Box of goodies

Today my son in law brought me a box he was given when he cleared an apartment in Antwerp , Belgium. It contained two Solingen razors ( Fischer 107 / Gebruder Becker in a Tuckmar case) - an alum block with holder - a sharpening device for double edge razor blades - a wrapped up honing stone .

The stone (200 x 45 x 20 mm) still carries the original (German) sticker .
I presume it might be a greenish Thuringian ? Not sure though ...
What do you guys think ?

Thanks
BartAttachment 334593Attachment 334594Attachment 334595Attachment 334596

Awesome find. Hard to see the label but it looks like a Thuri to me. I love a Thuringian. Although it may not be my absolute favorite edge it is probably close to if not my absolute favorite to hone on. The feedback with the slurry is so satisfying.

What a great score. I agree with you about the hone. Hopefully Peter will be along soon enough. He knows those hones better than anyone.

Thank you all , yes I hope Hatzicho will shed some light on this. Pity I don't have the rubbing stone (on the sticker it states there is a rubbing stone included) . Strange thing is that no manufacturer is mentioned on the sticker. Only VDH (Verband Deutscher Hochschleiferei)

It seems Belgian. I looked up Verband Deutscher. Some interesting stuff having nothing to do with hones.
It surely looks like something I want~! ;)

No it is German. Dutch ( and Flemish which is spoken in the upper part of Belgium -where I live -) and German are both Germanic languages so there may be some confusion. The translation of 'Verband Deutscher Hohlschleiferei' should be something like 'Union of German Hollowgrinders'.

I cleaned the Fischer 11/16" razor . Removed the hardened oil using brake cleaner which worked very well . Took it trough a progression of 3M Trizact pads. (1000/3000/6000/8000) They did a wonderful job .Always amazed how good they work.
No sign of use , so maybe factory edge.
Will take the razor to the stones and finish on the VDH.

Pics show before and after
Attachment 334619Attachment 334620

Looks like a Thuringer to me

The razor looks great! I need to check out those 3m pads.

Yes, Language searches often lead me astray. I landed on some verboten political party! :roflmao

Yeah that really does look good. I love those Trizact pads. I've never used higher than 5k but you can get a literal mirror finish with it.

Finished the second razor today (Gebruder Becker Solingen 6/8) - same progression as the Fischer. Took more care because of the goldwash . Pics before and after.Attachment 334654Attachment 334655Attachment 334656

You did well cleaning up the razors. Nice blades and great work.

Great find. Nice work on the razors :tu

Trizact pads :thinking: The restoration rabbit hole just got a bit deeper:)

Well I find them very easy to use (can be used with water or dry -I always finish dry-), and they last a very long time .That 8000 may be overkill though , 6000 is quite sufficient to finish. They are supposed to be attached to a rotating tool but I only use them by hand. I simply fold them around the blade + back and forward motion. They do work great on scales too...

What is the difference between Trizact and Micromesh?

Well I really can't tell you Dave. I think they are pretty much the same... Haven't used Micromesh yet , but all I find is that Micromesh is manufactured by Micro-Surface Inc and Trizact are made by 3M . Maybe Coke/Pepsi kinda thing ?

How did you clean it so well in between the etching?

Most of the hardened muck was easily removed by applying brake cleaner . Etching was cleaned by using Q-tips dipped in 3M Finesse and gently rubbed. Applied Innotec for final polishing.Attachment 334727I guess the oil did a good job protecting the razor in the first place. Looked worse than it actually was.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bartds

Thank you all , yes I hope Hatzicho will shed some light on this. Pity I don't have the rubbing stone (on the sticker it states there is a rubbing stone included) . Strange thing is that no manufacturer is mentioned on the sticker. Only VDH (Verband Deutscher Hochschleiferei)

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Hi Bart,
very intersting find. Nice razors and the stone is a thuringian for sure. The interesting thing is indeed, that the distributor mentioned on the label is not a manufacutrer, nor a salescompany and no whetstone maker.
The Verband Deutscher Hohlschleifereibesitzer was an association of hollow grinders, mainly those who were located in Eastern Germany, so not Solingen Grinders.

Following is an extract of the grinders journal "Knife and Scissor" from 1930, with the management members of that time.

Attachment 334730

The registered office of that association was Berlin. Don't know exactly when they have been founded, they may have been emerged of the "Verein der deutschen Hohlschleifereibesitzer Berlin", which already existed before 1910. So I think your stone would have been sold somewhere 1930 +/- 10 years.
I didn't know that this associaton sold any sharpening stones or toools though. It surely will be of good quality if they recommended and sold that stone.

Regards Peter

Edit: Just looked again on the label and saw the expression: Verbandszeichen ges. geschützt
So that would mean afaik that the label was printed probably after 1936. In 1936 there was a new law in Germany so-called "Warenzeichengesetz" which allowed to protect brands, trademarks etc. by law and to add the characters "ges. geschützt" - protected by law - on the labels.

Thank you Peter , your knowledge about honing stones is incredible and your comments are always super high valued... Thanks again !!!

Thank you sir.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bartds

Most of the hardened muck was easily removed by applying brake cleaner . Etching was cleaned by using Q-tips dipped in 3M Finesse and gently rubbed. Applied Innotec for final polishing.Attachment 334727I guess the oil did a good job protecting the razor in the first place. Looked worse than it actually was.

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Thank you sir.

It seems that not long after 1936, this sort of item would not be marketed.
A rare thing I think?

I still want one! ;)

Well indeed, this is a rare example for sure. Haven't seen a second one so far.
Given the fact that the execution of the recommendations and regulations of the new law took some time and the whetstone quarries closed latest 1940, I would say the stone was labelled somewhere between 1938 and 1940.
The whetstonemaker Luthardt reopened his quarry at the Weinberg after the war again, but I think that the named assosiation - if still existing - had others things to do after war than recommending sharpening stones. The areas of eastern Germany have been under russian administration and most companies and also small workshops have been socialized during that time.

Regards Peter

Thank you Peter , that makes sense. I found out that the elderly man who's apartment had to be cleared after he passed away was born in 1930 and served in the Belgian military . He was stationed in Ludenscheid after the second WW as part of the allied occupation forces.