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Hi.
Our polish friend, open_razor, sells NOS Friodur razors stated as being 8/8 but in fact are 7/8.
Now there's another chap who sells this same razor, but with a different handle. It says "Blue Diamond", I don't know if these are the original stock scales. At 79 Euros, it might be worth a look here.
Did someone find an old store with loads of NOS 50-year old Friodur's?
Hmm, I always wanted one of these, not to thrilled about the scales though.
Well it works out to the same price as our Polish friend. $120.00 shipped to the USA.
BUT I do like the scales better on the "Blue Diamond" better.
The blade screams to be rescaled into something custom either way. But I might be tempted to go for the Blue Diamond as I could live with those scales a little longer then the crappy black ones !
nice find.... thanks Leon
I bought one from classic_razor (the Polish vendor) last week. It truly is a great razor.
I was also wondering what the source is. My razor shows signs that it may have been a quality control "reject"--the stamp on one side of the shank looks as though it was applied 2x before they got it right, so there is the stamp, and then there is a ghost of the stamp. Also, on the scalloped back, there are perpendicular striations that look like course grind marks. Those quality issues, and the fact that I haven't seen this Friodur except in these "NOS" offerings leads me to speculate that perhaps Henckels only ever made a batch of them and then scrapped them (or thought it had scrapped them!) because they were having quality problems. What do you think?
I am well on the way to (partly) fixing both problems by buffing first with "0000" steel wool impregnated with Maas, and then with 0.5 micron diamond paste and a fine cloth. I say partly, because I think there will always be a shadow of the stamp ghost on one side.
Also, I agree with other posters re the scales. The ones from classic_razor are awful, and the "Blue Diamond" ones look a little better. I have ordered replacement scales from The Invisible Edge, and hope to have them soon. I've shaved a couple of times with the razor, and it really is a superior blade.
Friodur blades seem widely available. On nassrasur.com a chap sells them, they turn up on ebay.de a lot and also shavingshop.com has them all the time.
I would love to find a seller of these that sells them blank with no scales...
Being most of us will rescale them it would be great to find them like that....
seems odd that there are now 2 different scales on them and no one is saying they have put the scales on them. The Polish seller told me he is selling them as he got them... if the other guy is as well then it seems these were made for at least 2 different sources that never came around.
I think igitur55 may be on to something .....
In any case $120 shipped is an GREAT price and I think we will see a lot of these turning up for sale from some of the custom rescallers around the web.
Hi Cary, gents.
Yeah, I'm currently looking for sources to rescale mine. I don't know yet what I want but I'll definitely will put a nicer scales (worst is impossible), just like everyone else who bought these. The blade itself is a great shaver, no question about it!Quote:
Originally Posted by Earthdawn
Right! That's why I decided to post this. Several people have access to NOS Friodur? It seems that this batch might be made of rejected blades like igitur says. And of the Polish fellow didn't scale those himself, what was Friodur thinking when they put those awful scales on such a nice blade? I wish they had put some plain scales with a Friodur logo on it...Quote:
Originally Posted by Earthdawn
He's certainly not my friend. I bought some of his "8/8" razors. He denied any fault for repeatedly listing them wrong and is only willing to refund the original payment but not return shipping.Quote:
Originally Posted by Leon
the blue diamond scales are for different razors. may be you'll get to see one in the classifieds one of these days. looks like old stock blades and scales that are just being combined together.
Ask shavingshop.com. IIRC they mention somewhere thee got access to a hidden cache of blades.Quote:
Originally Posted by Earthdawn
I bought one of the Blue Diamond scaled razors. The blade definitely falls in the factory second catagory. The top surface is ground way off of level and the tip is not square. If it isn't too hard it may be correctable by grinding the top surface flat and re contouring the tip, but I am not that optimistic. Looking past the cosmetics, the razor feels like it is just about "shave ready" sharp. I may give it a try tomorrow.
Hey Utopian, if you do not mind me asking, I am curious about your choice of word "several". Did you buy the razors at the same time?Quote:
Originally Posted by Utopian
Al raz.
He means the seller has several of them to sell ....Quote:
Originally Posted by Alraz
there seems to be a supply of them as a few people are selling them now.
They are getting great reviews. The only issue is the plain jane scales they are in for such a beautiful blade. It's a great blade at a great price for sure.
I bought them from a couple of different listings on two consecutive days so the second purchase occurred long before I received the first purchase.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alraz
That is what I thought, you do not impress me like the type of person that would "stumble over the same rock twice". ;-)
Al raz.
Good questions, I can't answer them, I can only tell you what I read a while ago and I don't know if this is true.
The age of this razor is approximately 50 years. Maybe because of minor flaws detected on quality control, these weren't sold at the time. Later, these folks that sell these on eBay got a hand full (or two) of these razors, got them a cheap and ugly set of scales and put them on sale.
The scales may be cheap and not matched, but I don't think they are ugly. I bought mine from open_razor aka classic_razor (shop). It came with the Blue Diamond scales. It felt close to being shave ready so I gave it a try, but wasn't great. I honed it and now it's my best shaving razor.Quote:
Originally Posted by Leon
Attachment 21931
A few years ago when these first started showing up, I was told that there was a stash of about 4,000 of them out there at that time. Hard telling for sure.
:w
Have fun,
Lynn
I think it's perfectly possible to have them made in China.
