How tall is too tall?

[Bear_Blade]

Gentlemen, at what point, do you feel a razor is too tall, and is becoming awkward? I see a ton of 7/8, quite a few 8/8, but is there really many people who like them bigger? Would 5/8 or 6/8 be more common? I have some Damascus on hand, some that would allow a 9/8, but is that getting silly?

What are your thoughts?

 

[SliceOfLife]

I've never owned a vintage bigger than 17/16ths, but it might have been 9/8ths originally. I know people have had customs made at least to 10/8ths, but I don't recall any reports as to how easy they were to use. Personally, 17/16'ths isn't really any harder than 7/8ths, so I wouldn't worry too much about going up as high as 9/8ths, but I think going above that is risking the quality of the shave just for bragging rights.

 

[Sando]

9/8 is the outer edge of usable for me.
Anything bigger wouldn't increase the quality of the shave just the quantity of brag...

 

[daflorc]

I love my 8/8, 9/8, and 10/8 razors. The only difficulty is trying to shave with the grain under your nose...

 

[Uncle Jackie]

Though I'm not too experienced, I find anything over 6/8 a bit awkward to work with.

 

[silver]

I find it's mostly just for show/novelty. While I love to use a big chopper once in a while (especially with a few weeks of growth), if I'm shaving regularly I stick to my 5/8 to 6/8 razors. Much easier to handle.

 

[pmaster]

For myself, 13/16 is pretty much the sweet spot. I haven't tried anything over 7/8 but I find that size to be convenient since you can carry plenty of lather without rinsing and you don't have trouble maneuvering it under the nose.

I love the looks of 1 inch blades though (a full wedge must start getting heavy at that size?)

 

[Acmemfg]

7/8 is the limit for me; have to say my 4/8 is considerably more nimble around the upper lip though. Bad thing there is however I have big hands and a larger razor just "fits" better.

 

[alpster]

I have a couple of 7/8 choppers and I like shaving with them, but I don't shave my lip.

 

[MileMarker60]

Not a easy question to answer...

Here's where the problem is... I would guess the most commonly used razors are in the 5/8-6/8.
On the other hand most custom orders are 7/8,8/8, and larger. I would say 70% of custom orders are for 8/8's and they sale pretty quickly.
5/8-6/8 customs just don't sale as well nor are they requested that often.

There's only a few makers that I can think of that consistently make 5/8-6/8 that sale quickly.

 

[ACorazza]

My sweet spot is 13/16-15/16. I have one razor that almost 17/16 and I like it but it is very heavy. I use it when I have a heavy beard and only want one pass because it mows hair down like nothing else but it can be tedious to use due to its size and weight. It's a FBU and in addition to its width it also is longer than most of my other razors and by far the heaviest one I've held.

 

[Doc226]

I like 7/8 to 8/8, larger does not really present a problem, once you get bigger than fits underneath the nose a few 8ths mean nothing.

Bear if you want to make a big one and send it my for testing I would be more than happy to play along.

11/8th, 12/8th, I'm game

 

[Gamma]

To me - balance in hand and good visual proportion are more important than size.

 

[PapaFish]

I had a 7/8 near-wedge that was a monster. Perfect balance, and a huge barber's notch that made it very nimble. I liked it's heft, and never found it hard to see around. I wouldn't hesitate to pick up an 8/8, 9/8 or 10/8 razor, if only I could find one in my price range... I'm considering finding a big, thick, heavy metal file, and creating my own.
With that said, I also have a <5/8 near wedge that also gives a fantastic shave. It cost considerably less, too.

 

[bluesman 7]

I'm considering finding a big, thick, heavy metal file, and creating my own.
.

That's a cool idea. If you do it, I would suggest starting with a new file. I found an old, very dull, monster file in a scrap yard once and tried forging it into a knife. It was full of fatigue cracks from someone bearing down on those dull teeth.

 

[Kentos]

All thing being equal other than width, bigger the better. Mainly because I can get a 6/8 off ebay for 25.00 but a 9/8's? Not so easy.

 

[Slash McCoy]

I don't have or want anything over 7/8 and seldom shave with anything over 6/8.

 

[Brooksie967]

I'm all for big but prefer big to be full hollow. When talking wedges I really don't like bigger than 7/8 but full hollow at 8/8 or bigger would be wonderful.

I don't see many custom razor makers doing anything FULL hollow these days, not sure why.

 

[bluesman 7]

I wouldn't hesitate to pick up an 8/8, 9/8 or 10/8 razor, if only I could find one in my price range... I'm considering finding a big, thick, heavy metal file, and creating my own.

Now you did it. Your post caused me to clean my shop, so that I could get to the anvil, and hammer out a pattern in mild steel to make sure I could get an 8/8 out of a .25" x .75" piece of tool steel. The answer is yes, tool steel on its way. I know, pictures or it didn't happen. I'll start a new thread with pictures. I'm a film user, so of coarse my camera takes film also. It will be a few days before I can get digital pictures. I gotta keep using up rolls of film

 

[PapaFish]

Woohoo! Make two, document the process, post on B&B. Include some lessons learned, or what you would do differently next time around. I'm serious when I say I want to do this, I just don't have the time at the moment...