Thread: Thoughts on these razors

I have 3 razors from my grandfather and was wondering if they are considered good, fair etc. I have been honing them for a while and have one arm devoid of hair, but have not tried to shave my face much with them. Any ideas on how "good" they are. My GF was on the poor side, so I am not expecting much, but I have had a hard time finding any information on them The one with the yellow scales is a Tonsorial Gem: FA Clauberg NY Made In Germany
The one with brown scales is a Benko Rus and Co. Chicago. Ill USA
The one with green scales: Polmeco Fine Cutlery NYC This has 27999 etched on the scales and 5239 stamped in them. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

The scales in the second and third pic look decent. However I can't tell how the blade are because of the flash used in the photos. I would suggest taking the photos without the flash and perhaps near the window without direct sunlight. If there are no chips on the razor the they might just need to be honed to become shave ready again.

They look good as long as there is no cracks. The first one has a broken scale at the pivot. So that would need to be rescaled. Unless someone has a better idea. A little cleaning then have them hone by someone that has honed razor before. Its best left to the experienced. This will also give you an example of a properly hone razor.

The pictures aren't the best, but considering their age and the fact that they've been used, they're in decent shape. The first one does need rescaling, and it's possible it has a frown--could just be the picture though.

If I were you, I'd send them all out to a pro for rehoning, and the first one for rescaling, but they all look good. Back in the day, there weren't all these Pakistani/Chinese junk razors--straight razors were all from decent makers, the varying levels of "fanciness" were all in the looks, not the quality of the make. SOme QC issues might have arisen in individual razors, but as a whole? You've probably got some damn good shavers there.

All 3 blades are flat or have a slight smile to them. All 3 are sharp enough to cut arm hair 1/4" from the surface. They all have staining, but no active rust. The tonsorial gem has slight pitting near the toe about half way up the bevel, but the egde is clean and sharp. I butterknifed all 3 to get a flat edge, set the bevel and honed and stropped them. I was thinking of making new scales for the brown one, we shall see. I have seen some reference to the Clauberg, but cannot find anything on the others.