Thread: Lehman's razors

Does anyone know what these razors are?

Personal Care|Shaving Supplies|Straight Edge Razors - Lehmans.com

I'm suspicious, as they state they will turn "rustic brown with use"....

Curious.

I would assume they are rebranded TI, if they are actually made in France...But...

Plunged into boiling lead!???

"Blades will turn to a rustic brown color with use"?* Shouldn't that read "Blades will turn to a RUSTY brown color with CARELESS use?"

You guys have it all wrong. They turn brown because of the amount of blood they let, staining the blade.

I believe TI uses a lead bath for all their razors IIRC.

I love looking through the Lehman's catalog. For old time things that work, I recommend everyone get a copy if you've never seen it before.

I remember at least for awhile they sold a razor "made in France" that had the signature TI pointed toe scales. I don't see how the ones I saw couldn't have been TI razors.

Chris L

And this is in their article on how to use it:


"When learning to use a straight razor, it is recommended that you shave with the blade at a 90° angle. As you master the process, you can adjust the blade to your liking, up to a 30° angle."

I officially call "BS!"

Besides.....why pay $200 for a no-name ugly-arse razor? I could almost get a Hart Steel for that.

Honest, Mom, I was just looking, I didn't touch it!!

Note: Blades will turn to a rustic brown color with use.

That sounds more like what i would want from a new meerschaum pipe than a characteristic I would be looking for in a straight razor!

Originally Posted by stimpy52

Honest, Mom, I was just looking, I didn't touch it!!

You were looking at some very naughty things, son. Now go do your penance!

Lead can be - and is used as a tempering bath. It is good for selectively tempering steel, too. Adding other elements to lead changes the colour of the treated steel - adding tin to it will make the steel a straw sort of colour. On its own, lead boils/melts at about 600F - a bit on the high side, but adding other elements in varying proportions brings the temperature down - tin in 2:1 lead/tin and 3:1 gives around 460F to 480F, which is often quoted as being close to the temperature required for razors (depends on the steel though - 430 to 600F is quoted).

There may be a bit of confusion about the actual part the lead bath plays - hardening, or tempering (tempering softens steel). Lead can be heated above its melting point, so the use of boiling lead could be to reduce the loss of carbon, but the temperature involved would be a hardening process, not a tempering process.

An oil bath is usually used in tempering, but if the melting point of the lead was reduced with tin, say, it could aslo be used as a tempering bath and would impart a colour to the steel.

The problem with lead is that it sticks to intricate parts. A way that can be used to stop this happening is to coat the blade with a sooty mixture (graphite/carbon) or whiting. During hardening, it would also reduce scale formation.

Regards,
Neil