There are some Japanese western style wedges. Yukio Kamijo razors were often wedges, very rare. Iwasaki made a few also. There are German wedges, many of which were made for the USA market for barbers supply outlets, retailers or stamped for named brands.
To address content in Polarbeards post:
"In 1876 Carl Friedrich Ern introduced a new revolutionary machine "die Hexe"."
As far as I am aware the Hexe grinder was introduced in 1893.
"Up until 1876 almost every razor made had had a strict triangular shape with no grinding at all."
Razors always have been ground on wheels going all the way back to at least the 17th century and likely before. Now the wheels might be large enough to impart a very small amount of concavity to the faces of the blade but it is there. Most razors from the 19th century were ground on wheels about 10-12 inches in diameter which, while large, will leave an obvious space between the face of the blade and a flat surface when the razor is placed upon it. There were razors made in the 1800's with grinds created on wheels as small as 3 inches which is about the size they use when creating the initial hollow on a modern razor.
"They are heavy, difficult to hone and strop and it is nearly impossible to shave with next to no blade angle against the skin."
Yes they are heavy compared to full hollow razors. Difficulty of stropping is subjective. Difficulty of honing is subjective. Ability to shave with a wedge is subjective.
"Everything produced up until then was suddenly obsolete."
It's not like the wedge razors stopped cutting hair off peoples faces is it? There are actual and theoretical advantages to hollow ground razors which may or may not have contributed to them gaining market dominance, that is true, but they have little to do with the primary function of the tool, cutting hair and are more to do with much easier maintainance of the razor (Early ad's for hollow ground razor sometimes tout the fact they "never need to be reground"). In fact the golden age of USA made razors saw many wedges (Genco, Union, Bowdin's, Cattaraugus, etc.) which would bring into question the idea they became "obsolete". Also of note is that if you read old grinding manuals such as Ebeneezer Rhodes Essay on Razor Manufacture (easily searchable on Google), razors with thinner grinds were not popular, Rattler grinds and grinds created on wheels smaller than about 7-8 inches were described as not ideal since they "vibrate" too much while shaving.
To address content in Polarbeards post:
"In 1876 Carl Friedrich Ern introduced a new revolutionary machine "die Hexe"."
As far as I am aware the Hexe grinder was introduced in 1893.
"Up until 1876 almost every razor made had had a strict triangular shape with no grinding at all."
Razors always have been ground on wheels going all the way back to at least the 17th century and likely before. Now the wheels might be large enough to impart a very small amount of concavity to the faces of the blade but it is there. Most razors from the 19th century were ground on wheels about 10-12 inches in diameter which, while large, will leave an obvious space between the face of the blade and a flat surface when the razor is placed upon it. There were razors made in the 1800's with grinds created on wheels as small as 3 inches which is about the size they use when creating the initial hollow on a modern razor.
"They are heavy, difficult to hone and strop and it is nearly impossible to shave with next to no blade angle against the skin."
Yes they are heavy compared to full hollow razors. Difficulty of stropping is subjective. Difficulty of honing is subjective. Ability to shave with a wedge is subjective.
"Everything produced up until then was suddenly obsolete."
It's not like the wedge razors stopped cutting hair off peoples faces is it? There are actual and theoretical advantages to hollow ground razors which may or may not have contributed to them gaining market dominance, that is true, but they have little to do with the primary function of the tool, cutting hair and are more to do with much easier maintainance of the razor (Early ad's for hollow ground razor sometimes tout the fact they "never need to be reground"). In fact the golden age of USA made razors saw many wedges (Genco, Union, Bowdin's, Cattaraugus, etc.) which would bring into question the idea they became "obsolete". Also of note is that if you read old grinding manuals such as Ebeneezer Rhodes Essay on Razor Manufacture (easily searchable on Google), razors with thinner grinds were not popular, Rattler grinds and grinds created on wheels smaller than about 7-8 inches were described as not ideal since they "vibrate" too much while shaving.
