I need to ask this question. I have heard the same type of person (thick rough beard) both say they prefer or need either 1) a wedge to really have the heft to plow down my thick beard or 2) I need the thinnest and sharpest grind I can get to be able to cut through my thick beard. What's the actual science of these things cutting through hair and how do you know which you need or could work for you? It seems they are both capable or plowing through the tough stuff or am I reading it wrong?
Wedge vs. Hollow - I don't get it
- Thread starter catchacoolbreeze
- Start date
Sharp razors do the job. The grind is a bit of preference. Wedges and heavy grinds tend to be heftier and quieter with tough beard (thick whiskers here!), but that’s not to say an extra hollow cannot manage the task with ease. I have many of both and all the spectrum between. If asked I’d say I prefer a heavier grind……yet truth is I also have many hollows in my favorites box as well. I suggest you try some of both and see what you like. But don’t think that one or the other is a must for any beard type - just preference really. Good luck
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
What he said. Either one can get the job done just fine and neither has an advantage, when you add it all up. It is just preference. Whatever gives you that warm gushy mushy feeling.
Yes, and everything in the middle would do too.
They feel very different to shave with, so there is personal preference there. But if they are honed well they should both shave your beard equally.
Having said that, hollow razors are easier to hone, in my experience.
Having said that, hollow razors are easier to hone, in my experience.
I am still a novice with only 53 shaves in the book. Initially I only have 3 hollow grind razors and I don't like them at all as they tug, skip, chatters and just feels horrible...
That was back in 2019 and I don't know how to hone (failed a few times) and unable to find any honer at my place...
I always assume if a have a wedge...this chattering, skippy and tugging would go away...
Skip to present...suddenly found myself a local SR honer with Jnats no less...send all my 3 hollow razors to be work on...
The honer send all back together with his wedge...on loan...
OMG....what a huge difference! Those hollow ground razors are so buttery smooth...didn't realise I have a extra hollow...no more tugs, chatters etc...
So I realised my hollow razor were not shave ready.
The wedge was just as good...its just eerily silent...so silent..hahaha but still smooth and really nice weight in hand.
So now...I love it all...hollow and wedges...although the look of a wedge is kinda more masculine.
Thanks to @Slash McCoy and especially @rbscebu Instructions and guide for using the pasted balsa strops...I am now enjoying both hollow and wedge razors...
I find the pasted balsa edge is sharper than a jnat...
My SR collection grows to 9 with 3 wedges and the rest hollows...
Very enjoyable journey ahead...
That was back in 2019 and I don't know how to hone (failed a few times) and unable to find any honer at my place...
I always assume if a have a wedge...this chattering, skippy and tugging would go away...
Skip to present...suddenly found myself a local SR honer with Jnats no less...send all my 3 hollow razors to be work on...
The honer send all back together with his wedge...on loan...
OMG....what a huge difference! Those hollow ground razors are so buttery smooth...didn't realise I have a extra hollow...no more tugs, chatters etc...
So I realised my hollow razor were not shave ready.
The wedge was just as good...its just eerily silent...so silent..hahaha but still smooth and really nice weight in hand.
So now...I love it all...hollow and wedges...although the look of a wedge is kinda more masculine.
Thanks to @Slash McCoy and especially @rbscebu Instructions and guide for using the pasted balsa strops...I am now enjoying both hollow and wedge razors...
I find the pasted balsa edge is sharper than a jnat...
My SR collection grows to 9 with 3 wedges and the rest hollows...
Very enjoyable journey ahead...
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
Only 9! Obviously still a beginner.
A true wedge is a triangle, a near wedge is slightly concave, and a quarter hollow is pretty much the same thing as a near wedge. Many references to wedges are actually near wedges. Here is a good explanation of the different grinds:
www.badgerandblade.com
As @Slash McCoy said, it's about preference. When properly honed, any of the grinds can mow down multiple days of growth. You will definitely want to experience a quarter hollow/near wedge at some point.
Why are half hollows so unpopular?
