Thread: Chronik razors?

Originally Posted by mparker762

I'm the "Mr Parker" mentioned in the post above. I concur with what he said. My Chronik is ok, nothing special. I haven't bothered using it since the review two years ago.

I know you've been super busy with work lately, but it's good to see you posting.

*I'm not saying that you haven't been because I've not been stalking you , but I haven't seen them lately if you have

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

. . . and have only heard of one other fella on the forum who posted pics of his black handled Chronik and remarked he liked his as much as I like mine. Other than that.... it seems they are awful uncommon."

I was never able to locate that picture of a black handled Chronik, perhaps I missed it? I am familiar with one other person that remarked about having used a Chronik and how wonderful it was. He was a poster on the original Yahoo SRP named Colin Sockpuppet something or other. I assume he is the person being referred to. I don't remember him ever posting a picture and there's no post on the old board where he says he posted a picture. Never really heard from him again after he established that no one else had a Chronik. I would love to see that picture of the black handled Chronik though.

Best Regards,
EL

Actually, the person referred to is the Master of Sockpuppets. Same difference, though, presumably.

Originally Posted by mparker762

I'm the "Mr Parker" mentioned in the post above. I concur with what he said. My Chronik is ok, nothing special. I haven't bothered using it since the review two years ago.

Mr. Parker, with all this talk about the Chroniks of late I pulled mine out last night just to gaze upon them. Lo and behold a slight case of scale rot rusting had occurred. They had all been snugly squirreled away in their cases in a closet area far away from the bathroom yet each one display nearly the same symptoms. Other razors stored in the same area did not show any signs of such rust. Just thought I’d mention it just in case yours might be suffering from the same symptoms.

I’ve seen this before with one other razor – my very first razor and it had imitation tortoise scales too just like all my Chroniks. It was also an old razor from what I’ve been told so I’m not surprised the Chroniks are starting to develop the same problem. The rust was so mild though I just wiped most of it off with some tissue paper. I applied some Camillia oil to them to keep them from further decay and hopefully that will do the trick for now.

Best Regards,
EL

With as much joking as goes on around the Chronik, that's all good and well, but there is a chance that the owner of the fabled Chronik that launched a thousand ships, actually does have a razor that is far above and beyond others. I would say that for any of us that have aquired more than a few razors, there are some that indeed do stand out on their own, even amongst others of the same make & model.

I have honed up >30 or so Double Arrow/Gold Dollars. Most are very capable shavers, and take a nice edge, but every now and then I seem to get one that really is super-nice and smooth like a fine Solingen. I had that experience just yesterday. I really had a fantastic shave, as good as any other out there. I can't therefore claim Gold Dollar razors overall to be the bee's knees, but I certainly can claim that particular Gold Dollar as being a singularly nice shaver.

Just saying...

I have to +1 here too...

I have a couple of razors like that... My "Mack the Knife" is one that I brag about often... I really could careless what anyone else thinks I know how that little razor shaves me...

It could also be partially due to how that one razor fits that one face you just never really know....

Originally Posted by Seraphim

With as much joking as goes on around the Chronik, that's all good and well, but there is a chance that the owner of the fabled Chronik that launched a thousand ships, actually does have a razor that is far above and beyond others.
Just saying...

While that is possible.... at the risk of overloading my ass with my keyboard .... Not mentioning any names but ..... is it possible that someone would praise razors, brushes etcetera to the skies which shortly thereafter come up for sale on the BST ?

The hell of it is that knowing that I still want one of those darned 'legendary' Chroniks and I've read the SMF review and all the rest. I guess I'm proof of P.T. Barnum's 'sucker born every minute and two to take him'.

Originally Posted by Seraphim

With as much joking as goes on around the Chronik, that's all good and well, but there is a chance that the owner of the fabled Chronik that launched a thousand ships, actually does have a razor that is far above and beyond others. I would say that for any of us that have aquired more than a few razors, there are some that indeed do stand out on their own, even amongst others of the same make & model.

I have honed up >30 or so Double Arrow/Gold Dollars. Most are very capable shavers, and take a nice edge, but every now and then I seem to get one that really is super-nice and smooth like a fine Solingen. I had that experience just yesterday. I really had a fantastic shave, as good as any other out there. I can't therefore claim Gold Dollar razors overall to be the bee's knees, but I certainly can claim that particular Gold Dollar as being a singularly nice shaver.



