Thread: The Barber's Notch

This has probably been posted here before, but I heard an interesting tidbit from a fellow enthusiast about the purpose of the barbers notch.

He mentioned that the notch was to allow better shaving of the nostril area!! The notch would allow the blade edge better access to the area right below (an inside) the nostrils in order to get those delicate whiskers more easily and with less chance of also slicing something else off.

Interesting....

It's been up for discussion a few times

There are almost as many theories to the purpose of the notch as there are razors with notches

it would seem if that's the case than the notch would always be close the edge instead of the spine. on a larger blade wouldn't your nostril have to be large to accommodate the notch?

Originally Posted by tintin

it would seem if that's the case than the notch would always be close the edge instead of the spine. on a larger blade wouldn't your nostril have to be large to accommodate the notch?

Hey - I don't claim to have the answer...just thought I'd throw it out there for discussion.

Been brought up a hundred times.I still believe the notch was created to position the blade against a mandril when using power hammers during the forging process.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Been brought up a hundred times.I still believe the notch was created to position the blade against a mandril when using power hammers during the forging process.

That's what I said...makes sense to me

Ease of opening is the most commonly held belief.