Thread: The Gentleman's Set

I mentioned earlier that I'd also gotten an 1805 set. Today, for want of something fresh to shave with, I cleaned up the Monday blade and honed it. Seemed like a good time to get pictures.



The box is larger than my Rodgers set, but still pretty small. The top is decorated with tooled Morocco leather. It's got brass hinges and ornate little hook & eye clasps to hold it shut. The sides are a less vivid red than the top.

But check out the tooling on the leather.



The box definitely shows signs of being north of 200 years old, thankfully, the razors are a bit less weathered.



I'd be happier if Tuesday weren't missing, since the chances of me ever finding a replacement are basically nil, but what I've got here is plenty awesome.

The set was made around 1805 by M. Bataille, a surgical instruments manufacturer in Bordeaux. In 1806 he won a silver medal at the Paris Exposition for his fine lithotomy catheter (yeah, I think I'll pass on restoring and using one of those), but he also exhibited this set of razors, which were described as being made with great care. I'll agree to that.





(You can see bigger versions of all these pictures by right-clicking them and choosing 'view image')

I doofused a bit when I did the first pass of cleaning and reassembled the half-scales backwards. These were designed exactly the opposite of all the other gunstock scales I'd seen, and I was already at a disadvantage because I don't have any nickel-silver rod in the oddball size this used. I'll probably drill out the pins at some point and assemble it the right way, but it's not any big deal as it stands. It just means the handle doesn't fit quite as nicely back into its formed resting spot.

The interchangeable blades snap in very similar to the early 1820's Sheffield models, except Bataille designed the hollow tang with filed jimps, jimps that continue on to each blade and are cut across the spring-steel that locks the blades in place. I was pretty pleasantly surprised at how little rust there was inside the mechanism. That'd be super easy to get full of water, rust, and push it all apart. The blades fit in just a little bit loose, but they're comfortable to hone and strop.


(you can see the spring-steel middle of the tang, which is the part that snaps and holds the blades into place)



Down in there where the blades rest, the box has felt pads glued onto angled rests so that the blades don't touch the bottom (though clearly that doesn't prevent the bottom from getting cut up, but those cuts happened long, long ago).

There you can see the locking barb on all the blades. The mechanism is incredibly simple. A spring-arm on the bottom of the tang pushes up. The rounded end of the flange pushes that down as you slide the blade in, then a keyed notch at the top locks it into place. To take the blade out again, you push down on the spring arm so that the notch comes out of the cut on the top, then just pull the blade out. It sounds much more complicated than it is.

At some point I'll clean it all up a bit better and replace the missing felt inside the box, but today I'll shave with Monday. I'm not very picky about matching my days of the week.

(EDITED SEROUS SWEAR WORD TO DENOTE AMAZEMENT) Unbelievable Zak! Simply incredible...

WP34

This set is wonderful

WOW, what a fantastic collection of razor sets.
I have been looking at some sets on The Bay, but none were as good looking as the ones in this thread.

Some day gentlemen.
Some day...

Hey guys

I have a question that is slightly off topic, but I don't think there is a better place to ask it than right here. I have a Thomas Turner Encore 4 razor set box with 1 of the original razors that is an A. & N. C.S.L. razor with ivory scales. It is probably in the 1875 - 1880 time frame. The box is in decent structural condition with a couple of small pieces of wood missing. Then again, I guess all the wood in these boxes could be considered small pieces. I believe it was covered with a thin black leather since there are significant pieces of that left on it. I am trying to restore the box. The inside is a little dirty, but in decent condition.

Do any of you know what type of wood was used to make these boxes and what type of leather they used to cover them? I would like to keep true to type so that it is a restoration and not just a repair. After looking at all the incredible sets here it appears to me that many of the boxes were made by the same manufacturer even though the razors were made by different brands. I'd hate to see the old box fall apart after surviving this long.

From my limited experience with Presentation boxes, I offer this:
Often the wood was deal ( Pine) or Oak, and the covering was galuchat or shagreen, Donkey Hide

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shagreen

Some vintage bill folds, purses, and checkbooks have a super thin leather which is close to the original.
There are some old printing shops which still have manual gold leaf hot stamping presses and the fancy type and border fonts to go with them.
Added: Book re-binders may have all that is needed also.

Hope that may help. I have a pair: VR Diamond Jubilee etching but they are in a double coffin.
Good luck and thanks for wanting to do it correctly.
~Richard

Thanks a bunch Geezer, this is very helpful.

Hello !

A member of ours (french community of the Coupe-choux club), working at Vuitton, told us that the best wood for this kind of work is "poplar" (peuplier, populus). But I guess it depends of the general look of your box, type of wook previously used, if it's gonna be visible or not...

He made himself a set, and posted a WIP with few pictures here : Fabrication d'une malle WE

I'm sure you could also ask him if you have questions.

Thank you Thaeris,

I had not thought of poplar. I will look into that and see if it could have been made from it. Because poplar and pine are both light weight and light colored it could be difficult to tell them apart in a box that is about 135 years old. I actually have a poplar board that has been aging in my garage for about 15 years since I decided not to use it for a project I had in mind at the time. It would work out well if it is the right wood.

I will check out the link you gave me and see what he has to say too.

Thanks again

Jeff

Originally Posted by JeffHarp

Thank you Thaeris,
I had not thought of poplar. ..snip...
I will check out the link you gave me and see what he has to say too.
Thanks again
Jeff

Added info:
Poplar is an easily worked and very stable wood. Gets my vote.
I checked and The set I have has a pasted fine cloth surface rather than the usual leather.
A book re-binder may also have the thin leather for binding books which would be a plus.
What ever you do have fun!
~Richard

PS the link above starts getting to production of the box about page 5 and later. Nice job, also.