' razor will be born soon.
I've acquired a few 3/8s that are due back from honing next week. I plan on using them for goatee trimming and places hard to get to because of size of blade.
There's is a Depew's on eBay right now. It's worn but still useable. Short/Long tail.
As a consumer that sometimes makes impulse buys it gives me a great relief to run into a thread like this. It wasn't really an impulse, instead it was clearly a solid choice! I just pulled the trigger this morning on a Spike from Alex, never heard of the razor or seen it before but I was some how was drawn to it.
STRAZORS.com - all about classic razors - Spike, Union Cutlery Co., Olean, N.Y.
Maybe I need to be drawn towards a lottery ticket next :D
I'm sure you will like your Spike. Message me if you like it and wanna swap some pics. I have several different wedges from Union Cutlery/Ka Bar, Olean NY. Also, look into the Case Red Imp. Sweeeet wedges!
Yeah I was super excited about the Spike blade but then I cracked open the frame that has held my Great Grandfather's straight for 50+ years. The 5/8 Wiss Favorite has clearly won me over. I shaved with it yesterday with just one stopping and almost made it through the whole shave. I have since used my barber hone and then restropped it. Still excited about the spike but right now shaving with something that has been in my family since the early 1900's is just to cool.Quote:
Originally Posted by wyobarbershop
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