I just got one in good shape but it has a minor hitch. Anyone familiar enough with one to maybe offer some advice?
Yep, my Grandpa's and another one I got on ebay. I have used them but not with razor blades that I have "conditioned" to shave with. What's the hitch?
Two things, which may or may not be related. 1. There's a slot on the back which I think is supposed to have a push-down lever that sets the device for a certain number of rotations...push the lever down and crank the handle, and the lever unwinds to stop the thing at maybe 5 passes per side or something like that. Anyway, that lever is entirely gone. The thing still turns and the blade holder does raise, lower and flip so that's not entirely a big deal. But... 2. The big problem is, when it lowers, there appears to now be slop in the mechanism causing the blade to stop about 1/16" above the leather. I can press the blade down against the strop while turning the handle but since there looks to be no way to get the housing apart, I'm guessing it's useless, unless I choose to press it down for every pass. Any ideas? Or scrap it? Thanks,
Sounds like someone messed it up. My Kriss Kross has a tab lever there in the slot and when you push it down it puts more pressure on the blade holder down on the leather, and as the cranking proceeds, the blade keeps flipping over and over and the pressure gradually decreases on the leather, as the little lever moves up. Old rusty blade in my Kriss Kross, but you can see the tab, and yes, the blade holder should push down on the leather. Here is a link to a video that shows how this works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCeWb51xrEY
Well, crap. At least I didn't give as much for it as I've seen them go for. And I can force the blade down onto the leather. Ah well. Thanks for the help...
So what kind of blades do you use them with? I passed up a nice Kriss Kross the other day because I wasn't sure if I could use it with modern blades.
I believe Treet still makes carbon steel blades. And, I'm not sure of this, but rather than an agressive setting, just leave it at the least amount of pressure and "lightly" do a few repititions on some of the other blade. Not sure, though since they are coated, and you don't want to remove coating, just re-align the edge a bit.
