Thread: Royal Palmer Weekend Set

Damn fine work,,,,

150 years from now it will be sitting in a Space Museum with a curator banging his head on the desk, trying to figure out who the hell "MikeB52" was,,,,

Well done and finished perfectly! Both razors and strop fill the bill!
~Richard

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Thinking out loud, here. Perhaps a sleeve or box of sorts to protect the leather during transit?

I was hoping to use a Crown Royal Velvet bag for it's travel pack Tom. Alas my last clean one was already taken for ski goggle protection by some nervy kid that calls me dad. It turned out short on the length as well so I repurposed a solar fleece wine cozy instead. My wine's never around long enough to get cozy anyway.

Fits well, and adds a slight barrier between it and the elements. Black goes with everything too right?

Perfect!

Originally Posted by MikeB52

I won this matched pair of Royal Palmer and Company German razors in neglected but saveable condition.

Wanting a weekend set that was small enough to fit in a travel kit or overnight bag and also wanting a bow strop, I was inspired by a razor box kit I saw on ClassicEdge and got busy putting my own spin on it.

I used a strip of balsa, sanded, wetted and resanded thrice then coated with .25 micron diamond as the lid under the strop. Measured, turned, and cut the dowels out of balsa as well and ensured they were taller than the height of the space under the strop to guarantee everything stays snug during travel.

I used walnut on all ends and 3/8-16 tpi stainless steel rod, as well as stainless socket heads and threaded metal inserts in the walnut. I also used a brass tube in the main body to receive the rod and aid in strength while under tension.

I made the strop body out of lighter elm stained walnut and dished out under the wedge end to allow easy removal of the razors.

Glued green felt in the razor cradles, engraved it with the maker and my own personal name for the creation, and covered it in Varathane.

Researching the origin of the maker I presumed they were affiliated with 'The Palmer House' in Chicago, but do not thing that was the case after all. Found this 1908 advertisement.

So believe they were a stand alone entity. I liked the ad enough that I decided to seal it to the back of the case forever.

They are honed, one finished on a jnat, the other an Escher, polished up and done like dinner.
Cured the leather faithfully to an old Japanese manual I was given, and it turned out very smooth with a nice draw. The diamond on the inner board is a handy feature that will ensure I have a way to refresh an edge while away and provides nice support under the strop while stropping.
Finished dimensions are 2"x16.5" to top of handle with a 14" stropping surface, balsa board has a 12.5" length.
Test shave tomorrow but they both came up sticky, tree topping sharp so I expect to be happy.
Thanks for looking guys. Feedback always welcome.

Mike, that is some excellent craftsmanship! Also it shows how much a postage stamp has gone up from 2 pennies since 1908!

Originally Posted by Phrank

Completely awesome...love the .25 diamond paste addition!

I like the .25 micron diamond spray on my fabric part of my strop but I'm sure the paste works great too!

[QUOTE=engine46;1524605]Mike, that is some excellent craftsmanship! Also it shows how much a postage stamp has gone up from 2 pennies since 1908!

Thanks Steve. I appreciate the feedback from the folks that have seen the set.
I had to get my readers to re-read the ad, I thought it said 20 cents not 2 cents. Puts the asking price of $1.75 in perspective too.
Cheers.

That's really amazing work. I'm going on vacation soon and will be packing my strop, as I have no other options at this point. Something like this would really be perfect!

What the hell Mike? How am I ever gonna reach the pedals if you keep raising the seat? You're raising the level of ingenuity and craftsmanship a little too high... tone it down okay?! top rate work! Bravo man!

Geez, thanks man. Blushin now. Really appreciate the positive feedback on the set.
I'm like the borg and I try to assimilate all the cool ideas I've seen into something unique and relevant to whatever I'm needing at the time. Worked out really well in this case.
Can't invent squat usually, but I am good at augmenting existing ideas and maintaining things. Never started a crossword or Sudoku puzzle, but I have finished a few already started and left on the table.

The only reason I actually started thinking about this project was because I couldn't find a way to roll up my stop safely for travel and knew palm stropping was an accident waiting to happen, and I suck at it anyway so... this solution was cooked up.

I hope the guy in the space station actually tries to shave with this set in 150 years John. What else would really go with his Clubman 'space cowboy' edt??

Thanks again gents.

Every single idea has parent ideas that had parent ideas that had... and we know that necessity is the mother of invention.. so what is the father? The will?
Augmenting existing ideas, to meet necessity, with a strong will.... I think many here including MikeB52 do a hell of a lot more than just maintain. I love this place! You guys rock! Now I'm going to shave with my pre-sons Wostenholm, then drink some very old scotch while smoking a cigar. Oh yeah! Goodnite gentleman.