Thread: Wedge Razors

So I have been looking around for a wedge razor to restore but I cannot believe the prices that people are asking for these beat up razors. Can anyone let me in on the memo I didn't get on why these razors are so expensive?

Supply and demand. Theres not a lot of supply and theres a lot of demand. Those who are still making them are usually the custom builders and go for exorbitant prices and those that are vintage and in good shape are hard to come buy.

If you are talking about vintage "true" wedges 8/8 and larger it is supply and demand plus they are one of the flavours of the day.

Bob

Flavor of the day for sure - people gravitate toward widely trumpeted names. Do some research and find what wedges were made that you may like and look for those makes - and avoid W&Bs and similar ones for now. There are a few thousand guys out there looking for the same blades in the same places you are right now - so do something different until public interest shifts to something else.

Flavor of the day come on guys ...

More like the flavor of the last 7 years, at least since before I joined the forum, the bigger heavier Sheffield razors has always been popular going all the way back over 100 years...

The uptick in actual money value can be attributed to Supply and Demand when we had 2800 members here they were going for $30 dollars in Vintage condition, of course a sweet Wonderedge was $50 back then too and the #14's were about $75 in mint condition


Now just doing a numbers game, the membership of just this forum has increased by more than tenfold and there are many more new forums out there too, seems that it followed the price increase on razors pretty closely...

Imp wedges (#132) are still easy to find. Not the big and heavy type but still a wedge.

A "true" wedge where you place a straight edge from spine to bevel and see no daylight showing between the straight edge and blade is fairly rare, I think. A razor that shows some daylight between the straight edge and blade is not really a wedge but just some form of grind heavier than full hollow. The term wedge is really pretty elastic the way it is used today. A heavy grind, today's so called wedge, in a size like 5/8 is not too expensive but then neither is a 5/8 full hollow. Yea, demand is up across the board from a few years ago for nearly all razors too. More and more users chasing a shrinking pool of good product are driving the prices up and it seems in particular perennial favourites the most.

Bob

This is interesting.

10Pups answered a question about this for me earlier via PM.

I was looking at my DD Satin Wedge, just got it back freshly honed from Glen, it's really nice!

As I was looking at it, it appears to be a 5/8th, it looked to me more like a 1/2 hollow or even a 1/4 hollow. It certainly didn't have that defined V typical of a wedge. In fact, the DD looked a lot like my first Dovo Best Quality.

10Pups answered that it's not a true wedge, maybe a near wedge.

So I'd have to agree with Bob, there's a lot of difference between a true wedge, like a big 8/8 Wade and Butcher and some of the smaller near wedges?

As Spock says, "I find this fascinating."

Originally Posted by Bamasamson

So I have been looking around for a wedge razor to restore but I cannot believe the prices that people are asking for these beat up razors. Can anyone let me in on the memo I didn't get on why these razors are so expensive?

Let's toss the question back to you: Do you want a wedge razor to restore for your own use, or to then sell for a (large) profit? If the latter, then that's the cost of doing business, which you'll pass on to the buyer; if the former, then that's the buy-in cost for the privilege of building "sweat equity" and ending-up with your sweet razor.

Here's my suggestion: Find someone selling a "naked blade" -- a full or near wedge -- in the size you fancy, and buy-and-restore it. Then, if you're not into making scales for it, there are any number of SRP members who are.

Originally Posted by JBHoren

Let's toss the question back to you: Do you want a wedge razor to restore for your own use, or to then sell for a (large) profit? If the latter, then that's the cost of doing business, which you'll pass on to the buyer; if the former, then that's the buy-in cost for the privilege of building "sweat equity" and ending-up with your sweet razor.

Here's my suggestion: Find someone selling a "naked blade" -- a full or near wedge -- in the size you fancy, and buy-and-restore it. Then, if you're not into making scales for it, there are any number of SRP members who are.

+1 ... EXACTLY! There are plenty of wedge/near wedge razors to be had out there in the wild, and at very reasonable prices. I know...I have dozens and dozens of these old Sheffields. They're popular because they are GREAT shavers. But....if you want perfection on a hundred plus year old blade, you're either gonna have to do the work yourself, or pay someone else to do it for you.

It's really as simple as that... IMO.

WP34