I put my Sherlock hat on tonight and spent some time trying to piece together some information about the razor...this is the best I've come up with so far... This marking showing the number #17 and the crown above it on the blade was registered in 1884 (founding of razor works) and used till close to 1920. So the closest 'dating' that can be made would be somewhere within those 30-35 years. Then, subsequently, the #69 was registered. The razor has a fixed razor blade in a frame that can be removed and is not a hollow ground. Blade is 2.9" long (7.3 cm), width of blade average about 1/2" (12 mm), with frame about 11/16" (18 mm) It features a curvature that was typical of the Thiers frameback blades. Scales are made out of bakelite. Now, granted that's from browsing the internet but so far it's the best information I could find.
White 'wedge'…. —and I personally would consider this a 'changeable blade' frame back‚—because of the present set-screw—if we're splitting hairs or tossing about nomenclature. 'True' frame backs dont necessarily have a set-screw and merely have pressed-in blades Set-screw design: No set-screw…press-in blade
Here is my understanding of the term "Frameback" 1. True Frameback - Consisting of a separate metal frame that the blade was "Attached" to 2. Frameback - These have a blade and tang of thin metal and a "Frame" pressed onto the top of the blade that acts as a honing guide or spine 3. Faux Frameback - These are a single piece of steel ground longitudinally to give a thinner aspect to the blade, this was a stopgap measure before double hollow grinding became perfected in England sometimes also called a "Rattler" popularity kept the style going.. This is by no means the end all be all definition but it seems to be from my research and others to be pretty accurate
The guys over at the Straightrazor forum were kind enough to dig out some additional information on Thiers-Issard that I thought some people here might find interesting as well; 1) A list of French stamps commonly used on razors and knives that can help in identifying the maker and date Link 2) An extract out of an old ledger showing that 17 was indeed a TI model (even though it's excluded from the list above):
It is now on its way to @gssixgun who I am certain will take good care of it. Excited to try it out when it comes back to me
Sent the Thiers-Issard out to @gssixgun who took it apart and did various things to it - many of which I don't understand fully being more of a DE guy, but they were; - Basic Clean and Hone by hand using Rags, Q-Tips and Blue Magic to clean the steel and scales, - Doused the channel and the screw w/ some Kroil to loosen the blade and threads, - Broke it all down, cleaned it up using Q-Tip and Blue Magic, - Honed it using Chosera 1-5-10 and finished w/ a Nakayams All I know is that it looks fantastic - just as discussed Glen left the patina on the blade - and it's super smooth, yet firm to open and close. Also the hair on my left hand can testify that it's shaves extremely well Really excited to try this one out and will move it up in my '1 razor - 1 week' s/sheet so that it gets a spot end-April for a week! Thanks again @gssixgun !
Alright! Now onto the shaving! That razor cleaned up nicely! Glen knows his way around this vintage face scrapers so you are in for a treat- despite your limited SR experience...
Shave Report Took me two months but this morning I got to put steel to face using this beautiful Thiers-Issard. Now, I am as much of a noob as one can be when it comes to straight razor shaving so I didn't feel all that confident as I started to lather up this morning. I've used a shavette 3-4 times (ugh) and my Diamondine straight razor I think 5-6 times but neither of them w/in the past six months. I've never really felt fully comfortable/confident when using a straight which of course probably has made me more reluctant to pick one up as a daily razor. But, well, there I was, all lathered up ready to go... I used Klar Kabinett soap and Myrsol emulsion as pre-shave. I started out on the throat going WTG - it went surprisingly well. Might I even say 'easy'? That @gssixgun sure knows how to give a blade an edge! I was especially surprised that it was as effortless as it was around the adam's apple - and area I sometimes need to do some clean-ups when I use a safety razor. I moved on to the cheeks and it was still pretty smooth sailing. A tiny bit of tugging but nothing too bad. I felt very Clint Eastwood. First weeper appeared on the left side of my face due to me being over confident and speeding up. "Finding the right grip" is still something I am having a bit of a challenge with..especially when switching between the sides of my face. It doesn't feel completely natural. The real challenge ended up being the area around my mouth - basically where you'll have a goatee. Hardest of it was the area under the nose. I approached it slowly. Got a second weeper and decided that I had done enough for today with the straight. My throat and cheeks were actually rather smooth. I grabbed one of the smoothest DE's I have - a Gillette blue tip and finished it all off with an ATG pass with it. Smooth and clean shaven. I stropped the razor (ridiculously slowly I must admit) 20-25 times on the leather and another 10-15 times on the canvas before I put on some Anherb ASB and called it a day morning. Personally, I think I did pretty well. There was some blood (hello @NCoxSTL) but not too bad. I'm quite honestly looking forward to tomorrow morning. Gonna strop it a little bit and then see if I can improve on confidence and grip.
It is a peculiar feeling putting that blade against your throat the first time. Well done though and yes, thanks for the blood. My day is now complete.
Thanks. I do feel kinda bad for 'chickening out' and using the DE for the area around the mouth but I'll see if I can't improve a bit this week.
Thats not being a chicken....that's prudence. I found with the CJB that once I got that nervous feeling I needed to switch to DE. It rakes confidence to shave with a straight. Build up to it!!!
Nice job today and what a beautiful razor you have there! I'm sure the shaves will continue to improve!
I don't know that I would do well shaving around my mouth. Thats part of the reason I have the facial hair I have. I have had a mustache since I could first grow one. I agree with Neal, once you get nervous, grab the DE. The awkard grip thing gets better with more practice. Congrats on your first straight razor shave. I can't wait to see what your stright razor collection looks like when if you get bit with that bug.
