Description
Wacker’s #1031 “Best Tradition” is a very hollow ground 6/8″ model with rounded point and a face befitted with the classic Solingen coat-of-arms. It is ~6/8″ from the grind line on the spine to the bevel plane, with a ~17° cutting angle and excellent concavity. The tang is ~5.75mm thick, impressive for any 6/8″ razor, with deeply-sculpted file jimps. The Best Tradition features a spine decor which I believe from observation to be laser-etched.
Wacker is the quintessential “Mom & Pop” straight razor maker, or in this case more accurately “father and son” – quite literally accurate, in fact.
Wacker uses the same 1.2210 (115CrV3) carbon steel as all the other Solingen producers, and then does all their own grinding/tempering/honing themselves using time-tested methods and equipment that is both ancient and wonderful.
Wacker almost exclusively uses horn for their scales production, and fashions them entirely themselves from domestic farms in France. However, this was a special run of this razor just for us, with a birch wood handle, because we note the pinning of the modern horn razor scales is a bit too much inward from the scale edge, and the horn scales are just too thick (both cognizant choices made by Wacker and the other Solingen outfits to satisfy the demands of buyers without the foresight to understand that it is better to have a high-maintenance flexible horn than a less elegant and inert one).
“Shave Ready”?
This business is wholly centered upon the sale of one hollow ground straight razor to one shaver one at a time; “1 str8rzr alone” is ~50% of all our orders. You may elect to have your Wacker with factory edge or further honed by ‘TSS’, as only you see fit; there is not a right or wrong answer. ‘TSS’ rather doubts the worth of debating this ‘Shave Ready’ concept today; anyone can bandy that term about as if objective, meaningful information (like a sprinter’s time), but in fact it is completely subjective.
If you elect for the factory edge (= do nothing, no note needed @ checkout), you’ll receive your razor exactly as its manufacturers intended…pretty simple! The factory seal’s been breached, yes, but only so you could choose from individual pictures of stock.
If you elect for The Superior Shave to further hone your razor [plz add a note to vendor @ checkout], this Wacker shall be honed in the manner taught in 2016 to The Superior Shave’s proprietor by two kind Solingen master grinders (whom did/do not work for Dovo, but do use similar 1840s grinders’ textbooks methods). Regardless of their poor refinement compared to further-honed ‘Honemeister’ edges on offer, some physical elements of factory edges remain superior to most further honing attempts. The Superior Shave will devote the extra time to your razor a dying industry cannot afford in overhead, without taking away the factory edge’s inherently advantaged geometric metrics. We’re confident we offer the materially thinnest further-honed-by-vendor edge available for purchase – you’ll need to try that to understand why it matters. Please note: in the professional opinions of German and French razor grinders, a straight razor is not properly honed unless flush to the hone, without tape, so visual evidence of honing is unavoidable when honing is performed correctly according to its makers (we add Vaseline to your razor’s faces and use compatible honing fluid to help a little).
We hone with a method best coined as “the opposite of tape“ where a hone’s geometry’s wholly catered to performance of the razor and to no other concern. Unfortunately, this topic cannot be discussed upon any English-based straight-razor-centric forum because a select group of e-enthusiasts cannot abide such open discourse. Be encouraged to think for yourself, and let your beard and sense of touch be the judge; there is a lot of misinformation out there, much purportedly from experts! We wish you good shopping, and Happy Shaving.
