Thread: Were souvenir razors meant to be used?

I got this Wald-Sword & Crown razor from ebay for about 12 bucks. It had some light rust but other than that it was pristine. It has an engraving of The Horticultural Buildings from the Columbia Exposition (Chicago,1892-93) on the blade. (Sorry about the crumby phonecamera pic.)

A lot of people talk about zero or no hone wear, but this had absolutely no hone wear. As in it had never been sharpened at all. Where an edge bevel should have been, there was just maybe 0.2mm of flat metal. When honeing it, which took FOREVER, I had to go down to 220 grit just to get the bevel started.

Which got me to thinking, since the average late-19th century straight shaver probably only had a barber's hone and a strop, was this thing ever meant to actually be used?

I would agree that they were meant to be used. I have honed many of these and they have all ended up nice shavers.

Enjoy!

Lynn

Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL

Lynn's 2500 post.

No clapping smiley, oh well. *clap clap clap*.

What a guy, giving Lynn “the clap”.