Thread: giesen & forsthoff

Not really sure Jeff,

They all have it. You can get them to shave OK these days with some work by removing it. You can also get them to shave OK with some work, with tape and keeping it. The same goes for the new Henckel"s and Puma's which I understand are being made by the same source. The jagged edges under low power on the microscope threw me, but they can be worked out for the most part. I am kind of lost on these razors as it seems like they have improved and are close to being decent. I really wish, they would do what ever it takes and just improve them to as close to the vintage production as possible.

Have fun.

Originally Posted by JeffR

Lynn,

Thanks for the update. Regarding the secondary bevels - could they be an attempt to compensate for brittle steel? The reason I ask is because my Fromm 72R (I know, but I still like it ) which I'm pretty sure is made by G&F actually seems to work better with a secondary bevel. No kidding; I reset to a single bevel and the edge didn't seem to last near as long as when I replaced the secondary bevel.

Thanks,
Jeff

Originally Posted by Lynn

Not really sure Jeff,

They all have it. You can get them to shave OK these days with some work by removing it. You can also get them to shave OK with some work, with tape and keeping it. The same goes for the new Henckel"s and Puma's which I understand are being made by the same source. The jagged edges under low power on the microscope threw me, but they can be worked out for the most part. I am kind of lost on these razors as it seems like they have improved and are close to being decent. I really wish, they would do what ever it takes and just improve them to as close to the vintage production as possible.

Have fun.

Yes you say right Lynn, I sell this razors for 2 years and can only say the same thing : the steel seems to be the same as PUMA, and J.A and have the same probleme of Sharpening. You will need to have a tape sharpening stone machine to make them ok. With banch sharpening stones it will take you losts of time ! I have prepared to many GIESEN razors and can only say that they cut well when they are sharp but not like a DOVO . They will need ti improve their steel quality and make them harder I think...

I got a Giesen & Forstoff for a Christmas present. It has a real horn handle and looked really nice, there was a leaflet with it saying it was 'shave ready.' It wasn't. I have shaved with it, re-lathered, re-shaved, and re-lathered and shaved again, The result I got was not a very close shave at all and a very sore face. I have never honed a blade before but I stropped this one for nearly an hour; the shave afterwards was little better than the first time I tried it. I wish I had got the Dovo now.

I have a Timor Hamburg Ring which I bought around a year ago. I sent it away to be honed and received a less than complementary assessment of it from the gentleman who honed it. I believe him completely as he has honed several other razors with excellent results. To be honest.....as a result....I have never even used it ....as the edge feels less satisfactory than the GDs I have honed myself and I am a complete newbie!

I love my G&F (The black one pictured in my last post above). It's a great shaver, has never been a problem with putting on an edge or holding it. It's the only G&F I've experienced, and I don't know where you blokes are coming from with all these problem razors. However, I'm willing for you to send them my way if you hate them so much. Really! Do yourself a favour and send it to me. Even if I don't use them, I will give them a loving home and admire them regularly .


Mick

How old is your GF razor Mick? I own several German Razors from the 1930's-40's that my grandfather left me when he died, they shave great and are nearly 100 years old, I will gladly SWAP my brand new horn handled Timor Hamburg Ring GF for your black handled one if you wish? ;-)

Mine is less than five years old and not for trade. It's a good shaver and those stay in my collection .


Mick

Cool, I'm going to send mine back to GF, I think they re-hone their razors for free; hopefully it will come back better.

Dude,

Send me your razor. I will give it a honing for you. I cant promise to be as good as Grand Master Lynn, but if I can improve it for you, I will be happy to.

Originally Posted by MickR

I love my G&F (The black one pictured in my last post above). It's a great shaver, has never been a problem with putting on an edge or holding it. It's the only G&F I've experienced, and I don't know where you blokes are coming from with all these problem razors. However, I'm willing for you to send them my way if you hate them so much. Really! Do yourself a favour and send it to me. Even if I don't use them, I will give them a loving home and admire them regularly .


Mick

Hello Mick either you were lucky or I was extremely unlucky. I sent my G&F to Neil at Strop Shop U.K. the man knows his stuff and my razor was 3 weeks old and I had been taking very good care of it. He has now kindly re-honed it for me. Here is what he had to say about the razor, " it had a small ding/chip on the lower curved tip of the blade, and for some reason a bit of a 'hump' was developing near the heel, which was giving rise to a slight hollow that wasn't honed properly. In fact, the first half of the bevel had the (customary) single bevel, while the back half had a double-bevel - most unusual! However, I have corrected that and also reshaped the tip and tail a little to get over the chip and to even out the hump."

The razor now shaves fine; however all these problems happened during the manufacturing process.