I have two half hollows that I am just loving: 1) a 6/8 inch TI Special Coiffeur, and 2) a 5/8 inch J.A. Henckels 42. And I can only find about a handful of new half hollows: 5/8 inch Dovos, and 5/8 and 6/8 inch TIs. I should add that I have read that many Japanese razors have heavier grinds...
www.badgerandblade.com
As @Slash McCoy said, it's about preference. When properly honed, any of the grinds can mow down multiple days of growth. You will definitely want to experience a quarter hollow/near wedge at some point.
Yea, both.
So, with Covid, occasionally I stopped shaving daily, shaved every 2-3 days. One day when test shaving razors, I shaved with a heavy 8/8 razor and a keen #13 Filly with stellar results. The heavy wide blade plowed the beard for the first pass and the Filly 13 did effortless clean up for the second and ATG pass.
This makes a great combo. I hone for several guys with heavy, thick, dense beards, who insist on .3 film or SG30 edges stropped on .01 CBN, way to keen for my face. These are guys that shave twice a day. Most use 6/8 quality hollow ground razors few like the heavy or small razors.
It is just preference, but I have been using the 2-razor solution if I let my beard grow for a couple days.
So, with Covid, occasionally I stopped shaving daily, shaved every 2-3 days. One day when test shaving razors, I shaved with a heavy 8/8 razor and a keen #13 Filly with stellar results. The heavy wide blade plowed the beard for the first pass and the Filly 13 did effortless clean up for the second and ATG pass.
This makes a great combo. I hone for several guys with heavy, thick, dense beards, who insist on .3 film or SG30 edges stropped on .01 CBN, way to keen for my face. These are guys that shave twice a day. Most use 6/8 quality hollow ground razors few like the heavy or small razors.
It is just preference, but I have been using the 2-razor solution if I let my beard grow for a couple days.
Best way to figure out what you like is via trial and error; Try different things, at different times, in different ways.
I have no idea what type of whiskers I have, or how they compare to someone else's. I know some of them are highly problematic and even Feather DE blades can hang up on them. I know they grow in crop circles more than N/S & E/W.
Whatever though, I prefer large blades with heavier grinds because they feel right. Lighter grinds seem to flex too much, or something... not sure to be honest. All I know for sure is that I am happier shaving with heavier grinds. To each their own though. And I do shave with full hollows, just not as often as I do with 1/2 hollow or heavier grinds.
Any grind, properly honed and wielded with good technique, will shave any beard. But reach grind has different characteristics in sound (audible feedback), feel (tactile feedback), and impact on your skin (though that could be attributed to technique).
I do not believe anyone "needs" a particular grind (except at an purely emotional level
).
I do not believe anyone "needs" a particular grind (except at an purely emotional level
).
I started out by buying anything that looked like a bargain, because of course you don't know what you like until you've tried it.
Amongst my growing collection there was one razor in particular that outperformed the others, and I could not figure out why. Same hone, same stropping on balsa, same stropping on leather. There were also razors from a very popular brand that kept on disappointing me, they shaved ok, but never came close to razors that I bought for a lot less money.
For a long time I avoided Filarmonica, thinking it's all hype and surely cannot justify the asking prices. By then I knew I liked thin grinds, and having a reputation for some of the thinnest hollow grinds, I caved in and bought my first one.
To say it changed the way I looked at razors is an understatement. The combination of a wide blade with a very thin grind meets every expectation, for me, and showed that my preference is very clearly for thin grinds. Back to the razor I had almost from start that performed markedly better, and by no co-incidence I found it's a 6/8ths very thin grind as well.
The science makes perfect sense - thin wide blade = acute bevel angle = potential to be very sharp.
Amongst my growing collection there was one razor in particular that outperformed the others, and I could not figure out why. Same hone, same stropping on balsa, same stropping on leather. There were also razors from a very popular brand that kept on disappointing me, they shaved ok, but never came close to razors that I bought for a lot less money.