I think this, because:
1. I have never seen that make or model in old and used state. I haven't even seen one vintage 7/8 Friodur.
2. They have the typical "satin brushed" surface finish as other Chinese brands, such a Double Arrow.
3. I have never seen such finish on a old and used German razor.
4. Henckels has new razors on their German website. Those look completely different. If they made those 7/8 with spanish point recently, they would list them, rigth?
5. Those Ebay-sellers are not sharing much information about the whereabouts. I find that suspicious.
6. The cheap scales have something very "made recently" about them.
7. Why would Henckels produce 4000 nice razors and not sell them????
Please note that this is only based on healthy skepticism of my part. I have zero evidence, only suspicion.
I own one of these razors. I think they are very well made. The steel is excellent. They take a great edge and keep it well. I love mine. The scales are functional. Mine closes nicely centered. It's one of my favorite shavers.
I bought the Blue Diamond as well. I rescaled it because the blade protruded from the bottom. Excellent blade, and my favorite shaver.
I purchased one of these from open_razor last month, however it came with these scales. I love cracked ice scales, but like Bladerunner's razor, the blade peeks out a tiny bit from the bottom.
I'm working on a new set of scales for the razor right now. The blade isn't quite in the "chin-whisperer" class yet, but I'm sure I can get it there. :D
I know this doesn't follow the theme of the thread. I also know this has probably been discussed before. However my search-fu has failed me.
I see that open_razor is selling some stainless Solingen "First Class" blades. Any idea on their origin or quality?
I stumbled upon these today ... I ordered one right away. I have been looking for one for a while, and didn't want to drop the cash that shavingshop.com is asking. I'll probably send it out to get rescaled in the future, but for now, you can't beat that price.
Thanks, Leon for starting this thread.
If this is the razor it is a great blade. It is stainless and holds an excellent edge.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pyment
IF I'm correct, and it's a big if, why should you care about who really produced the razor. These razors may not be the truly genuine Friodur, but they sure have excellent steel, are skillfully ground and can be honed to outstanding shavers.
The craftsman who made it, probably kisses his wife and children when he arrives home after work and complains about the job to his friends, regardless him being a Chinese gent in the year 2000 or a German fellow in 1950. It's the one that sells it that knows the origin.
Bart.
Curiosity. And if your theory is correct, that ebay seller is a fraud. I do not think he would be selling them for $100 if they were missing the dancing twins logo.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bart
That is correct. But being suspicious of something, is not the same as accusing someone of being a fraud. I could easily be wrong.Quote:
Originally Posted by sparq
I have shaved with this razor. I've also shaved with a €400 Dovo (mammuth ivory scales and their highest end blade). This 7/8 "Friodur" is at least as good as that Dovo.
I am sure that there is a consensus on this product.
Sorry Bart, I´m sure you are wrong. I´m actually not seen any chinese razor, that show the qualitiy that a Friodur has. If they would be from an actually chinese production, be sure you would be found similar blades, without the twin brand.
The truth is, that all the big solingen companys gave their blade blanks to various different individuall grounders in Solingen. In the 1950 - 1960 over 600 from them worked at home in little garages and grounded for the great companys. Some of the blades are still in this garages or cellars and come now back to the light.
Also in the 1960´and later the market for straight razors clashed. So many of them couldtn be selled. I think some of this stuff is still stored somewhere.
I talked with some guys here in germany and they told me, that they have still a bunch of this old blades. The main problem is to find matching handles and pins.
A other point is, the Friodurs dont will rust. So a 50 year old blade is optical like new or very easy to polish. Many of the old carbon steel blades are now rusty and rotten or you need much more experience to polish them.
This is an extract from a thread over at B&B - maybe relevent
"The Dealer is "MeckyMesser" in the German "www.gut-rasiert.de" Forum.
Grinded on vintage "Schleifhexe" & honed by himself from NOS raw blades (because his Grandpa owns an original Razor Maker Company (Schleifkotten) in Solingen around 1920)."
I´m pretty sure, that this is not exact. I know Mecky Messer from the german forum. It is right, that his grandfather was a straight razor producer, but I´m quiet sure, that Mecky dont grind this blades himselfs. My informations are, that he had some blades in Stock and only made handles on them and honed them.
But actually they are sold out or he has only few pieces left.
But I will ask him about the regrind.
Interesting... Why won't you buy some of these and put them in some nice scales or sell them without scales, I'm sure lots of people would prefer buying the Friodurs from you instead of eBay's.Quote:
Originally Posted by Buddel
Just a thought...
Actually one of the 7/8 Friodurs from me is sold in the german NRF --> NassRasur.com-ForumQuote:
Originally Posted by Leon
The guy who bought it, dont like the blade. He says he have not a good feeling with the blade, even it is shave ready. Perhaps interessting for some one.
Actually I must refurbish some other razors I having here and I still working on my custom blades. But perhaps I will give 4 or 5 Friodurs a try...
I asked Mecky Messer and he told me, that he had the Friodur blade blanks from his father. He dont regrinded them by themself but with the help of an old professionel Grinder from Soling on machines older than 80 years. Actually he has no more stuff for sell.
Hope this gives more clearness to every one.
Great discussion - thanks. Interesting indeed! It seems that so many owners of this razor consider it one of their best shavers. I ordered one ...
khat
