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Hello
Recently I got this Dorko. The interesting thing it has milled cutout on the both sides of spine. I don't know the real purpose - any thoughts?. Also is there any chance to identify approx the range of production years?
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Thanks for your help!
I cant help but I do like it. Nice one.
The company has been around since 1920 and still operates today.
Dorko Stahlwarenhandel Solingen, Dorten GmbH & CO
They have a contact page. If you contact them and include your photos, they may be able to answer your questions.
Bob
Looks as it would be a fairly stiff grind. With the stabilizer on the lower part of the blade, the top above the groove seems to be stiffness and weight.
Pretty unusual...
Seems to me, it was a short lived, fad. I've seen several examples, that were similar in grind. Such as this Wosty.
Attachment 342249
Half hollow ground, half rattler. Maybe something to do with guys playing around, in the beginning of hollow grinding. Seems to fall in that time frame. :shrug:
Dorko is a fine german brand, and since it was established in 1920 there's not much more to go to date it more than that.
There is no model name (which sometimes help, sometimes don't), the 12 is not a model reference, probably more a blank reference (which would indicate that Dorko merely "finished" on a blank). But yeah, you can try asking Dorko.
As for the mill cutout I surmise it's merely a kind of spine decoration among many others.
There are several ways such a decoration can me made. It can be milled, but it can also be "stamped" in the red hot iron with pincers or with a file AFAIK.
The cutout often is lower on the blade, I just surmise that it's that high because they worked from a standard blank.
While it's not that common, it's not that rare a decoration either.
Here are two samples
https://i.servimg.com/u/f79/15/54/05/37/1828b210.jpg
This one is quite similar to your Dorko in termes of time of creation and provenance
Attachment 320985
this one is much older (~ 1880/90) and French made.
Thank you all.
Yes, I send question to Dorko, though I doubt they will answer. As far as I learnt they do not produce razors any more and concentrated on other things. But anyway, still hope they will reply.
I think that it was done to reduce the weight of heavy blades, but I have no evidence.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aggelos
I think the grove on the spine of the OP's razor was for weight reduction and ornamentation. In blades that appear to have 2 different grinds, I think it was done for 2 reasons. They would be to allow stiffness when the blade had more hollow bottom grind and make it easier to do a hollow grind. The ultimate example would be a modern bellied hollow.
Bob
I think it might have been an attempt to put a fuller in the blade. Fullers are used to lighten the weight of knives and swords without loss of strength. See https://www.reliks.com/functional-sw...swords/fuller/
Not your typical 'Fuller' I would guess.
A great deal could be found as laying this on a hone and checking to see if it lies on the top, or bottom spine.
OR both simultaneously. Were it the bottom spine, it would be a stabilized 5/8 or so hollow with some jazz on top (weight)
If the top spine lays flat it's possibly an attempt to get a steeper bevel on a smaller razor?
Or.....Bling (as I think).
That stabilizer on the lower 2/3 along with all the rest tells me they used all the tricks they knew!
Somewhere after 1900 the razor companies in Solingen (and surely also elsewhere) prdocued so-called security razors. The security razors have been normal straights or adapted versions, on which a protective mantel was mounted, so that the edge of the razor didn't touch the skin. Later on the same system was used for effilier/ thinning razors.
There are several patents for this protective devices and how they were mounted on the razor. Most of them simply have been clamped somehow on the razors spine - so they could be used for each staight. But some special variants required a certain sliding chute near the spine.
So I think that is what you see on your Dorko. Could be wrong though and it might be something else.
Here are some old advertisements showing these security razors:
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Regards Peter
We had s few similar versions, Peter. Here in the States, we know them as safety straights.
Attachment 342303
I used to have a barber who did use one for thinning hair. But it had a disposable blade. I use mine for cleaning up the back of my neck, after a clipper cut/ buzz job. :rofl2:
Now THAT makes sense, hatzicho !
I wondered if that might be what the grooved spine was for also. Here is another variant. George W Korn "The Real"
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The spine is not grooved on this one. The guide/guard swivels around to work on either side. Pretty clever little gadget really. This one is Little Valley steel from it's hayday also so it is a great little shaver.
I have shaved my own neck with a DE but I like a straight shave on it so I have my wife or son do it. It didn't seem quite safe doing that in the mirror. I never really thought about using this on for that but maybe I'll try it.Quote:
Originally Posted by outback
I have the back of my neck shaved by my wife with the clippers. She refuses to even hold a straight and flatly refuses to try and shave me with anything but those clippersQuote:
Originally Posted by PaulFLUS
Yeah my wife hates it too. My son doesn't though so if he's available I get him to do it because I get a better shave from him since he's not scared of it.
Thank you! Very believable!Quote:
Originally Posted by hatzicho
