Thread: Smile grinds

I have been purchasing some starter razors and have noted that at least two of them from the early part of the century have a smile grind in them-actually a sway in the spine-was this a common feature of straights at one time?

yes and it still is especially for custom types.

that was my impression as a couple of the razors are good brands, good steel and seem to shave well-or at least better than I do- and obviously have a design feature which promotes the smile.

I enjoy shaving with a smiley, sway-back razor.
The thing that saddens me is when they have had the smile honed out of them.

I have a King Cutter with a nice smile and it is indeed a good shaver. Did these typically come with a smile?

Hey, Thance.

The smiling blade would seem to take a bit more care to make, but some of us love them dearly. They seem to inject some of the scything/guillotine stroke by nature of the curve. In one of Jimmyhad's posts that linked an old barber's manual, it spoke of a frown in a blade making for an edge that pulls. Though it didn't say so - that would imply that a smiling blade would be less likely to pull. Whether or not that's a fair statement, I've gotten to like the smiling blades so much I rarely look twice at a straight edge. They take a bit more skill or care when honing, but it pays off. Just my .02.

Smilers are also great for getting into hollows, crannies, and nooks. Often with a straight straight, especially one with a spike, the tip'll bite ya before your work is done in the hollow.

Come the zombie apocalypse, smilers are also much better designed for slashing. Like Saracean (sp?) swords but small and foldable.