For a long time I avoided Filarmonica, thinking it's all hype and surely cannot justify the asking prices. By then I knew I liked thin grinds, and having a reputation for some of the thinnest hollow grinds, I caved in and bought my first one.
To say it changed the way I looked at razors is an understatement. The combination of a wide blade with a very thin grind meets every expectation, for me, and showed that my preference is very clearly for thin grinds. Back to the razor I had almost from start that performed markedly better, and by no co-incidence I found it's a 6/8ths very thin grind as well.
The science makes perfect sense - thin wide blade = acute bevel angle = potential to be very sharp.
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I had a somewhat similar experience although I came at it from a different direction. One of my early razors was a W&B that's quarter hollow or heavier. I absolutely love the way it shaves. At the same time I had a bigger Friodur that was nice, but just ok. So I guessed that I might like heavier grinds better. As it turned out, through subsequent experimentation, I didn't care for any of the quarter hollows I tried after that. They shaved fine but the skin feel just wasn't for me. At the same time I got a couple very thin grinds that I just loved. And a couple more...and...
My last purchase was a Herder which in spite of being very thin is quite heavy overall. Not Fili thin, but getting there. And I just love the combo of heavy spine and thin grind. Not that heavier grinds are bad, just that so far I've only got one that I love enough to keep.
Funny you should say Herders!
The one razor, I referred to, that always gave me a great shave was this Herders 77 round point.
I also have two square point 77’s, but this round point Herders beats them by far. Fairly sure the grinds are different.
- Thread starter
- #15
Thank you for all of your responses. They all seem to resonate with me in one shape or another. Some people notice (or are more sensitive to) a difference and some people don't. I am trying to equate this to my DE vs. SE testing - which 1) is obviously not exactly the same as SR grinds and 2) not yet complete.
In the midst of SR shaving I have also been playing with DE / SEs. Obviously the SE blades are stiffer (like a heavier grind) and the DE blades are thinner (like thinner grinds). Both blades pass a HHT for me. Everyone says the Feather AC Pros are the sharpest blades out there but even my duller DE blades pass a HHT after several shaves. Additionally, Gillette Nacets cut through my tough stubble as easy or maybe even slightly easier than Feather AC pros. The thicker blades just "feel" different to me. Yes they are sharp and some give me a comfortable shave (not all of them though) but even when I get comfortable shaves, sometimes I get ingrowns that I never felt during the previous days shave. Its like they just plow through everything including go sub surface without me evening knowing it. The DE blades, even in rigid razors like my Wolfman wr2, have just a little bit of forgiveness and flex (not chatter though). Obviously I am not watching the action of the blade under magnified slow motion camera so I don't know what is actually happening. Its just theory.
Anyway back to grinds - I was thinking this may be what is happening with hollow or very hollow SR grinds??? Maybe the 14 size hollows give you the best of both worlds - a little extra heft to plow through the tough stuff but a finer edge with for superb cutting?
In the midst of SR shaving I have also been playing with DE / SEs. Obviously the SE blades are stiffer (like a heavier grind) and the DE blades are thinner (like thinner grinds). Both blades pass a HHT for me. Everyone says the Feather AC Pros are the sharpest blades out there but even my duller DE blades pass a HHT after several shaves. Additionally, Gillette Nacets cut through my tough stubble as easy or maybe even slightly easier than Feather AC pros. The thicker blades just "feel" different to me. Yes they are sharp and some give me a comfortable shave (not all of them though) but even when I get comfortable shaves, sometimes I get ingrowns that I never felt during the previous days shave. Its like they just plow through everything including go sub surface without me evening knowing it. The DE blades, even in rigid razors like my Wolfman wr2, have just a little bit of forgiveness and flex (not chatter though). Obviously I am not watching the action of the blade under magnified slow motion camera so I don't know what is actually happening. Its just theory.
Anyway back to grinds - I was thinking this may be what is happening with hollow or very hollow SR grinds??? Maybe the 14 size hollows give you the best of both worlds - a little extra heft to plow through the tough stuff but a finer edge with for superb cutting?
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