Thread: Mistery mottled schist

Those are just awesome!! Gotta keep my eye peeled for one of those set ups or maybe have one made.

To make one is a good idea. only thing you need is a bandsaw and a milling machine to make the dovetails. Would be nice to see ebony, polycarbonate or even celluloid ones.

Originally Posted by Steel

Those are just awesome!! Gotta keep my eye peeled for one of those set ups or maybe have one made.

I've actually thought about having one made. You could make several improvements, though you'd need a skilled cabinet maker or trim carpenter. Mark Youndt (MyCarver) could probably make one in his sleep.

Though not needed with a hone and strop, I'd consider a design that held two razors "upright". No reason except a backup for the ever-present faucet monster.

It would be best is to avoid that sliding lid, though simple, it wears out and there's no easy fix other than make a new larger lid (which wouldn't be that hard).

You'd also have your choice of hone, cutting one isn't that hard. How about a Gokumyo 20k? A Thuringian? A coticule or Jnat and small naguras that could go from a w/d bevel set on glass to finish plus maintainance on clear water?

Oh, and the strop. How about a tiny scrap of cordovan from our own Mr. Miller?

And for the completeness of the post, the Japanese made similar boxes (for maybe well over 100 years) that held a kamisori razor, hone, and nagura, though I don't have an image handy.

Now the really interesting part!! Why would you even make such a thing to begin with? Two razors and a strop, maybe a little TI white paste, and you could go for a year. So why the hone?

I realized the answer when I bought the one from Australia in the slip cover with ~1912 exposition graphics. They were made before airplanes! Travel across the globe could take years depending on your job, etc..

It was an elegant solution for the times.

Cheers, Steve

They are not so rare. Here is one hith a Thuringian stone for sale:
Thuringian Waterstone 190x30x6 fine + Stropping Leather + Straight Razor Box - ERHASO WEBSHOP

Those are Swedensteins a slightly coarser than thuris but harder and still way better finishers than other stones - this is a deal for 60 euro this box some of the new guys has to buy it - it wount regrett .

I really like these things. It's a compact bundle of essentials.

Steve56 says:
...
Though not needed with a hone and strop, I'd consider a design that held two razors "upright". No reason except a backup for the ever-present faucet monster.

It would be best is to avoid that sliding lid, though simple, it wears out and there's no easy fix other than make a new larger lid (which wouldn't be that hard).
...

I love the intellectual exercise of over engineering the Spit-ball ! Combine spacial reasoning & problem solving skills.

Fire at will!!!


For the first part, my brain conjured up the image of a similar box. But one end is a cap that locks/unlocks with a quarter-turn twist. Fits flush like a razor box/coffin. The reason for this part of the design is so the top half of the razor cavity can be put in an accommodating groove on the lower half, like a wooden peg or tongue and groove (I'm not a carpenter, so the terminology might be off). That would be how it would hold them "upright", like an upside down "T". You meant held that way during the shave, right? Idk, that's how my brain interpreted it . Lol.

Second part: with the proper design additions, wearing away at the lid is almost entirely negated. See: Buy Slick Strips, 3/4" Width 1/32" Thick at Woodcraft.com
Just put that stuff, flushed out & cut to size of course, on the parts where the sliding part of the lid & housing make contact. Problem solved . And a cabinet maker is likely already familiar with its use.

I'd considered sketching out a blueprint, but my problem solving skills far outweigh any artistic drawing abilities I may have.

It could be a modern no-nonsense travel kit for the man of the go. What do you guys think?

Here's another design, it's one I mentioned in the above post(s) but did not post an image of it. It's made differently and more simply. It has only one sliding part and the hone on top (a Schwedenstein) is protected by the hardboard slip cover. The strop on the bottom is glued flat but there's a space cut all the way through the wooden body to provide strop flex, like on a modern paddle strop.

The graphics say in German (I believe) "Finest Strop", "Grand prize St. Louis 1904", Grand Prix Bruxelles 1910" then below in English on the left, and "Superior Razor Strop" in French on the right.

Apologies for the flash flare, but it was the best image to show the construction on short notice.

Cheers, Steve

Steve, that is the one I have without the cardboard box.
~Richard

Originally Posted by Steve56

Here's another design, it's one I mentioned in the above post(s) but did not post an image of it. It's made differently and more simply. It has only one sliding part and the hone on top (a Schwedenstein) is protected by the hardboard slip cover. The strop on the bottom is glued flat but there's a space cut all the way through the wooden body to provide strop flex, like on a modern paddle strop.
The graphics say in German (I believe) "Finest Strop", "Grand prize St. Louis 1904", Grand Prix Bruxelles 1910" then below in English on the left, and "Superior Razor Strop" in French on the right.
Apologies for the flash flare, but it was the best image to show the construction on short notice.
Cheers, Steve

Originally Posted by Geezer

Steve, that is the one I have without the cardboard box.
~Richard

Richard,

Very cool! Can you post an image sometime? I've never seen another like it though from the slipcover wording I figured there were a few produced.

Cheers, Steve

Originally Posted by Steve56

Richard,Very cool! Can you post an image sometime? I've never seen another like it though from the slipcover wording I figured there were a few produced. Cheers, Steve

With my favorite Swedenstein in a board!
~Richard