31 Old Straight Razors from France

Here's an interesting auction I just won for a lot of 31 straight razors from a French seller that flew under the radar. With international shipping, I got the lot for $192.50 (or $6.21 per razor).

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Certainly some of these razors are heavily rusted, there are some frowns, and even a few chipped blades. I suspect there might be some gems here, however. I see a few blades that look 6/8+. I see a Solingen blade that might be 7/8 or more. I am hopeful that this lot should yield me at least 5-10 good razors.

I am excited for this package. 31 razors at once! It will be like Christmas.

When they get to you, get us some more pics,,,, looks like there are a few diamonds in the rough there,,,,:shrug:

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Cool! I will be very excited to see what comes out of that grab bag. You planning on restoring what you can and part out the rest?

Nice haul. Alot of the those look like near wedges so the rust shouldn't be too much of a problem with the extra metal in terms of rust. Giving that the rust doesn't go too deep. I think atleast half of those should turn into some nice looking razors. Keep us posted.

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Originally Posted by aa1192

Cool! I will be very excited to see what comes out of that grab bag. You planning on restoring what you can and part out the rest?

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That's exactly what I am planning on doing. I will definitely hand restore (hand sanding from 180 to 12,000) the gems first, and then consider were to take it from there. I will post some picks.

I was watching that one. Great job on a great haul. I'm a wee bit short on funds (actually selling stuff off) so just sat back and saw who got lucky.

Looks like you've got something to keep you busy for a while.

@MattCB -- The funny thing is that I was in the process of thinning down the heard and selling some stuff off as well before I saw this auction. Well, I guess this gives me extra incentive to expedite that process with so many new razors coming in.
@gugi -- LOL, this should keep me busy.

One week later, the 31 razors arrived from France. It's always great when a delivery like this comes during a Saturday!

Here's some pictures of the unboxing. I will post some grouped photos with breakdowns in a bit.

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Here's a group featuring the hollow grind razors. Going from left to right, the razors are:

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Arma Solingen 173 – 6/8
Fotos Fabrique Coiffure Depose – 6/8
“Solingen” Soligen – 13/16
Cristal Solingen 22 – 6/8
Le Grelot Medaille D'or – 6/8
B.B. (Inside a shield on the shank) Acier Suedois – 11/16
Stahlwaren Frisfurwerk – 5/8.

Some of these should clean up nicely. I was happy to find a 6/8 Le Grelot.

Next, is a group 3 framebacks (from left to right):

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J.B. Robert 20 Qualite Extre – 6/8
Malaingre Staurenghi ESR Nogent Marne – 6/8
Klas Tonrblum (not really a frameback, but close) – 4/8

A large chunk of the razors were mid-sized french wedges (plustwo Sheffields).From left to right: Attachment 173503

Maison? With a crown – 11/16
Trente Deux Dumas – 11/16
Peronnet A. Gannat – 6/8
Davit? With a crown – 11/16
Frederick Reynolds – 11/16
IC Vincent Garanti – 6/8
James Barlow and Sons – 5/8

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bordee

That's exactly what I am planning on doing. I will definitely hand restore (hand sanding from 180 to 12,000) the gems first, and then consider were to take it from there. I will post some picks.

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I hear they have a pallet of sand paper on a 4 day auction right now cheap. :<0) I bet you get more out of that pile than your hoping for. Always 2 or 3 sleepers in the bunch.

Here's a group of 6/8 french wedges. From left to right:

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MalaingreStaurenghi ESR Nogent Marne – 6/8
Chabrol – 6/8
IC Vicent Garanti – 6/8
Medaille? – 6/8
Medaille D'Argent Du Ainne 32 – 6/8

Obviously the first one needs a good clean up.

Another group of smaller wedges. From left to right:

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Thiers Issard Medailel D'Argent 69 -- 9/16
Veritable Vincent - 9/16
Unmarked -- 5/8
Unmarked (in horn) -- 4/8
Gemelt? Paris -- 1/2

This TI wedges strikes me as unusual.

What a pile! Is it me, or do the French seem to get their money's worth out of them?

Get to work! :whipped:

Finally, the ones with noticeable flaws:

Chipped (from left to right)

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Famex Best Silberstahl -- 6/8 (I might be able to salvage this an breadknife it down 1/16 or 1/8)
Solingerstahl -- 11/16 (Might bredknife it down 1/16)

The last two are wavy/frowny and look difficult to salvage:

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Le Grelot -- 3/8
M. Couran -- 11/16

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 10Pups

I hear they have a pallet of sand paper on a 4 day auction right now cheap. :<0) I bet you get more out of that pile than your hoping for. Always 2 or 3 sleepers in the bunch.

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Yeah, this will eat through some sandpaper. I am more worried about my hand going numb after so much sanding :D

As long as you can still hold a beer your good to go.

Anybody here have any experience with 6/8 French wedges? On this forum, there is a lot of discussion about Sheffield wedges, but I've heard very little about the french ones.

Here's the first gem out of this lot -- a 6/8 Le Grelot Le Hospital Medaille D'Or 322. I believe this is one of the older Le Grelots.


The razor has some scratches and slight black rust spots (nothing deep), but it sanded up to a nice shine. I went in progression handsanding from 220 to 12000. Honed up well on a Naniwa 1000, Norton 4k/8k, and then finished on a C-Nat. Finally, 15 or so strokes on CrOx on leather, and then stropped on linen/horse butt strop. Now popping hairs with ease. Will pull it out for a shave on Saturday.

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What an awesome haul (and potentially years of work if you're hand sanding!). The good news is that they shouldn't rust any more in the desert Southwest.