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The online community of knife collectors, A Knife Family Forged in Steel

A collection of straight razors , I guess !

I feel that I have to admit that I am becoming a collector , this may sound strange as I am writing this on i Knife Collector and this is ...well the place for collectors .

I have never really collected anything before , in the past I have always had a pocket knife and sometimes two or maybe three but never anymore than that. I have had knives since I was eight or nine , something like that anyway and I can hardly remember a time when I didn't look in shop windows at knives . When I went on holiday with my parents they would ask if I wanted a "bucket and spade" for playing on the beach but I would end up looking at penknives in shop windows . They were usually rather small and cheap often with the name of the resort on the handle , I am told some people collect these now and I could see a sort of period charm about them . I have seen them for sale in antique centres and sort of recollected owning them as a child . Of course what I really wanted was something more akin to a Bowie Knife but as with all children I knew how far that I could push things and Bowie Knives had to wait till I was a little older , around ten or twelve I think . Strange but I am 63 now and would be arrested if I was found walking around with the sort of knives that I had at twelve years old .

Well now to come back to my confession , three years ago on my sixtieth birthday I ordered my first knife from the States . A GEC Cody Scout in black micarta , model 72 and it ticked all the boxes in a knife for me at that time . It was the sort of knife that I had wanted for years but without having access to a PC I hadn't known that such knives existed . A couple of years before that I got a PC for the first time and just before my sixtieth birthday had discovered on Youtube the videos of how GEC make their knives , I was smitten , these were the sort of knives that made my world revolve and I just had to have one . Sixtieth birthday who could complain , I had not bought anything online at the time and buying that knife felt like a big step and from the States as well !!!!

One knife that was all , I had only ever wanted one good knife . Opinels had been the best knives that I had come up with , good carbon steel , inexpensive so if you lost it then it wasn't a big deal. Losing knives was something that I had to consider as I had lost just about all of them apart from some I had given away and rather a lot that had proven to be pure junk .

Well this GEC was to be my one and only GREAT knife that I would carry from now to dropping off the perch . Rather a lot to choose from though when you look at the number of models produced by GEC , good job I didn't know of the existence of Queen , Case or any other makers . So after a great deal of worry and stress the knife turns up in the UK and... "Happy Birthday"... thanks to the GEC and a little malt whisky it was as well .

I have a few knives now though I expect that most on iKC would think my collection modest . When I had bought just a few knives it began to dawn on me that my sharpening skills were lacking . I could put a bit of an edge on a knife and had done so for years but when you start to buy good quality knives with the intention of using them then it would seem wise to learn some sharpening techniques . So I did , youtube is great for that , I know some poor fools who think that youtube is all about talking cats and have no idea what a fantastic resource it is ! Having learned to sharpen I was returning to the house after putting an edge on a Fallkniven when I tried shaving arm hair , as you do , what a revelation it took that hair off like a razor !... and damn it all I was smitten again !

I could just buy a razor from eBay and try to sharpen it up see how I get on , right yeah course you can , there is a pattern emerging here I think . Just one razor learn how to sharpen it boost my skills etc.

I have eleven working razors and have started to look at different types of razor , things that I didn't know existed until recently . Up until buying a frameback razor it was possible to argue , with less and less conviction admittedly , that I needed one or two extra's in case I didn't have time to sharpen one in a morning and then i would have a spare . However when you start to look at razors from a collectors point of view then it becomes rather difficult to argue that you are not collecting them .

So here I stand , I am at last willing to admit that I am indeed a collector of straight razors .

So the idea of this blog is to give me a place to witter on at length about my new-ish found obsession with cutthroat or straight razors . The other blog I will try to restrict to shaving stuff and this one will I hope be about the way you can build a collection of straight's at little cost . It has to be "at little cost" because I have limited spare cash and was brought up in Lancashire in the fifties when nobody had any spare cash .

So next up a little about the different types of razor to be had on eBay.

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In Memoriam Comment by D ale on September 15, 2016 at 3:20: The frameback with the removable blade .. no that is cool !!

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I've seen some like it of much more recent manufacture that hold something akin to a triple length single edge razor blade ..BUT.. the manufacturing quality & the result are simply "tacky" in comparison.

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The frameback with the lil screw that you have pictured .. that is cool !!!!!!!

Comment by John Bamford on September 14, 2016 at 11:15: My latest razor is a frameback and until recently I didn't know anything at all about these razors so after reading all I could find here is a few things you may not know about this different looking razor .

There are three main types of frameback , though a whole bunch of variations on that theme . These are ,

1. The standard frameback, ie the one I bought the other day .

Then there is the frameback with removable blade ,

The blade come out by releasing a screw as in

Then lastly there is the "faux frameback" which is a standard razor ground to look like a frameback .

