Widest commercially produced razor?

Barring display razors, the "meat choppers" are the largest and heaviest. 7/8 is the the most common, with the 1 1/4 being a little hard to find, there is even a 1 1/2 size that one see's sometimes.

The Meat Chopper style isn't hard to find, but most folks don't use straight razor lingo. The style is primarly English, with Wade and Butcher and Wostenholm making the bulk of them that I've seen.

A good plain one should run $50-75.
 
I can't give you any real information on the collector value of the razors as I buy all my straights to use. But I can tell you that the biggest razors produced were 12/8 wide. I have seen razors by Wade and Butcher, Wostenholm, Joseph Rodgers and Joseph Smith all coming in at 12/8. I'm a big fan of the old Sheffield meat choppers, but these ones are a bit too big for me, just a solid chunk of steel with a razor sharp edge they don't really handle too well.
The largest commercially available straights today are 7/8 Thiers Issard blades, but you can still pick up New Old Stock Solingen razors like Henckels in 8/8.
Speaking of 12/8 razors, Bill Ellis of billysblades.com recently made a 12/8 custom for a member of the SRP forum. Link Regards,
Alex
 
I have no idea about any of those brand names, but Dovo / Merkur makes some beautiful ones. Prices vary depending mainly on the steel used (Some are Stainless, some aren't... aim for the non-stainless ones, they maintain easier) ...and the handle materials as well.
 
I have this thing for Wade and Butchers, and Double Ducks. They shave as good as my Genco and Dovos. Most of mine are 5/8s and 9/16s, but I have a Dovo that is 7/8. I think that anything bigger than a 7/8 would be more of a novelty than a working razor.

I have to admit that since I went to using straights, sometimes shaving is the best part of the day!

Semper Fi!
 
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