The early twentieth century was a very exciting time for razor design.
Carl Friedrich ERN had developed mechanised grinding with his Hexe machine and straight razors were getting hollower and shaving better than they ever had before.
Meanwhile safety razors were emerging - the Kampfe brothers et al were producing lather catchers which took a section of a straight blade and put it on a stick with a guard, and this was developed further with the advent of replaceable machined blades such as the GEM Damaskeene.
And K C Gillette had come up with the weird and counterintuitive idea of a double edge machined blade.
Very inventively Durham Duplex produced a straight razor with double edge replaceable blades and a safety guard which was patented in 1907 and then in 1909 Edward Weck (an immigrant from Solingen to New York) got it exactly right and patented the Sextoblade.
The Sextoblade also came with an optional safety guard, but I think we all agree it shaves better and is a lot more fun without it!
Basically the Sextoblade is a replaceable blade 5/8 frameback.
The original machined carbon steel blades have the same general form as the Damaskeene blades with a separate spine but are longer and thinner.
Framebacks with interchangeable blades had been around for a while, but the Sextoblade used the new machined blades which could be honed and stropped for longevity but also very easily replaced:
Basically the Sextoblade comes in two flavours -Standard with ivorine or celluloid scales at 38g and Medical with steel scales (which can be autoclaved) at about 45g.
There's also the Weck Bantam which has smaller scales and, although originally intended for shaving, eventually downgraded to a hair shaper.
Luckily for us in the 21st century, hair shaper blades are still mass produced and are identical in design to the original Weck blades, giving us an easy supply of stainless steel super sharp blades for the Sextoblade. And there's also the option of honing original carbon steel blades for the true straight experience as was Weck's original intention.
Although a lot of hair shaper blades just aren't suitable for shaving, the Fromm and Personna shaper blades are excellent, and the new "25% Sharper!" Personna blades are easily as sharp as the Feather Pro injector blades (more of them later).
I can get 30 Personna blades for £14.40 and each blade is probably good for ten shaves - and that's ten awesome incredible shaves!
With a Personna blade in it, the Sextoblade is an unbelievably sharp 5/8 frameback and it is very very demanding of technique.
But if you're up for it then the rewards are immense in terms of shave quality.
It takes all my concentration but the Sextoblade shave is the best I know.