Thread: Mythical Vintage Steel

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Also things were more handmade and crafted but still those old fashioned methods can't hold a candle to modern precision methods.

Yes, there is a big caveat attached to modern precision methods. You have to have tight quality control along the whole manufacturing process or you can and do turn out volumes of subpar product in a vey short time span. I am thinking of the modern current production razors that somehow escape the factory not shave ready. There are pros and cons to everything.

Bob

Originally Posted by sharptonn

My favorite razors are from the late 1800's through the late 30's. Hexe machines became common and steel had gained considerably by then.
Still, the hand-crafted element and pride of product was there. Geometry was near perfect. Thinner grinds were most common.
Easy to hone and maintain. The pinnacle of blades, IMO.

Thank you for your opinion. Just to be clear my original post was not meant to pit this against that or to put down technology or other era razors. To each their own and YMMV. There are great razors from all periods and I have some great custom examples also. My original post was to highlight the skill that went into making that particular razor and the musing in my head at the time. I only referenced the technology and steel of today to show the great skill the maker(s) had and how proud I am of to own it.

Originally Posted by Kees

In the olden days artisans relied on their eyes much more than we do.The colour of the steel rather than the reading of a thermometer told them where they were at and what to do next. I am not sure whether there are similar books in English but if you read French and you are interested in olden-days craftsmanship you can read here how razors and other blades were made. Mr Perret mentions razors and how to create their particular qualities a few times.
https://books.google.de/books?id=yGl...page&q&f=false

Yes! Absolutely amazing what they were able to accomplish. Thank you.

Originally Posted by Steel

Thank you for your opinion. Just to be clear my original post was not meant to pit this against that or to put down technology or other era razors. To each their own and YMMV. There are great razors from all periods and I have some great custom examples also. My original post was to highlight the skill that went into making that particular razor and the musing in my head at the time. I only referenced the technology and steel of today to show the great skill the maker(s) had and how proud I am of to own it.

Looks like I missed the point by 100 years or so. Post deleted. I have some oldies as well. They shave now as they shaved then.
Carry-on.

Like all of you I also have great razors from every time period. One of them is also one of my earliest acquisitions.

Someone in our community remembered that I had mentioned I were wishing for an old razor with ivory scales and he just had this one sent out for restoration by another member. He told me once it comes back I can have it and refused to take anymore money than what he had bought it for (virtually nothing).

It's such a great razor and only has what seems to be a name of a London retailer. I was looking at it this morning and I will close out 2019 with it on tomorrow's shave

The whole concept of craftsmen and artisans is a fascinating one.

My great grandfather was a German cabinet maker who came to the US in the 1880s and set up shop very near where he got off the boat in Baltimore. I am fortunate to have a cane seat chair he made, that is still sturdy enough to hold my fat butt without wobbling (or groaning), although the seat was re-caned in the 1950s. When I look at the joinery and precision of the carvings, it is hard to imagine them being done with no electric tools. My father inherited his love of tools and precise workmanship and built many things with a few great vintage hand tools. My brother, who is an electrician, does woodworking as his hooby and has built some beautiful pieces, but has a workshop full of precision woodworking machinery.

Some time back, someone on SRP asked what an "artisan" soap was. When I considered that question I realized that the word floods me with memories of the many lasting things I've seen, touched and used that were created by people who were truly artisans.

I think that 200 years ago, people understood a lot. They certainly did not have such modern devices as they are now. But I do not think that people were no less literate in the manufacture of various crafts. If we take an earlier period and say for the Egyptian pyramids or Indian temples, then we still need to grow those technologies. Not so simple. I think so.

Originally Posted by Steel

I doubt the person who crafted this razor could have known that 200 years later it would be looked at, talked about and appreciated by people all over the world. I am sure it was one of many created. A tool. A mundane object and not a masterpiece except maybe to the smith at the time of finishing it. I am certain he could not have fathomed the appreciation people would have for his skill so far in the future.

Attachment 314554

I have read through this thread a couple times and have a few thoughts.

The first one is that at it's time it was created I don't think that this was a mundane object. At the time there probably was relatively few who could do a great job and then relatively few who could afford it.

One thing with simpler tools is that if you make a mistake it is relatively small. With modern power tools if you make a minor misjudgment the piece is junk but then again it doesn't bother you as much because you can just grab another piece of that "cheap" steel and try again.

I am visualizing something I have not done but if you where going to hit one piece of rock with another to try to make it match perfectly with the next one and something distracted you and you missed by .5 cm with your blow you probably wouldn't notice it in the 250,000 blows that it took to do your job.

If I don't pay attention to the diamond saw to do the same thing my whole piece is easily off by .5 m.

Just thinking out loud again!

not sure these poor souls were the proud craftsmen we'd like them to be. being a sheffield grinder (or émouleur in thiers) in the 19th century was a terrible fate. early and painful death was certain.

grinders and polishers in thiers: link

grinders in sheffield: link

this might make you feel a bit sick: sheffield grinders' asthma

regards,
hans

Originally Posted by brightred

not sure these poor souls were the proud craftsmen we'd like them to be. being a sheffield grinder (or émouleur in thiers) in the 19th century was a terrible fate. early and painful death was certain.

grinders and polishers in thiers: link

grinders in sheffield: link

this might make you feel a bit sick: sheffield grinders' asthma

regards,
hans

Yes, we tend to romanticize the good old days and tend to forget that they were far from good for the majority of people. Now you have people complaining about workplace health and safety laws and environmental protection laws. People can be strange creatures.

Bob