FNG with vintage razor

Hey all;

So I visit my buddy in eastern Colorado, he attends farms sales and has acquired an impressive collection of vintage straight razors.

Im no expert, but I do recognize brands as I am a knife affectionado.

JA Henckles, Puma, countless old brands I've never heard of.

I make a trade for an old French straight razor in the original box ( most of his razors are in the original box)

This razor is constructed differently than most old razors, it has a heavy back spine with an inserted plate of Damascus steel, fine ground to perfection.

The brand is " J. Petavy Ft"
Box reads "J. Petavy Ft 169 Bd-Saint Germain-Paris"

The condition would have to be described as mint to excellent.

I am not looking for value, only information as to the maker.

Google gives me snake eyes, and this intrigues me.

Anyone?

that could be a vendor too. may be you can post a photograph just so that we know what it looks like, although i don't think that by itself can identify the manufacturer.

Paris does have an active address that is:

169 Bd-Saint Germain-Paris

The Bd being boulevard. Sounds like you should go for an international road trip! :)


Here is a link to what the street address looks like today.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=...ed=0CBQQ8gEwAA

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AFDavis11

Paris does have an active address that is:

169 Bd-Saint Germain-Paris

The Bd being boulevard. Sounds like you should go for an international road trip! :)


Here is a link to what the street address looks like today.

169 Bd-Saint Germain-Paris - Google Maps

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mmmmmm..... Sushi in Paris

Hmmmm lets try that again

Attachment 55904

Thanks Max, Im trying to resize before I post anymore pics

These are various shots of the blade.
Sorry for the poor photography

Translated from the original French -- "This is one holy-crap nice razor"

Nice frameback! Probably an etched Damascus pattern, I have others like it. Likely not pattern welded or Wootz steel.

I've looked around the site and have seen no other construction quite like it.

Its not hollow ground, it's more like a wedge grind.

anyone seen a similar example?

Framebacks, which this razor is, are not wedge or hollow grinds, they are framebacks. The blade is a separate piece of steel from, well, the frame. Search the site for framebacks and you will find a bunch. Some framebacks have replaceable blades. Holli4 had one like yours with the same etching but I believe a different brand.

Frameback razors like this one came into vogue in the 1850's. Your razor looks like the French Jaques LeCoultre blade pattern, which was copied by many, including George Wostenholm-I have a frameback in etched Damascus pattern by him. If you look for that in the Wiki or Google, you will see the similarities in the blade profiles.

J Petavy was an armourer. His establishment is mentioned in the 1928 edition of the Almanac of Action for France. He is called an 'arquebusier' by which I presume he made arquebuses (a type of rifle) among other things.

Regards,
Neil

Thank you for all the good information.

I apologize for bumbling around your forum, you guys are obviously well versed in the razor arena, which I have stumbled upon quite by chance.

I have never entertained the thought of actually using a straight razor before.
But after reading the forum for a couple of days, I feel I now must experience the straight razor shave.

Like classic firearms and cutlery weren't expensive and time consuming enough...........now I have a new side interest to explore.

Thanks........I think ;-)

What's nice about collecting straights is that you can actually use the items in your collection on a daily basis.

If you're going to make the leap and start straight shaving, make sure you consult the Wikis and beginner's guides posted on the site. They will save you untold amounts of time, money and blood loss.

Welcome aboard

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RedForman

Thank you for all the good information.

I apologize for bumbling around your forum, you guys are obviously well versed in the razor arena, which I have stumbled upon quite by chance.

I have never entertained the thought of actually using a straight razor before.
But after reading the forum for a couple of days, I feel I now must experience the straight razor shave.

Like classic firearms and cutlery weren't expensive and time consuming enough...........now I have a new side interest to explore.

Thanks........I think ;-)

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Do get your razor professionally honed before attempting any serious shaving with it. A good edge makes a great difference and eliminates some of the learning obstacles.