Flintstone65
Imagining solutions for imaginary problems
Greetings all -- so we are just about 4'ish months from OCtober (Open Comb October), and as I've been thinking about which razors to use on which day in OCtober (ummm, yeah, I've had a little time on my hands....why do you ask?), a distinguished BOSC member (@Cal ) started the perfect thread in the DE section discussing terminology.
Here are the definitions he put forward on comb/plate types:
OC
Like in a standard hair comb, the teeth are usually long and deep set. Waste whiskers and lather runs out between the teeth. Example shown is a Fatip Open Comb Slant.
CC
The teeth on a Closed Comb are set directly onto, and are part of, the Safety Bar. There normally is/are drainage hole/holes between the Safety Bar and the rest of the baseplate. Example shown is a Mühle R41.
SB
The standard Safety Bar is straight and usually has drainage holes behind it. It may have minor serrations (e.g. Gillette Tech). Some razors have quite large serrations on the Safety Bar, so depending on their depth they could be considered an SB/CC hybrid. Example of SB guarded razor is a RazoRock Game Changer.
Now as I had been thinking on this topic, I jumped in and attempted to hijack his thread by throwing out various SE razors and asking whether they would/should be considered Open, Closed or Safety Bar razors. He gave his opinion based on the above definitions and then very politely suggested that I take this up in the SE area, especially as the SE razors can have A LOT of variation in designs.
So here we go....traditional, easy to determine, open combs have individual "teeth" or tines with sufficient/noticeable spacing and protrude from the top down (like the top row of teeth in a mammals mouth) -- or slightly outward (like a "buck tooth" mammal). But here is where I think "the rub" is when I think of an open comb: "teeth" or tines that protrude from the bottom up (like the bottom row of teeth in a mammals mouth), and often are smallish in size and/or have shallow spacing between them. To put it in context of the definition above, the teeth don't really filter or touch the lather, but are rather more "vestigial" in nature. Are/should those teeth be considered open comb?
Time for pictures:
Easily open comb SE: Gem Open Comb Damaskeene and Gem MMOC:
Questionable(?) the Christy and Enders (both Speed Razors and Shavers):
Given that SE's have a "ride the cap" / shallow angle (handle towards the wall), I guess I would argue that the Christy has pronounced enough teeth and that the bottom-up orientation would "sort of" facilitate working as a comb....so the Christy would be an OC. But the Enders teeth are like "baby teeth", and really fall into that Muhle R41 category of "vestigial" (at least to my eye and use), so I would probably call that closed comb. But even as I say that, I don't think that seems right. A closed comb to me is something like the following:
These 2 1912's would be "open comb" if the teeth were not connected at the bottom; but that connection is what makes the comb "closed". So now I'm thinking that since the Enders teeth are individual and independent of the tooth next to it, that perhaps it is an open comb.
What say you, my friends? Can you help put some bright-lines/boundaries around the OC definition....or am I just being OC in trying to overly classify these razors?
And if you want to wade into the DE discussion (and I heartily encourage you to do so), then you should visit this thread: Don't be caught OFF GUARD and make sure you tell @Cal that Fred "Flintstone65" sent you!
Here are the definitions he put forward on comb/plate types:
OC
Like in a standard hair comb, the teeth are usually long and deep set. Waste whiskers and lather runs out between the teeth. Example shown is a Fatip Open Comb Slant.
CC
The teeth on a Closed Comb are set directly onto, and are part of, the Safety Bar. There normally is/are drainage hole/holes between the Safety Bar and the rest of the baseplate. Example shown is a Mühle R41.
SB
The standard Safety Bar is straight and usually has drainage holes behind it. It may have minor serrations (e.g. Gillette Tech). Some razors have quite large serrations on the Safety Bar, so depending on their depth they could be considered an SB/CC hybrid. Example of SB guarded razor is a RazoRock Game Changer.
Now as I had been thinking on this topic, I jumped in and attempted to hijack his thread by throwing out various SE razors and asking whether they would/should be considered Open, Closed or Safety Bar razors. He gave his opinion based on the above definitions and then very politely suggested that I take this up in the SE area, especially as the SE razors can have A LOT of variation in designs.
So here we go....traditional, easy to determine, open combs have individual "teeth" or tines with sufficient/noticeable spacing and protrude from the top down (like the top row of teeth in a mammals mouth) -- or slightly outward (like a "buck tooth" mammal). But here is where I think "the rub" is when I think of an open comb: "teeth" or tines that protrude from the bottom up (like the bottom row of teeth in a mammals mouth), and often are smallish in size and/or have shallow spacing between them. To put it in context of the definition above, the teeth don't really filter or touch the lather, but are rather more "vestigial" in nature. Are/should those teeth be considered open comb?
Time for pictures:
Easily open comb SE: Gem Open Comb Damaskeene and Gem MMOC:
Questionable(?) the Christy and Enders (both Speed Razors and Shavers):
Given that SE's have a "ride the cap" / shallow angle (handle towards the wall), I guess I would argue that the Christy has pronounced enough teeth and that the bottom-up orientation would "sort of" facilitate working as a comb....so the Christy would be an OC. But the Enders teeth are like "baby teeth", and really fall into that Muhle R41 category of "vestigial" (at least to my eye and use), so I would probably call that closed comb. But even as I say that, I don't think that seems right. A closed comb to me is something like the following:
These 2 1912's would be "open comb" if the teeth were not connected at the bottom; but that connection is what makes the comb "closed". So now I'm thinking that since the Enders teeth are individual and independent of the tooth next to it, that perhaps it is an open comb.
What say you, my friends? Can you help put some bright-lines/boundaries around the OC definition....or am I just being OC in trying to overly classify these razors?
And if you want to wade into the DE discussion (and I heartily encourage you to do so), then you should visit this thread: Don't be caught OFF GUARD and make sure you tell @Cal that Fred "Flintstone65" sent you!
