Thread: Experienced sharpener, new to razors

Originally Posted by brooksie967

Maybe Martin has something more to ad.

You did a fine job Brooksie but you got to ad some pics.

Originally Posted by brooksie967

According to the taylors1000.com website located here: Full A to Z list of Razor Manufacturers & their Dates of Operations

ALEXANDER COPPEL CUTLERY CO
Solingen; had an importing office in New York City
Used "STOLL RAZOR" trademark. Knives & Razors
"Barbers Choice"
ca. 1821 - present

Alcoso was fouded by Alexander Coppel in 1821. The company is mostly known for the (ceremonial) swords, daggers, bayonets, and the like they made for both the British and later on the nazis (after the jewish Coppels were expelled from the firm). But they made all sorts of cutlery and even bicycle parts. Alcoso went out of business somewhere in the fifties, but was restarted in the late nineties. They now specialize in pet care products and professional scissors, but also took over Otto Busch and hold the Weltmeister brand.

Alexander Coppel registered the business, which he inherited from his father Arnold Coppel, in 1862.

The company which was the third largest in Solingen employed 160 workers. The company made cutlery and tableware but concentrated on edged weapons from the mid 1860s. They made swords, bayonets and daggers for a number of countries including Great Britain, the German states, Belgium and the Netherlands. Towards the end of the nineteenth century they supplied the Turkish and South American markets.

They were a leading supplier during the First World War to the German forces. After the war, the company switched back to cutlery manufacture as well as making razors, scissors and hair clippers.

During the Weimar period, they made police and private purchase walking out bayonets.

The company’s Jewish background prevented them selling daggers to the SA and SS but they did produce swords and daggers for the German armed forces.

In 1936, the company was “Aryanised” and continued to produce the same wide range of products including large numbers of bayonets for the German armed forces.

Their factory was destroyed by bombing in November 1944 and the company was
officially liquidated in July 1956.

Information from “The Sword and Knife Makers of Germany 1850-2000” by Anthony Carter.

Maker Mark I.D. Part 2

I love my Alcoso, they are fine shavers IMO...

Originally Posted by Martin103

You did a fine job Brooksie but you got to ad some pics.

Thanks Martin, I did my best but you had to one-up me again, didn't ya

Wow! I should have employed you guys to do research for me when I was working in my history degree! This is very thorough and very cool. Without knowing too much about the razor before I started, it does not surprise me to find that it is a decent blade. Since it must be 50+ years old, I'm pleased that it was still able to take a good edge.

As for the pit of corrosion Brooksie, it is small on the one hand, but I guess it's all kind of relative. Let's just say that I can see the spot just barely with my naked eye after finding it with the magnifying glass. It's located very close to the heel of the blade which is an area that I don't use as much when I shave. It is located right on the cutting edge which is a pain. From what I can tell, I could get it out by cutting the profile of the blade back by at least a milimeter to make sure that I got it all. I'm not sure if I should do that much grinding though. I'm very open minded to opinions though if anybody has one.

As for setting the bevel, I definitely made sure that the bevel was "all mine" as my sharpening teacher would say. He taught me on kitchen knives and I found the razor sharpening process to be pretty similar, albeit much more delicate. When he said that you had to make the bevel all yours, he meant that every thing on the bevel that you can see should be what you just made by grinding. I wouldn't even be able to tell if the bevel was all mine unless I had magnification, so I'm glad that I did.

As for my stropping compounds and the progression, I will have to ask my buddy when he gets back. I basically just copied what he does, and I barely know anything about the compounds themselves. The diamond powder is (according to him) more coarse than chromeium oxide. The chromeium oxide is in the middle and the jeweler's rouge is the finest. They come in these overzized crayon type things. The one he gets all have a bunch of either chinese or japanese characters on them because he's obsessed with Japan. I never bothered to learn much more than how to do the stropping, but I'm interested to learn more about the compounds themselves. I'll ask him if he can tell me what size grit the diamond paste is and stuff though. Thanks again to all who have chipped in!

Originally Posted by Spacehog

Since it must be 50+ years old

Your razor is pretty close to 100 years old, and yes it will take an edge and done properly it will be a great shaver.

Wow! If that thing is 100 years old, that kind of blows my mind. I guess that proves that these things can last a lifetime and then some. From the wear on the spine from sharpening, I would guess that this thing has seen heavy use during its very long lifetime. It cut my face just fine too, so that's cool.