Thread: full hollow vs half hollow

Could someone please explain to me the difference between full hollow and half hollow ground, what this means, and what are the benefits/pitfalls of each.
Also if someone could explain stainless vs carbon steel and the benefits/pitfalls
Thanks!

Rather than try and explain it, here's a link that will give visual input. The straight razor - Straight Razor Place Wiki The full hollow will have less weight, more flex in the edge and is noisier when shaving. Many call it a singing razor.

The half hollow will have a little more weight, a little less flex and be less audible.

Which to use is a preference thing. Many new shavers like the heavier less flexing blades because they sometimes make up for some bad technique issues. However as technique improves many will move to the full hollow. My experience.

Stainless is just that. Not given to rust easily, even though some say they will. I haven't had any issues with my stainless, but they're treated the same as the carbon steel blades. Stainless uses alloys containing metals such as nickel, etc. that do not easily react with oxygen. Carbon steel is more reactive with oxygen and will rust easier. Stainless can, but not always, take a few more passes on the hones, being, in most cases a little harder steel.

Hope this helps some.

Regards,
Howard

Like Howard said it is something you have to try and see what you like. Even then , if you're like me, you'll find yourself liking one better then the other one week and liking the other better the next week. Both get the job done if they are shave ready and the practitioner has the skills to use them.

I am having a little trouble understanding the single and double grinds.

It is a matter of how far up to the spine and how deep or tapered the grind is. Full hollow is tissue paper thin damn near. When you get into the increments of quarter and half hollow, full wedge, they get thicker in the belly of the blade down to the edge. The edge of a true full hollow can actually flex while you're shaving. Most razors made for the past 50 or more years tend to be full hollow until the custom guys began. The very old stuff tended to be wedges and quarter to half hollow. IMHO.

Originally Posted by ccase39

I am having a little trouble understanding the single and double grinds.

Go to the link I posted and scroll down just below the drawings. The 2nd group of two pics. The one on the right, if you look closely it thins from the spine downward, and then just above the edge widens a little before ending in the edge. That lets them grind very thin, but so much steel is taken away that if they continued all the way to the edge it would be very difficult to maintain the integrity of the edge and near edge because it would be so thin. So, they widen it to give a little " room to work with", and some edge stability.

I know a lot of guys like a bellied razor. It has some edge stiffness, but at the same time, overall, still flexes.

So the second set of pics are double ground?

Originally Posted by ccase39

So the second set of pics are double ground?

Yes, but you can more easily see it in the razor on the right.

Originally Posted by SirStropalot

Rather than try and explain it, here's a link that will give visual input. The straight razor - Straight Razor Place Wiki The full hollow will have less weight, more flex in the edge and is noisier when shaving. Many call it a singing razor.

The half hollow will have a little more weight, a little less flex and be less audible.

Which to use is a preference thing. Many new shavers like the heavier less flexing blades because they sometimes make up for some bad technique issues. However as technique improves many will move to the full hollow. My experience.

Stainless is just that. Not given to rust easily, even though some say they will. I haven't had any issues with my stainless, but they're treated the same as the carbon steel blades. Stainless uses alloys containing metals such as nickel, etc. that do not easily react with oxygen. Carbon steel is more reactive with oxygen and will rust easier. Stainless can, but not always, take a few more passes on the hones, being, in most cases a little harder steel.

Hope this helps some.

Regards,
Howard

An extremely helpful and informative post.

Thanks :-)

I've always wondered if the type of razor cut differently. Like does a heavier blade like a near wedge better at cutting through thicker hair than an extra hollow.