Take a look a the pics. I found this in an antique shop in Arizona for $9. I couldn't really pass it up, but I'm having a tough time finding the manufacturer. You guys have any ideas?
Thanks,
Aaron
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Take a look a the pics. I found this in an antique shop in Arizona for $9. I couldn't really pass it up, but I'm having a tough time finding the manufacturer. You guys have any ideas?
Thanks,
Aaron
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Can't quite make it out but if that is a "tree" logo than it is a Boker with the name of the company that ordered a bunch from them.
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Jimmy,
That logo is a star at the center of a burst pattern.
I can make out "Medaille d'or" that means Gold medal usually given at the great exposition. Pretty sure its a french blade but cant make out the name... A. V____
That was it, Martin!
A. Vedel Medaille d'or. The list of common occurrences between straight razors and medaille d'or is pretty short. All hail the Google.
The registery for A. Vedel trademark "L'Etoile Polaire" = Polar Star was registered in 1910. That gives you an aproximate year of manufacturing.Quote:
Originally Posted by chewie360
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Martin -- I'm absolutely speechless. Thanks again for enlightening us. Can't get over it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin103
Very nice looking razor as well. Got a little bit of a smile which is great to shave with.
Here's a better picture of the blade with some Photoshop to highlight some of the flaws. The edge profile is not terrible, but not great either. I think I can contour this with some 250 carbide paper, but I'm a little concerned about the point. You can see how it's drastically rounded.
What do you guys think?
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The rounding of the toe was often done deliberately. Some barber's manuals gave instruction in how to do it, so technically it shouldn't be considered "poor sharpening." I cannot tell from the photo that there is a frown so it should not take long to fix it. Once you have that corrected you can hone away.
Absolutely. I've noticed that when it comes to shaving, I am occasionally not perfect. Rounded points like this have probably saved me several gallons of blood. My guess is that many barbers recognized that digging up their customers was not a good business practice. I've seen dozens of razors honed this way and the rest of the blade was honed perfectly. It simply had to be deliberate, and to my mind, wise.Quote:
Originally Posted by Utopian
You're right about the frown, which is why I highlighted it (I'm a Quality Assurance Manager, so I'm damn picky). I only noticed it by setting the edge on a glass table and rocking it. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes to work that out.
I wasn't aware that the rounding of the toe was sometimes intentional, so that's possibly good news.
Yes, do not “straighten” the edge, you will lose too much of the blade.
I would, lose the frown and remove/round the beginning of a heel spur. Make the heel match the couture of the toe and make it smile, a cardboard template of the toe and magic marker traced on to the heel, or eyeball it.
You may be able to save the scales with steel wool and WD40 and some wet and dry, they may be horn. I also would steel wool the blade, leaving some patina and make it a shaver.
Nice find, that it is rare… even nicer.
Without a doubt. I'm sure the profile was close to straight before. I had no idea that it was common to contour the toe like that, so I'm glad I pointed it out for the other guys to comment on. There's just a slight hump in the first 1/3rd of the edge that I'll have to take out to get the smile back.Quote:
Originally Posted by Euclid440
On a related note, one of the other guys mentioned the patina. I was considering bead blasting it to get some rust spots off the tang and jimps. Considering the relative age of the blade, does that adversely affect the historical value. A.Vedel doesn't appear to have been a prolific or preferred manufacturer. Since it's in relatively good shape, I think it would respond well to blasting and polishing. Perhaps even back to a mirror finish.
