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German/swedish/Japanese wedges?

I've taken a great liking to my w&b near wedge, I've had a couple eskilstuna and solingen hollow ground 1/2 and full hollow, was wondering if there were anything other than sheffield wedges as that's most of what I find on ebay, and brands would be helpful
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Live never come across a Swedish true wedge razor. Near wedge yes, but not more than so. I guess that there were several made by local blacksmiths before the industrial Revolution
 
I used to have a Heljestrand Wedge (Swedish) that was great. I've seen a few of them on the bay.

I had a Japanese Wedge that I seriously regret selling. It had a short blade and scales that bent at a 30 degree angle so the big Wedge folded in neatly. An incredible razor! I've also seen a few of them on the bay, usually $150+ but worth every penny IMHO.

I currently have a WM Greaves Sheffield Wedge that I'll never sell. It's a big smiling Wedge and a supernatural shaver. Mr Greaves wasn't frigging about!

There are many others, just root around the bay. They're not always listed as a Wedge, just study the pics. They can be a bear to hone when they're a neglected bay item but once dialed in they stay dialed in and I think there's no better shaver!

Traditional Japanese Kamisori are by definition wedges, by the way.
 
I asked myself the same question a few weeks ago. There a lots of Japanese near wedge razors. Search eBay for "near wedge straight razor" and you will get a bunch of hits for these. As @2bit_collie said, Heljestrand made a bunch of near wedges. There are J.A. Henckels Friodur near wedges whose model numbers end with "V". And I recently bought a Dorko 43 that I am still restoring.

Please let us know what you find!
 
I used to have a Heljestrand Wedge (Swedish) that was great. I've seen a few of them on the bay.

I had a Japanese Wedge that I seriously regret selling. It had a short blade and scales that bent at a 30 degree angle so the big Wedge folded in neatly. An incredible razor! I've also seen a few of them on the bay, usually $150+ but worth every penny IMHO.

I currently have a WM Greaves Sheffield Wedge that I'll never sell. It's a big smiling Wedge and a supernatural shaver. Mr Greaves wasn't frigging about!

There are many others, just root around the bay. They're not always listed as a Wedge, just study the pics. They can be a bear to hone when they're a neglected bay item but once dialed in they stay dialed in and I think there's no better shaver!

Traditional Japanese Kamisori are by definition wedges, by the way.
Midsummer is a public holiday where I live and has been so since long before Christianity was introduced here. So I am off and do have more time on my hands, especially since it is raining. The different types of razor grinds is a reoccurring topic, which is OK because it is important in a forum like this. I'll try to explain the differences between wedge and quarter hollow, because I am pretty sure that it is quarter hollow you mean and not wedge.

In 1876 Carl Friedrich Ern introduced a new revolutionary machine "die Hexe" (the Witch), the worlds first straight razor grinding machine. To the straight razor market it was pretty much like what the introduction of first jet fighter (Me 262) was to the air forces of the world. Everything produced up until then was suddenly obsolete. Up until 1876 almost every razor made had had a strict triangular shape with no grinding at all, they are wedge razors. They are heavy, difficult to hone and strop and it is nearly impossible to shave with next to no blade angle against the skin. Still they have their follower today, some of them in this forum, and I respect them, they are braver than I am. I only have a few true wedge razors.

Up until 1876 most industrially produced razors had been made in Sheffield. Within a couple of years the leading role had been taken over by Solingen and Thiers while Eskilstuna was a rising star at the horizon. It would take many decades before the Japanese started making western style straight razors. So if you are looking for wedge razors older Sheffield razors is what to look for. The new producers all made grinded razors or razors made with a very thin blade with an attached spine (framback razors) to mimic the characteristics of grinded razors.

The quarter hollow razors are as close as you get when it comes to wedge razors. They are far much more practical in every aspect mentioned above, while still having much of the characteristics of the true wedge razors. These quarter hollow razors were most often made in Eskilstuna or Sheffield. A rather common one is the excellent C.V.H 24 mentioned by @2bit_collie above. It was mostly made in the size 4/8 but can also be found in 3/8 and 5/8. Every Eskilstuna razor brand had its version of it. CVH also made a rather rare No.22 and No.42 that both are 6/8.

The Friodur V-series are quarter hollow, and wonderful shavers, like all Friodur razors.

There are several American razor makers that still make quarter hollow razors with the size and heft that is fully comparable to the old Sheffield razors. In Europe you've got Rigarazor that makes huge quarter hollow razors that are very demanding, but also very rewarding. This brings us to the, in my opinion, razor magician Koraat whose quarter hollow razors are Nerdvana for the razor connoisseurs.