Just saying...

Absolutely!!

I have a Babbalabbik razor that is such a good shaver that when I put it to my face, the whiskers mysteriously disappear. All of them. I honed it 10 years ago and it has not been stropped or honed since. And while I would never let anyone see this razor, it is without a doubt the mostest, bestest, superiorest and outstandingest razor that was ever created by the gods........... If you see one on the Bay, please let me know immediately. Can't imagine what it would cost now days......

Seriously, there are many fine shavers out there and some by the same manufacturer do seem to shave better than others, but generally, generally those brands and models produce superior shaves across the board. We all have our favorites. By the same token, those that usually shave mediocre are the same across the board. Maybe a nice shave but not quite the same as those brands which have demonstrated excellence and continue to do so. Add to this, that we all have our own personal preferences, so yet another factor here.

I think sometimes that the proclamation is the issue and yes there can be all kinds of motivation. I thought the test that EL and MParker did was very telling and participated in it as well. My expectations exceeded the results. You guys that have honed hundreds of razors know what is great, good and not so good. It is very hard for me to proclaim any razor the best that I have or have used. I have magic Hess 44's, DD's, C-Mon's, Waterville's, Mappin & Webb's, Sta-Sharps, Boker's, Henckel's, Korn's, Cattaraugus, Bengall's and quite a few others that I consider such good shavers that I cannot part with them. Keep in mind that even if a person only has one or two razors that give him a great shave that this is his perspective as well.

Have fun,

Lynn

I have to give a big +1 to what Lynn is saying here. I can understand if just one Chronik showed up in all this time and it was bad. But we had four specimens and none of them came close to Wonder Razor status.

If you go back and revisit the original claims, and Dr. Moss does a pretty good job of this in his review, you will see that the only way they could be near the realm of possibility is if the claimant had a razor just like the ones we have seen. The soft steel with it’s proclivity to take a ragged edge might have allowed for an edge strong enough to take the beating and corrosion dished out by someone who shaved three times a day. And the claimant said he shaved three times a day back then which is how he got 40 shaves out of a razor in under two weeks. I remember asking him in a post what was he shaving on his second and third shaves of the day? I’ve read of some guys shaving twice a day because they’re going out at night but three times is a bit excessive and leads one to wonder if the claimant wasn’t actually shaving anything of significance at the time – perhaps wisps of torn whisker? That would make me think the blade is not getting anywhere near the stress it would if it was meeting with a full-day’s growth each time.

So the claims once examined closely don’t really amount to what they seem to on their face (no pun intended). It’s easy to make the mistake of comparing what was claimed to have happen to what you suppose happened from the description. Having been there at the time this was going on is an advantage for those of us who were there. Forty shaves for most normal guys would take almost two months (assuming he takes one day a week off, but certainly more than one month if he didn’t) and a full face of whiskers every morning. And that’s what most guys think of when they read the claims but this is not what was being presented by the claimant therefore it would be folly to try and duplicate his claims this way. And there’s no razor I know of that gets honed that can do this.

As an aside, take a look in the Verhoven paper at the edge a ceramic hone can leave behind. If I recall correctly it’s pretty darn ragged. A newbie with a swaty could probably come close to that real easy.

I also recall that at the time the claimant wished that a whole bunch of these Chroniks would show up so that more people could experience them. Well they did. And now we know. Don’t get Chroniked.

Best Regards,
EL

Originally Posted by Lynn

Absolutely!!

I have a Babbalabbik razor that is such a good shaver that when I put it to my face, the whiskers mysteriously disappear. All of them. I honed it 10 years ago and it has not been stropped or honed since. And while I would never let anyone see this razor, it is without a doubt the mostest, bestest, superiorest and outstandingest razor that was ever created by the gods........... If you see one on the Bay, please let me know immediately. Can't imagine what it would cost now days......


Have fun,

Lynn

Great job, Lynn, now I will never be able to afford one of those Babbalabbik razors. Everybody is going to want one now.

Thanks Alot,

Charlie