At the moment I am quite fond of the appearence of these razors but as i haven't used mine yet I will have to reserve judgement . There are advantages to produsing razors like this , or at least there is with the first two . The high quality steel used for the blade is used in quite small quantities the frame and tang not needing to be so hard . There is obviously less grinding to do on flat stock for the blades and therefore you would think a need for less skilled people . From a users point of view the removable blade makes for a more economic alternative to a seven day set of straight razors. These razors were very popular in Scandinavia were a few different variations can be seen . Some of these are a flat tang and blade seemingly in one piece of quite thin metal which is reinforced with a kind of clip on strengthening section ,

The frameback was perhaps most popular in France though examples of the type are seen in England , Japan , Switzerland etc . At the moment I can not think of any good reason for the faux frameback which is an ordinary razor ground to look like a frameback . Maybe they where just so popular in a country that other makers copied the shape but in a manner more familiar to them . Anyway I like them and may get some more .

Oh one last example that I have had my eye on from the Bay it is Swiss and has ivory handles and even though I can't afford it I can dream !!!

Comment by John Bamford on September 13, 2016 at 9:38: I still have a little time on my hands and would like to try to convey my fascination with these common items from the earlier part of the twentieth century .

Now this is a good quality but fairly ordinary razor , the sort of thng that I would think most guy's would have had between the wars . To me it has a wonderful period charm that is best seen in the box . I really don't know for sure why this unassuming razor holds such an appeal for me . It was the first razor that I bought and by luck more than judgement it turned out to be a good one . Around twenty pounds I think and it is as close to a perfect user as you could hope for . There is something that I like about that box and I have sat and looked at it and can't say what it is so maybe it would be best to compare the Kropp with an upmarket version .

Rather a pretty Filarmonica i am sure you will agree , not mine I hasten to add . I couldn't say in all honesty that I wouldn't swop the Kropp for it , but I would hesitate for a second or two !! They both do the same thing of course but the fili looks prettier whilst doing it . However the working guys razor is mine and I am very happy with it and also the Kropp was made in Sheffield , Yorkshire a grimy gritty down to earth place at the time and maybe the Kropp reflects that .

I was born in 1953 and have no knowledge of the early part of the twentieth century . What i do have is a whole bunch of stories that my Grandfather told me about that period . Mother used to pack me off to my Grandad's house when she could and I would go and visit the old man and Bess his West Highland Terrier . Sometimes we would play drafts or some other game but usually I would try to get him to tell me about the "Olden Day's". He never seemed to get bored with telling me those stories and I never tired of hearing them . It mostly was about the early twentieth century and his working life in the factories and the important events seen from his perspective . How much was historically true I will never know , and anyway historians argue all the time about their subject . Just as a" for instance" he described what a wild night it was when the Titanic sank , in 1912 , despite the fact that the storm he felt in the village of Summit was around 5000 miles from the poor stricken vessel . Well these stories have left such an impression on me that I have been left with a fascination for that period in history and so to collect these pieces which were part of peoples everyday experience and then to bring them back to life by using them as they should be used gives me a great deal of satisfaction . The Filarmonica no matter how pretty was not a part of this story , there is no way that my people could have afforded such a thing . When he died my Grandfather still had an outside toilet and a "tin bath" in the cellar to bring upstairs and use in front of the fire . He would wear ancient clogs to go outside to look after his chickens and the pig that was kept through the summer , no a Filarmonica would not be around then . Though I have to be honest and say I have no idea what he shaved with as he always seemed to have a bit of stubble and a shirt without a collar . Still he was the sort of grandfather most children would like . I used to be sent to get an "old hen" for the weekend by my Mother chicken was expensive then around say 1960/1 or so . We would go through a ritual of drinking tea , in England you can't do anything without drinking tea , and then going down to the cellar . A wooden door led from the kitchen down flagged steps through whitewashed walls down to the cellar . i couldn't help but be a little intimidated by that short journey , though not enough to avoid scraping at the white wash that was in such thick layers that it was peeling off . The cellar was full of fascination for me there was stuff down there from what seemed like the dawn of time , The old washing tub held a peculiar degree of interest complete with the "posser" for bashing the clothes with . at home we had a modern washing machine with a mangle , is that the right term , used to squeeze the clothes dry . There was indeed a modern washing machine down there but I seem to recollect being told that granny didn't like it . Granny had died a little while ago or I wouldn't have been there She used to frighten me to death , small thin lady always seemed to wear black I told my Mother that, just before she died and she said that Granny Bamford used to frighten her to death as well . Ah well I do ramble on , just tell me to shut up if you have heard this before .

After marvelling for such a short time at the contents of the cellar , Grandad would have his clogs on . these aren't Dutch clogs they just have wooden soles and leather uppers . They were traditionally worn by mill workers and have been revived in the last few years , though the have rubber strips on the bottoms now instead of the iron parts to stop the wood wearing . The rest of the story can be simplified to avoid hurting the squeamish , lets just say that a chicken was picked and dispatched cleaned and wrapped in newspaper without the old guy pausing in whatever tale he was telling at the time and at eight or ten years old this was a wonderful sight . Though he did seem to get an inordinate degree of joy from chasing me around with the chickens foot , he would pull on a tendon so as to make the foot close and open whilst persuading me that the foot had come back to life . A well that is enough droning on for one day , I will strop that Kropp razor for today's shave I couldn't really use any other now could I.

