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SOTD MONDAY MORNING, MAY 16, 2022
Edward Weck emigrated from Solingen, Germany and opened his cutlery company showroom in 1890 in Manhattan, with manufacturing facilities in Brooklyn.
According to “Brownstoner”,
“Weck invented the precursor of the multi-blade razor, and patented it in 1909.”
[n.b. Incorrect!! In actuality, they’d been around quite awhile. Antoinne LeCoultre invented the first replaceable blade razor in 1830, 79 yrs earlier]
“It was called the Weck Sextoblade. The “sex” in “sextoblade” for all those whose imaginations just woke up, meant “six.” Sorry! Weck’s razor came with six blades all attached at the base, able to be folded back into the handle and secured by a safety guard. Each blade could be extended when needed, and if all were stropped and sharpened at once, this razor could last a long time before the next sharpening. For its day, it was quite revolutionary.”
In 1917 he incorporated under the name ‘Edward Weck & Son’, finally passing away from heart disease in 1922. His son, Albert, moved the company into surgical instruments, made for both the military and medical community. The company continued until 1999 when it was acquired by Squibb. Today’s mug shave featured my Weck Sextoblade. The razor came from the estate of a third party beauty/shaving supplies salesman and former barber, according to his great-granddaughter.
My first shave with it featured a newly purchased Personna hair shaper blade, however, I noticed that the spine appeared to have a fair bit of hone wear. From the deep grooves observed, I would suspect the rather rough use of a Diamond plate. In any case, I removed and soaked the original Sextoblade blade that arrived with the razor in barbicide when it first arrived about 7 months ago, That morning I ran it across my Swaty barber’s hone with some Smith’s Honing oil, after placing it back in the razor, until the edge looked good under my USB microscope.
I believe that the original blade had never been removed, as I was unable to remove it with my fingers when it first arrived, and needed a needle nose pliers to do so. Judging by the amount of shave residue on the original Sextoblade blade coupled with the hone wear on the spine, I believe the former owner treated it just like a regular straight and never removed it from the razor. In fact the original blade looks like it is double beveled. The shave angle on this old antique tool is virtually identical to the angle I use with my regular straight razors. My new Koenig barber’s hone and a little shave cream polished up the blade nicely. The two and a half pass mug shave with it that followed this morning was excellent leaving me smooth as a peach.
Unlike many of my shave brothers and sisters out there, I’ve never been a fan of Gillette TTO’s. I do own a few, but have been selling all but my father’s and grandfather’s safety razors. My father owned two Gillette adjustables, a Gold Black Beauty long handled adjustable and a Slim. My grandfather shaved with an old beat up single ring from a WWI military khaki kit that I also have. The only Gillettes that really ring my chimes, however, are any of the second generation ‘New’ models. So this morning I grabbed my silver plated Gillette New Standard/Bostonian, loaded a fresh Feather blade and had at my noggin stubble! Two delightful ATG passes later and your happy narrator was smooth as a peach from noggin to neck.
RAZOR: Weck Sextoblade (Mug), Gillette New Standard/Bostonian (Dome)
BLADE: Feather DE (Dome)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a heavy scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: JR LE #374 Cashmere Synth
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys Lilac WH. Finished with Krampert’s Frostbite AS Splash.
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