I hesitated before writing this post. I don't want to offend anyone by unnecessarily contradicting them, but since I already have posted above I felt obliged to clarify myself.

straight-razor-grinds.jpg
 
Midsummer is a public holiday where I live and has been so since long before Christianity was introduced here. So I am off and do have more time on my hands, especially since it is raining. The different types of razor grinds is a reoccurring topic, which is OK because it is important in a forum like this. I'll try to explain the differences between wedge and quarter hollow, because I am pretty sure that it is quarter hollow you mean and not wedge.

In 1876 Carl Friedrich Ern introduced a new revolutionary machine "die Hexe" (the Witch), the worlds first straight razor grinding machine. To the straight razor market it was pretty much like what the introduction of first jet fighter (Me 262) was to the air forces of the world. Everything produced up until then was suddenly obsolete. Up until 1876 almost every razor made had had a strict triangular shape with no grinding at all, they are wedge razors. They are heavy, difficult to hone and strop and it is nearly impossible to shave with next to no blade angle against the skin. Still they have their follower today, some of them in this forum, and I respect them, they are braver than I am. I only have a few true wedge razors.

Up until 1876 most industrially produced razors had been made in Sheffield. Within a couple of years the leading role had been taken over by Solingen and Thiers while Eskilstuna was a rising star at the horizon. It would take many decades before the Japanese started making western style straight razors. So if you are looking for wedge razors older Sheffield razors is what to look for. The new producers all made grinded razors or razors made with a very thin blade with an attached spine (framback razors) to mimic the characteristics of grinded razors.

The quarter hollow razors are as close as you get when it comes to wedge razors. They are far much more practical in every aspect mentioned above, while still having much of the characteristics of the true wedge razors. These quarter hollow razors were most often made in Eskilstuna or Sheffield. A rather common one is the excellent C.V.H 24 mentioned by @2bit_collie above. It was mostly made in the size 4/8 but can also be found in 3/8 and 5/8. Every Eskilstuna razor brand had its version of it. CVH also made a rather rare No.22 and No.42 that both are 6/8.

The Friodur V-series are quarter hollow, and wonderful shavers, like all Friodur razors.

There are several American razor makers that still make quarter hollow razors with the size and heft that is fully comparable to the old Sheffield razors. In Europe you've got Rigarazor that makes huge quarter hollow razors that are very demanding, but also very rewarding. This brings us to the, in my opinion, razor magician Koraat whose quarter hollow razors are Nerdvana for the razor connoisseurs.

I hesitated before writing this post. I don't want to offend anyone by unnecessarily contradicting them, but since I already have posted above I felt obliged to clarify myself.

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Hey @Polarbeard, as always your postings are both informative and entertaining. For the record I am quite happy to be contradicted, I don’t pretend to understand more than a fraction of the knowledge that the members of this board possess! :) There was another recent thread where someone asked the difference between a 1/4 hollow and a near wedge. I would suggest that all grinds exist along a continuum if for no other reason than that grinding wheels gradually shrink with use (though this was perhaps more of an issue pre Hexe). So anytime we discretize that continuum by sorting into 4-5 buckets, there is bound to be a little disagreement about which bucket certain razors will fall into. A very minor issue IMHO. :)
 
I asked myself the same question a few weeks ago. There a lots of Japanese near wedge razors. Search eBay for "near wedge straight razor" and you will get a bunch of hits for these. As @2bit_collie said, Heljestrand made a bunch of near wedges. There are J.A. Henckels Friodur near wedges whose model numbers end with "V". And I recently bought a Dorko 43 that I am still restoring.

Please let us know what you find!
I'm looking at the henckels on ebay and can't find any with the "v" anybody have and pics?
 
I've found a henckels #9 with a barbers notch which seems to be different from the normal #9 it appears to me to be a 1/4 hollow,
Another I found is numbered 88 and also looks to be 1/4 hollow
 

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They both look nice. If it were me, I would go for the razor with the widest blade and least amount of wear. Based on what I see on eBay, neither of these razors is going to break the bank. I would also take into consideration whether the seller accepts returns.

But my advice is to go for one of these. J.A. Henckels made excellent straight razors with great geometry.
 
Hopefully the bid doesn't go too high my wife is starting to hate my R.A.D. 😅 I've only got like 6 straight razors and 4 wedge safety razors!
 
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