Demon Barber Of Fleet Street

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Phyltre

Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Messages
18
I'm sure some of you may have seen the recent Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Maybe some of you, like myself, have sworn off barber shops in the wake of viewing that movie.

However, watching the movie, I was struck by the simple efficiency of the razor. I found myself thinking back to designs like Fred Perrin's Street Cleaver and Street Surgeon.
http://www.bladeart.com/artists/fred_perrin/fred_perrin.htm
I'd love to wear one of these as a necklace--they're art, frankly--but the kydex sheath takes it off the everyday carry list. There's an invisible barrier between fixed and folding blades that an EDC shouldn't cross. Any way to drop the kydex?

Or, has such a knife been designed in a folding configuration? Or perhaps something similar--something simple, brutal, and elegant with a deceptively small cutting edge? Tiny and dreaming to sever?

sweeney%20todd%20blog%20edit.jpg
 
I am curious as to why Kydex is unacceptable for you. In a neck knife like the Street Cleaver it is the most secure sheath material IMO. I have one and have used it at work on and off for a couple of years now with no problem. Fixed blades are perfectly acceptable as EDC unless they are illegal in your area. They are not necklaces- they are fully functional knives and need to be respected as such. Your comments about "Brutal and elegant...Dreaming to sever" make me question why you are considering carrying such an implement. Kind of brings the words "mall ninja" to mind. Could you please elaborate on why you are interested on carrying something like this.
 
It's not that Kydex is unacceptable to me. I've used it and will continue to use it for fixed blades (and even things with no blades at all); it's just that I'm looking for some other method to cover the blade for this particular application. And maybe you misunderstand me, or vice versa, but how is something as beautiful as Perrin's work not a necklace? Obviously they are still fully functional knives, and exemplary ones at that. The greatest beauty is captured in function, if nature is any indicator! It's just that a black Kydex in this application, to me, hurts the aesthetic. Simple as that.

As for the remainder of your remarks, please rest assured that I too use knives every day and carry them whenever I can. On boxes at work, meat in the kitchen, and those accursed plastic clamshell deathtraps whenever I see them. Heck, I've gone over tree-lines with machetes, axes, bush-axes, hatchets...and the stumps with pickaxes, shovels, tow chains, and good old fashioned gasoline. Not sure why you'd go questioning why I'd consider carrying a knife just because I majored in English.
 
Personally, I'd love to get a straight-blade folding razor like the ones in the movie, those were GORGEOUS knives. Quite possibly on par with the girl next to me at the time.
 
Oh, that was a wonderful movie!!! I thought Johnny Depp did an excellent job!

Phyltre, that picture you posted, right at the end of the song "My Friends" , where Sweeney looks up at his razor and says "At last....my arm is complete again!" - a classic line! I just received my Hell Razor from the Busse folks in the mail yesterday, and I lifted it up and said that line. My girlfriend, who saw the movie, knew exactly what I was going to say as I lifted the knife up!

Yeah, I went shopping for razors, too. I haven't bought one, yet, but I found a nice one with a bit of modern flair, the Razolution, at the Nashville Knife shop:

http://www.nashvilleknifeshop.com/rastra.html

One of their Razolution shaving sets was about $220...not cheap, but not too bad, either. I'm definitely thinking about getting one...I'd like to try a shave with a straight razor, to see how I do. It might be kind of cool to switch!

Anyway, great movie...if you like musicals (or even if you don't), go see it. It's a darker feel than the stage play...Burton definitely was going for a more horrific feel. The stage play underscores the humor in it a bit more. Regardless, though, the acting was excellent, especially by Depp. And the razors rock!
 
Phyltre said:
There's an invisible barrier between fixed and folding blades that an EDC shouldn't cross.
Click to expand...
I don't see any reason not to carry a (small) FB as an EDC: I do! I designed a 2" blade, ~3.5" handle wharncliffe (slightly longer blade, shorter handle than the Street Cleaver) which I carry in my pocket every day.
 
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