Comment by J.J. Smith III on September 13, 2016 at 9:30: Since you brought it up, John, your next blog should be on the sharpening process.

Comment by John Bamford on September 13, 2016 at 8:11: Okay then to follow on from the the first post this is what why and where from !

After deciding to try sharpening a straight razor and deciding that I would need to shave with it to prove that the attempt at sharpening was a success , it was a matter of where to buy one . . the Bay is the obvious place though if you have looked at a bunch of straight razor sites as I had , then you could be forgiven for thinking that would be a bad idea . Rather a lot of these sites have a desperately earnest tone that tends to identify the founding fathers of the particular site as being the only people to have a worthwhile opinion on razors . Now I was well aware that I knew nothing about the subject at the time but this sort of attitude really does grate on me , and is happily absent from this place . So to learn sharpening I would need a cheap razor and one that needed, sharpening so that ruled out buying new of course Of I went to the Bay and discovered that there are any number of old razors available for around £15-20 so that was all I could lose , apart from the obvious worry of losing blood and facial tissue .

So the obvious place to buy the first razor was eBay and with a little research and a bit of common sense it doesn't have to be a big risk . I have bought around a dozen razors now and the only real problem I have had is with the one new razor I bought , broken scales and if you look on line you will find that Dovo Best Quality razor scales tend to break - a lot ! Didn't matter too much as I was just getting into the business of replacing scales and actually having a go at making them . So for anyone thinking of buying a razor from eBay then look for one with little wear on the spine , as the razor is sharpened by resting the spine and the cutting edge on stones , then the amount of wear in that area will show how much or little use the razor has had . The blade can get cracks as they are quite fragile compared to the knives we are all used to , so if the pictures don't give you a great view of the razor you are interested in then move on there are loads to choose from . There is also the chance that a razor could be "warped" and I have a couple that are . That means that if you rest the razor on a flat surface then it will rock in some direction or other . This is one problem that is hard if not impossible to spot from photo's , it doesn't have to be a heart breaker though there are ways around it when sharpening and lets face it this is one of the parts of buying stuff cheap on eBay . There are video's on youtube about how to hone warped blades and if you are planning on honing razors then you are going to be spending a lot of time on youtube anyway so it's no big deal . You WILL have issues with scales but then these things can easily be a century old and have mostly been neglected since safety razors became the norm . I think that I can spot scales from photo's that are likely to have problems now and anyway a lot of these razors have had scales replaced by now . I like the old scales though and don't mind a bit of "fettling " to save them . I had some badly warped ones on a razor that I particularly liked and found that warming under hot water was enough to get the scales back into shape . One area that I am particularly ignorant in is what material scales are made of .There are ubiquitous black scales that could be rubber or various grades of old fashioned plastic , the rubber is hardened so it isn't as obvious as you might think .

Anyway to end this section on a bright note I have bought a bunch of old razors dating I guess from around the first war to the fifties and I have persuaded all of them to shave , and shave well I feel . None of them cost me more than £30-$40 so if anyone is thinking of having a go at straight razor shaving the eBay route is one that I would recommend !

Just a couple of words on types of razors , If you are going to shave with these things then the size that is recommended is 5/8ths round point half to full hollow ground . I will put a bunch of "technical definitions" on here soon in case anyone needs such stuff . Course I didn't take a lot of notice of that recommendation and the second razor I bought was a 4/8ths , all the sizes are in Imperial and refer to the width of the blade from spine to cutting edge , and 4/8ths the serious folk will tell you are for the more experienced user . Why don't they say half inch instead of 4/8ths , don't know .. next question please . I feel round point is best when you are learning to shave because it looks less likely to bite you and that is a comforting thought .

Only one reason to spend a lot of money on a brand new razor to my mind and that is if you buy from a good dealer then it will come shave ready and you are less likely to get that from eBay . As I wanted to learn sharpening that was not something I was bothered about . I will do a separate blog about how to sharpen a razor without having to take out another mortgage in the future .

If anyone has any easy questions I will do my best to answer them and any difficult ones can best be addressed to Mr Google .

Comment by Jan Carter on September 12, 2016 at 10:31: You are indeed smitten my friend. I am impressed with how this evolved for you. Although a bowie knife is cool, a razor is useful and beautiful!

Welcome to the cutlery afflicted club !!

In Memoriam Comment by D ale on September 11, 2016 at 6:19: I know .. I have same

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!!! .. Big smile .. !!!

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I'd say .. you are now

OFFICIALLLY

( i.e. self admitted )

a member of the cutlery afflicted club.

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Enjoy

D ale

Comment by John Bamford on September 10, 2016 at 14:56: I know Dale , I have another bid on a razor now , 'tis a terrible affliction that I have .

In Memoriam Comment by D ale on September 10, 2016 at 13:58: This is good, John.

The first step .. admitting one has been smitten.

Unfortunately .. to the best of my knowledge ..

there exists no 12 step program for the issue @ hand.

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You're just .. smitten !!!

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Good luck with that one.

Dale