Thread: help

could some one help me with ID
the only markings on the shank are
ESMELIN
A PARIS.

or ESMELIN
& PARIS.
neither appear to be in the book.
I purchased it because I thought the scales may be Ivory ,but I believe them to be bone and are very thin
Due to the shape of the blade and the pins and washers (the washers are domed copper and the pins are probably iron) and the shank is slightly concave which I haven't seen before ,I would put the razor around mid to late 1800`s. As you can see by the pics the scales are incredibly thin but intact and a definitely and organic substance. there dose not appear to be much hone ware ,if any so I believe the shape of the blade to be original
Any info on this razor would be greatly appreciated ,I just have to hone it now and give it a work out
Kind regards Peter

Very interesting specimen, Peter. You'll have to tell us how it shaves.

In "Goins.." I've got "A. Paris", but zero info. No dates, no places, nothing. The fact remains that A. Paris has previously been identified as a cutler, for what it's worth.

The scales could also be a dirty or low grade ivory rather than bone. They look like bone at first glance, but I've never seen bone that thin. Ivory was cut thin due to the cost, and bone is fairly cheap. You never know. Nice piece though. My kind of razor.

Back again...

I googled Esmelin and got a dozen listings of french surnames if that helps any...

Thank you for the effort.The lady I bought it from said it was French ,I thought it was because it had Paris stamped on the shank,maybe she was right after all
thanks once again for your help
have a good weekend
Kind regards Peter

Well,a learned gentleman placed the razor very early 1800 and classified it as a collectible,so all I have done is cleaned it the best I can without taking the scales off. To my surprise it has taken an edge extremely well and didn`t take much effort with the stones at all. Anyway I have shaved with it twice now oiled and put away ,by the way, it shaves great, no doubt
Kind regards Peter

Another beaut saved from obscurity Wtg Peter

I am new to this site and this is my first post. I was looking for something on an Esmelin A Paris razor . I have one that I bought at a flea market. It had both handles broken and mostly gone so I made two new ones out of Padauk, and jeweled and sharpened the blade. I have restored and sharpened quite a few in the past and I shave with them. I am a knife maker. I can not get this razor sharp enough no matter what I do. I have started with a fairly course sharpening stone and worked up gradually to a fine 8000 razor stone, finishing with about 300 strokes on it. Still it will not do a very good job. My camera is on the blink so I can't send a pic for a few days. The steel seems to be of good quality. An interesting thing is that the finger loop or tang, is very small. Just thought I would put my two cents worth in. Thanks, Mack

Originally Posted by mackie

I am new to this site and this is my first post. I was looking for something on an Esmelin A Paris razor . I have one that I bought at a flea market. It had both handles broken and mostly gone so I made two new ones out of Padauk, and jeweled and sharpened the blade. I have restored and sharpened quite a few in the past and I shave with them. I am a knife maker. I can not get this razor sharp enough no matter what I do. I have started with a fairly course sharpening stone and worked up gradually to a fine 8000 razor stone, finishing with about 300 strokes on it. Still it will not do a very good job. My camera is on the blink so I can't send a pic for a few days. The steel seems to be of good quality. An interesting thing is that the finger loop or tang, is very small. Just thought I would put my two cents worth in. Thanks, Mack

At first welcome.
i will answer to your questions and hope your message will move to right location by moderators. that is why you are not getting response.
Sorry to say knife sharpening is a little different then razor sharpening. May be that is the cause. I see you said you have sharpen some razor's before and satisfied. My suggestion will be try send 1 of your razor's out to sharpen with Pro's(you can find their names on classified ) that will help you to see how sharp straight razor should be and how it should act.
Is your razor hallow ground or wedge?
i personally never had any problem sharpening French made razor's.
if you can give a little more information
we may be more help.
Example
grind of the blade.
what stones do you have including their grits
300 laps on 8k means you have jumped to 8 k too early.
if you have 4k or 1k go back to one of them.
try set bevel at first with 1k and come back up.
please use 1 layer tape to protect the back of the blade.
hope i was helpful
GL

Well, I got it sharp enough now. It passes the HHT and I shaved with it today and it was a dream. I have several razor hones. They are all slick as owl poop but I do not know what grit they are. I have a black one and a light brown one and one is black on one side and cream on the other. The light brown one is about as slick as it could get, I think. I have been collecting razors and hones and shaving with them for about a year now. I know that razor sharpening is not done like knife sharpening . I learned how from my barber who also uses one and has for years.He told me the light brown one was a finishing stone. He gave me my first razor and I put a handle on it. . An eazy job for a knife maker, eccept more dangerous. I taped the blade but was still cautious. I use all together seven stones to put a new edge on, from coarse , gradually up to smooth as glass. with this razor, I went back a few steps and worked up again. I finish stroped with green rouge on a bass wood block, and then plain leather. . Thanks for the help. Mack