Thread: 5/8 v 6/8

Bingo , plus the nice cut on his chin, Bumgo

Ignoring the finer points of geometry, I find that, even in the nose/mustache area my comfort with the razor in general, its balance, my grip and the sharpness is more significant than an eighth or 2 of an inch. If the blade is sharp and smooth enough, and it fits my hand well (and is well balanced) I can maneuver it into most places that it needs to go on my face. I actually prefer blades larger than 5/8 and heavier than hollow ground, I'm finding over the course of time. That said, I have a 5/8 I'm using in my rotation now that I love.

It's all about how you adapt to the blade size. And in time you make the decision on which sized blade you like or not. Everyone is different. The grind of the blade makes a difference too.

Surely the diagram posted showing angles under the nose is obsolete the moment you stretch the area, either by lifting your nose slightly or by moving your top lip? I suppose it depends how individually flexible you are. Anyway, irrelevant for me as I have a goatee and 'tash. Most of my blades are 5 or 6/8ths. I find next to no difference between them. I also have a 7/8 Heiffor wedge. That one is completely different from the others so I don't use it much, although it does get occasional use. At the other end of the scale, I also have a number of 4/8ths Union Spikes. They see the cream occasionally. The hardest to shave with IMHO, is the 7/8. You really won't know which you prefer until you've used them all regularly. Good luck.

when I started out straight edge shaving the only thing different I noticed between a 5/8 and 6/8 blade shaving was with a 6/8 I got less razor burn and thus I thought it was a better shave. in hindsight I realize that because the 6/8 is heavier and has more heft I probably wasn't putting as much pressure on the 6/8 blade and thus less razor burn. But I agree, you have to find what size and Grind of blade works best on your face. My daily shaver is a 7/8 ralf Aust.

Greg

This has been some interesting reading, and valuable too. I recently got my first vintage off eBay, and it ended up being a 4/8 hollow ground. I was at first ready to give it away, now I am considering giving the smaller razor a shot.