Heel Removal

[aussie]

From time to time I see SRs with the heel removed and I wonder if this serves any purpose. I imagine it might be harder to hone this way?

 

[Darth Scandalous]

Seems to have been popular with Japanese barbers., sometimes it was done pretty well but often kind of ham-handedly. You can see how this one has the heel ground forward and also the tang was ground off too...complete with scratch marks up onto the face of the blade. I'm guessing they found the shorter cutting edge easier to use (think of the size of a typical kamisori compared to a western straight). As far as honing, no it doesn't make any difference, in fact it's probably easier because you don't have to worry about honing up onto the stabilizer.

 

[luv2shave]

Seems to have been popular with Japanese barbers., sometimes it was done pretty well but often kind of ham-handedly. You can see how this one has the heel ground forward and also the tang was ground off too...complete with scratch marks up onto the face of the blade. I'm guessing they found the shorter cutting edge easier to use (think of the size of a typical kamisori compared to a western straight). As far as honing, no it doesn't make any difference, in fact it's probably easier because you don't have to worry about honing up onto the stabilizer.
View attachment 1481240

someone sure hated shoulders on his SRs...

 

[Steve56]

Japanese barbers did it to make the razor a shortie, others relieve the heel to a lesser extent when the blade wore down to the stabilizer. The latter case will avoid honing the stabilizer if you’re careless honing and developing a heel hook if you are not.

 

[Darth Scandalous]

someone sure hated shoulders on his SRs...

It has to do with grip. If you're shaving someone else, you can hold it kamisori style with the scales straight out, and the ground off shoulder allows for you to comfortably hold it between the thumb and one or two fingers, choking up on the blade.