Thread: Newbie and want to respect

New to the forums because I just purchased my first razor from ebay. I want to use it but I want to know more about it first. The more I know about what I have the more I can respect it!!

I have been able to determine that it was made by the Griffon Cutlery Works but in their German plant. The markings on one side is the name "Griffin" XX with a 60 beside it. It has the Griffon emblem with Germany on the other. One side of the blade has Carbo Magnetic on it but what gets me is what's etched on the other side. It has Travis & Cunningham. I can't seem to find anything about this name.

the razor I am guessing if from the early 1900's based on the company info. But I would love to know if someone knows more about this piece.

Also, it does have a few small spots of rust on it. What's the best remedy?

Thanks for any help or instruction you can give!

beeekim

I have too many of the Carbo Magnetics due to the fact that the first one I ever bought was fantastic and I kept trying to find another like it. I have some from New York and some from Germany. I would speculate that the Travis and Cunningham is a store or company that was giving away or selling the razor as a promotion and just took the basic razor and added their own etching. This has been a common marketing ploy for a long time. I have an iPod shuffle with a laboratory supply company's logo on it--same concept.

Just finished cleaning and honing my grandfathers carbo- magnetic, what a great shaver!

Beekim, welcome to the straight world (no pun intended here). Two recommendations. The first being to read through the honing section carefully. If it seems like a lot up front, then you can find one of our many great honemeisters to put it to rights for you the first time.

You may want to try cleaning up the "rust" areas on the razor with some metal cleaner and see if they are really rust or just a degree of staining. Maas, Flitz or other metal polish should do the job. If it is really rust, then you may want to decide whether you want to do some sanding or not. There are plenty of threads on the forum on the subject.

Welcome to SRP!!! Enjoy the journey.

Thanks for the replies all! I kinda figured it might be some company's name that sold the razor. No searches on the internet found anything.

The razor does need cleaning but I seem to remember reading at another site that no metal polishes are supposd to be used. I'm not sure why. Metal is fairly indestructable. I would think If I'm going to be using it on a regular basis that I would want it as clean as possible.

on to more researh I guess...(and practice!!)

Thanks!

Metal polish is just not going to hurt that blade. It will clean it up so you can see what you really have in terms of damage but will not hurt it.

The only thing it will damage is if you have some gold filagree or designs. I use metal polish on mine whenever I need to. Good luck and welcome.