Thread: The French Foreign Laceration

Does anyone have any experience with / opinions of the French razor brand Pradat Brun?

Nope, but some porn would go down well

Well, I don't own one yet, but here's a link to one that I recently bid for and lost on eBay: Pradat-Brun 7/8 Clermont Ferrand. I think you will agree, it is pure eye candy. When they show up on the Bay, which is not often, they are very popular, and quickly get beyond my bidding range. I'd love to know what the fuss is about. I don't think the company is around any more, or if it is it's not making straights, but again any info would be appreciated.

Very nice. Why not try a cheaper French razor first? The two I have are both good razors.

I have a few French razors - 1 amazing new TI, a vintage Duvers Freres frameback (this one has given me the most satisfying shaves ever) and 2 Le Grelots (1 "perle des orients" and 1 "medaille d'argent") both of which I am still restoring. The one Le Grelot looks possibly NOS (it was a FleaBay find) and is so sharp it keeps slicing my fingers while I am buffing the blade - gotta be more careful!

We don't see enough "other(not TI or Le Grelot)" French razors . Please would you post some pictures of you extinct makes. I for one would be very pleased.
Did you see my J Magnol of Thiers?

I did - nice looking razor! How does it shave? Here is a pic of my Duvers Freres frameback. It's the listing photo from eBay. I have cleaned it and shined it up since, so it looks a little nicer now:



The scales are horn.

I might try a nice French Rattler one day. I do like yours.
The J Magnol has/had a very slight frown. It looked like it had benn sharpened on a pasted strop that caused it. I used a coticule with slurry to tidy-up the bevel and remove most of the frown. Then lots of laps on a water only coticule then polished the hell out of the edge on Cro2 on flat card.
The edge is smooth and quite keen,but, I may do a bit more hone work then Cro2 again as I feel the razor could get very keen. It is a much lighter razor than the Le Grelot 3/4 ground I have.
Cheers Marcus.

The pasted strop seems to have been the preferred method of honing for French straight shavers. I am always amazed how many paddle strops I see on French eBay. Have you ever come across a Le Coq razor? This is, I am pretty sure, yet another extinct French razor brand. The razors are very streamlined and unique-looking (and very attractive!). Here is a link to one on French eBay I am stalking: Ancien rasoir coupe-chou "Le Coq" et son étui en vente sur eBay.fr (fin le 01-mars-09 21:31:05 Paris). Several have shown up in the last few weeks, but this is the nicest yet.

Have you given any thought to breadknifing your Magnol to get past the frown? I have used it more frequently recently restoring several razors, including a W&B that had a chip. I alternate between building a bevel and then breadknifing it away until I am past the chip. It should work for frowns, too.

In addition to a 6/8ths TI Super Gnome, and a pair of quarter hollow Le Grelot,I've picked up a Le Grelot Le Petit Coiffeur 196. The scales are trash but the blade is sweet.