Thanks Scott. Thank you Randy... and beautiful W&B! The feel holding the razor is a little different - specifically the feeling of the tang. No real transition from tang to blade... not bad, just something to get used to. The edge is okay, but there is some work I could do towards the heel. The spine has this weird bulge over the heel and it just made for some interesting honing. Could do some more work there but it did alright. Tom
That bulge on the spine, looks like it might be caused by rust. If it is, or isn't, just file it down, flush.
I was thinking about that... or doing something interesting with layers of tape. It was pretty easy to see what was happening when looking through the loupe, so I ended up using strokes with an extreme heel forward rolling X - basically trying to get that portion of the spine off the stone. It worked okay enough. It was fun to watch the heel come in over time... but it did take a while and I ended up with 3 layers of tape throughout the progression. I used a Naniwa progression, but this is one where I could have benefited by using those narrow Belgian Coticules. Just thought of that while I was typing.
Tonight's shave was with a very old "Rat Razor". I had a good 2 pass shave, that left me with a DFS. Zero issues. Just a big hunk of a wedge blade. Very stiff, and somewhat silent. Razor- George Wostenholm & Sons, Celebrated IXL Razor. Washington Works, England. Brush- RazoRock 400, and WD High Mountain Badger. Soap- Arko/Sandalwood Scented Aftershave- Pinaud Lime Sec. Shower soap- Shulton Old Spice, "Soap on a Rope".
Thanks for asking Some brief history of Zaza. Established by Paul Zazadze in 1917 in Istanbul Turkey. Zaza group is the oldest blade manufacturer in Turkey and its the 3rd oldest blade manufacturing brand in the world. Best known of Zaza Aristrokrat, Smart, and Lord DE blades. This SR was a wild find a few years ago. German made and guessing under contract for Zaza. It’s labeled hollow but the grind is heavier towards 1/4 hollow. Measure 6/8 with barber notch. It is shoulderless with the grind going into the tang with no effect on performance. The etched Sword pays tribute to Zaza’s Ottoman Empire history and not sure it 1934 is model # or date. Overall good steel, hold a edge nicely and delivers a good shave
Very cool information Tim. I believe I have a razor from the same maker, but I assumed it was under the broad family of trademarks within the ERN family. It is not a Crown and Sword, just the “Sword” mark. Even the box has the same texture. But now that I look again, I can’t see that ERN ever just had the Sword trademark. Cool stuff. Tom
This near wedge shades much like a full wedge, quiet and with little drama. It has the odd characteristic of ending with the feeling of not being quite as close as I’d like. But later it feels baby smooth - almost like the stubble retreats into hiding. Hot water preparation AOS Lavender PSO Romera Wengue Chubby Manchurian Badger Mike’s Natural Soaps Hungarian Lavender Lund 11/16 Thayers Rose Petal Witch Hazel Happy shaving - Karl
