I really enjoy the French hoe razors and have acquired quite a few from different makers by now. Thanks to @Gssixgun/Glen I am having a few of the original wedge/hoe blades professionally honed so that I can start shaving with them in the way they were intended to be used - stropping and all. This weekend a package arrived from France carrying with it two more of these razors. They set me back about $30/razor but looking closer at them I couldn't be more happy. The boxes: Tip Top The first of the two, is the Tip Top razor. Waits has this to say; It looked absolutely stunning opening up the box. I don't know if the seller put a lot of effort into giving it a shine or if it's just not used much but this thing sparked. I feel so compelled to say that it's in tip top condition.... One thing I really like about these razors is that it seems that they all have different ways to secure the blade to the head. The Tip Top uses a way I've never seen before and which is really, really neat! You slide the blade in sideways in under a bit of a cover - AND then the big knob on the back of the razor moves the blade in and out so that you can adjust it to exactly how much blade you want exposed! One of the earliest adjustable razors no doubt. It's a great construction and works really, really well. Louis The second razor that arrived was the equally French razor Louis. Waits' information: Not as in pristine condition as the Tip Top the Louis still looked great. Going back to how different these razors are when it comes to how you load a blade into them - the Louis razor uses a more traditional clasp on the back of it to securely keep the blade in place.
very nice have you tried your hand at stropping using the tool and a blade? did it feel remotely like stropping a straight?
I'm waiting to get some wedge blades back from being honed and polished. After that I will surely attempt to strop them as they were intended to