Howdy all

I had a random question that i hope you all could help with.

Out of the dubl duck razors which is considered the better one? Is it the golden edge, of the wonder edge? And what is it that makes one better than the other?

RIIIIIiiiiiiiip:

That my friend was the top coming off the can-o-worms







Some people believe that there is NO difference between any of them, there are other's that take the middle ground and feel there was some differences at least in the Wonderedge..
Others believe that just like many other companies there were slight differences in each blade...


Now IMHO which comes from many many many DD razors going across my stones and skin... I seem to get quite a few in for work and for honing, if people know you like a particular brand they are more apt to send you their prized baby for work...

I would say that the Wonderedge is different it feels different on the hones and the face it is a very thin grind too...

The other DD's have their slight differences too but that could be all grind and not steel...

The true strength of the DD's through is not which is better, it is the fact that they are IME, without a doubt, the most consistent razor brand out there...
If you have a un-damaged DD it will hone easy, and shave great, that is what makes them shine...


Also as a side note Dubl Duck did not make razors, no one is positive who actually made them, some show up with Puma stamps, and Dovo stamps too, but we're not sure what that really means either... Could mean that Puma and Dovo made some in the later years or it could mean that one company made blanks for all three at one time??????

They had different names over the years too Bresduck, and Pearlduck...

BRESDUCK INC.
224 Canal Street, New York City
Also used trademarks "DUBL-DUCK", "LIFETIME", "NAPOLEON", "BEAU BRUMMEL", "DEUTSCH", "SATINEDGE"
ca. 1930 - 1952; firm became known as Pearlduck in 1952

PEARLDUCK, INC
224 Canal St., New York City
Trademark: "DUBL DUCK"
Formerly Bresduck, Inc.
ca. 1947 - 1952

Wow. I didn't know that. Thank you for the valuable information, gssixgun.

Yeah... I was thinking my first eBay razor, which was the first (I think) razor I'd honed from a chipped, unusable condition, honed up very easily, compared to later razors. I had an antique find, waited on that as it was a "personal" razor for having my two cities engraved on the shank, but the dubl duck was impressive. My "first" was a pearlduck dwarf, I got another professionally honed, because I lack the paste to bring it up to 30k, it's a bresduck special no. 1. I haven't even touched it because I'm using professionally honed razors lightly, interspersed between my self-honed razors (chromium). Just to learn to feel the difference.

The Dwarf is only an 1/4 of an in or so smaller than the other, it honed up easy for my first time.. on Nortons. Then I finally brought it up to the spyderco ultra-fine when it finally became workable. Man oh man what a good shaver. Definently excellent blades.

Just snagged these Pics off of E-bay

The other DD namesake was Bresnick forgot to add that above Dooh !!!

This is the same razor tang...

The front is





Look at the stamp on the back








See what I mean, the story gets rather murky

+1 on the info. This stuff is fascinating to me. Thanks.
Can't say that my feeble mind will retain it, but I like it!
I am amazed at the depth and range of knowledge about a subject that to most is relatively obscure. So much to learn, so little time.

For me it's the "Goldedge".

:signs108

Hey Glen, on a side note, are all Solingen blades created equal? That is, are they worth picking up at the antique shops and flea markets?

And now, back to our originally scheduled thread.

Very interesting discussion. Thanks for the information

No they are not all equal IMHO, but I would snap up any vintage Solingen stamped razor I found that is in good shape at a good price... Always look at the spine wear, and the toe, and the heel, that tells a huge story about the razor's life...
Now keep in mind I look at razor through a Restorist's eyes to me the blade is the only thing that matters, everything else on the razor can be fixed or changed... Even broken half tangs, that was, I think, the last obstacle, and I just did one this month, so if the blade is solid, it is a good razor in my eyes...



Note the vintage look for the tang to be stamped, there are some new Pakistani and Chinese razors trying to skirt the trade law by having Solingen scales put on the razor....

I came across a Goldedge that needs a little attention. Need to get it cleaned up and honed.

I love this thread the first straight I got my hands on is a satin edge. Lots of new knowledge for me. I can’t wait to actually shave with it.

My Wonderedge. Ducks are fine shavers, indeed!

I saw a 5/8 "satin edge" today at an antique store with clear scales. Appeared to be unused.

How much were they asking??

Kind of like this one??

$95

Yes, but not yellowed.

More like this?? I bought, and restored this, a year ago.

I first spoke with Solingen master grinders 8yrs ago in my first Solingen trip, and at that time there was a senior fellow who'd been a master grinder some 60yrs,...he & I chatted [through translator] and he decreed (rather authoritatively as Germans are rather wont to do) all Dubl Ducks were made in Dovo's factory space same as today (it was destroyed in 1945 but rebuilt in the same plot) regardless of the stampings, were all one steel, with just differences in the blanks for the various models (there is a little wedge grind dubl duck out there somewhere that uses the blank form of Dovo #42 of today, really made only for barbers to cut hair not beard, and that one had a different recipe). He probably got started in his career just as the Ducks ended and undoubtedly must have worked with many who ground them, and also told me that {name of a wonderful is slightly-below-the-radar US brand}'s grinders had trained in their factory and took with them to US the use of the convex stone.

They had a showroom with trophy case and every Dubl Duck model and various models of other brands that were produced in that facility were there; Tennis, early Bismarck, etc. etc.

The blanks were not all the same blanks, and that's an important point because differences remain in a blank from the shaping (drop forging) bit of the work that will remain thereafter.

The steel formulation, however, was identical, as was the tempering procedures. So all this stuff about wonder/satin/goldedge, anything ya'll are feeling different, chalk that up to either your subjective perception or the ability of the blank itself to impart a permanent difference. That old dude wasn't one for hyperbole.

It is not at all uncommon in Solingen (or France) for one company to get untempered/unground blanks commissioned for another company and work them in to the finished product on their tools, the Frankenrazors as I call 'em.

Very interesting hearing first hand of your conversations with actual German craftsmen. I do thank you for some enlightening. I would also be interested if you have visited other grinders in Solingen, Wacker, Revisor, for example??
As a side track: hindsight being 20/20, I sure wish I would have visited Solingen area when I lived in Germany. I was more interested at that time in visiting the gasthauses, sampling the beer