The Straight Razor Acquisition Thread

awesome razors..

 

any ideas what this razor is? taking possession on monday..

 

Very cool Gary... it is about time
Can't read the tang, what does it say?
Tom

 

i haven't picked it up yet,will be on monday.but i have seen those scales a few times on the forum here..,

 

I have seen those type of scales, on many brands of razors. They were intended for traveling, I believe. A lot of times there is a matching hollow cover, that slides over that razor/scales, and fits flush with the larger bottom section. Kind of like a toothbrush case.

 

ok, thank you..

 

Here is a Similar Design Traveling SR with the Sheath or Hollow Cover that Scott is Talking About..

Billy..

 

very cool,thank you..

 

its a holeka 50 solingen and looks to be in very good condition..

 

Looking good Gary... love the look of that blade! Congrats!

 

thank you Tom.research has said the are 1930s and came in 7 day sets and others,with different scales ..good,bad,junk?

 

if anyone has a spare sheath it would be cool,or recommend a rescale?..i am a newbie with this stuff..

 

Not junk. Most Solingen blades are well made. If you have some nice scales you want to put it in, by all means, transplant it. I say this because you might be waiting a while to find a matching sheath. OR, if you are set on keeping it a traveling razor, keep an eye out, on Ebay, for a complete travel razor, with a broken blade. I have seen them.

..

 

thank you sir.it is in my display case for present time so i will keep my eyes peeled.i like the size and shape so i am glad there are options.i appreciate your advice..

 

Wade and Butcher I cleaned up and put scales on for the first time. I know there's plenty of mistakes but I'm still pretty proud that's why I put my initials and that it was the first one. I know once I get the proper tools and try a few more times I'll get better.

 

Just sayin, when you die, you'd better have someone who knows what they're doing in charge of your museum- I mean collection, or all heck's gonna break loose!

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And another thing... You keep bringing out these impossibly shiny razors and I keep falling down! One of us has got to knock it off!

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My NOS C.V Heljestrand Eskilstuna Mark 32 6/8th Arrived from Germany Today..Its Shave Ready & Been Finished on a 20 K Suehiro Gokumyo Stone..But I Am Not Gonna Shave with it Until I Put a Natural Edge on it.Maybe a Escher Thuringian or a Surgical Black Arkansas..Choices.. I Dont Find the 20 K Suehiro Gokumyo Edges to be that Much Different to a 12 K Super Stone..Nor as Sharp as an Escher Thuri for that Matter..

Billy..

 

Not really new to me, but I'm finally getting around to cleaning this up and looking it over. My in-laws were a second generation running a machine shop, and when they retired, we sold off a bunch of stuff that was in storage there. The family started with the machine shop in the late 30's to early 40's with my wife's grandfather when he joined an already established firm. The man that started the shop died very elderly in either the 50's or early 60's. So scene kind of set, in preparing for the sale, my father-in-law came across this razor. Nobody has any idea where it came from. I don't know his father to have shaved with a straight, but he was very eclectic and bought many cool things that he just wanted to have, but not use. This razor shows no sign that I can find of actual use. It was poorly stored, though, so it developed some rust. I almost have a stronger suspicion that it may have come across the pond from England with my wife's great-grandfather, who was somewhat well-to-do and was a bit more inclined toward fanciness, plus he actually came from the time before safety razors took over. But again, no real evidence that this was used. No hone wear. No edge damage other than rust. Doesn't seem to be any kind of valuable make. There is very little info I have been able to find about this brand, but one person selling one said it was late 19th century from England, another said it was 1930's from Germany or something like that. I have found that the same company made a variety of hunting and folding knives, and even offered hones with their branding. Not knowing how old the company is, most of what I've seen steers me to think early 20th century, and I'm inclined toward the suspicion that it's American. They used Native American imagery for some of their branding... I will say though, the scales are most definitely black hard rubber, which was largely displaced by celluloid by the 20's, so I would be very surpised if it were newer than that.

So now I present:
Chip-A-Way Triumph 5/8 Spike

Post-clean-up.

I used Simichrome to remove the active rust and drawer scratches from the scales. The pivot is fairly tight to where it doesn't swing open or closed, you have to move the blade manually. Not too stiff, but enough to hold position. In the last three pictures, I have highlighted a bizarre warble in the grind, visible from both sides. The spine is straight, so I don't think the whole blade is bent, but it may be that the cheek has been bent somehow. It is an odd, curved bend, so it may have come from something to do with the grinder messing up, I don't know. Not sure if I will use this one. Probably just display owing to the possibility that it may be a family relic. Then again, it may just be another part of the "great eclectic collection" and mean nothing to anybody...

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Just to update the above, I chatted with my Father-in-law last night about the razor, and while we still have no idea where it came from, we agreed that it most lines up with his father's collection of random cool things that he wanted to have, not use. He also never knew his father to shave with a straight, safety razors being the standard of his era. We both also agreed that if it had come from the previous shop owner, it probably would have been worn down to nothing, and he didn't think it very likely his grandfather's stuff from his mother's side of the family would have ended up in the shop. He said back in the 40's and 50's, people would sometimes barter things to pay for the products they made, but it still seems more likely to me that his father sought it out.