Thread: The Stub-Tailed Shavers

Wow. That razor is in remarkably good shape. The scales look almost new. Are they original?

Yes they are indeed the original scales.

You will find that in the circuits where such pieces are usually found, they are quite often in such a good shape. Some look brand new even being centuries old.

Most likely it spent most of its time behind a glass case

Originally Posted by lohar

Fabulous !!! this is the first time that I see a Pradier with an engraved blade

Here is a fully etched 7-day set for you
The blades may have been etched but who knows, they are reground now...

Originally Posted by ScienceGuy

Here is a fully etched 7-day set for you
The blades may have been etched but who knows, they are reground now...

I've always wondered how the mechanism for the interchangeable blade works. Do you have any pictures of the underside of the tang?

Originally Posted by 32t

I wonder if those were their Sunday clothes for the special picture?

There's a video on Yorkshire Film Archive of penknife makers at Geo. Ibberson in the early 1900's. JOB15 has it in a thread somewhere. The men forging out the blades are in shirts, ties and waistcoats. My grandfather was a hot brass stamper at a company called Hewitts, my father recalls he dressed the same and that was the 60's, sometimes losing the waistcoat in the summer months. Grandmother had to buy new shirts for him quite often, with the heat and hardship of the work he of course sweated a lot, this would basically eat away the thread holding them together. A generation of men we'll never see again, for better or worse.

To the people who own stubtails, how are these to shave with ergonomics wise? Some of the tangs seem quite thin on these razors.

I find the tail to have little to no importance.

But yes, some old tang shapes are pretty terrible ergonomy wise. Nothing close to a general rule though

Originally Posted by thp001

To the people who own stubtails, how are these to shave with ergonomics wise? Some of the tangs seem quite thin on these razors.

I have one stub tail just for the sake of having one. I find shaving with it to be a pita when compared to using a razor with a modern longer tail. As always YMMV

Bob

They’re not as comfortable as a modern monkey tail, but nothing that you can’t get used to, which of course many people did.

I think that the further back you go the better the steel generally speaking and the really early stubbies have excellent grinds.. I have no problem with any grind or shape.