Half flat half hollow ground razors

[Kees]

Occasionally you see straights that are hollow ground on one side and flat ground on the other side.

I know they were used to make thin slices for microscopic slides. Can you shave with them? How are they to shave with? The reason I ask is I saw a Dorko like that the other day.

 

[A.de.Lioncourt]

I imagine you could shave with them effectively, as most Japanese razors follow a similar pattern. The questions would be in how hard the steel is(probably fine,) and your ability to hone one.

You should probably be asking yourself if you can get to an autoclave though before you ask about the shavability.

 

[Thebigspendur]

These razors were not designed to shave with. The way the were ground there really is no cutting edge on one side. I'm not saying you can't shave with one, you can try. Japanese razors are not this way. the are asymmetric however they have cutting edges on both sides and will work on both sides though they are designed to shave from one side only. Japanese razors have concave blades on one side to convex on the other.