Thread: 1700's straight razor..

From what you guys are saying I'm wondering if this was not the correct razor for this box. The funny thing is I tracked the guys name off the box to a county right next to mine. The woman he married's father, also happened to be a member of "German" parlament back in the 1760's. They moved to the usa and sold his daughters into servatude never to be seen again. She later married a man from NC who moved and died in the county next to mine. It's amazing what you can find on ancestory.com....

Here is a link to some of the history I have dug up so far. I'm really getting into digging up the history of this razor...
Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Genealogy Report: Descendants of Archibald Kindley
If you look up his wifes name (MARGARET WAYMIRE) you will see the history I am talking about.

Nice razor! And a cool box. They cannot be a match, however, as the 'cast steel' marking was placed between 1800-30.
I don't recall seeing 'Germany' stamped on a razor of this age. Doesn't mean much though, I'm no expert. My monitor is not all that clear, does it spell 'Germany', for certain?
It might be able to be made shave ready, but would require major work. If you are looking to jump in to straight shaving I would recommend starting with a 'shave ready' razor. This would give you a baseline with which to judge the experience. There are tutorials, articles, and forums here to help you get in to it.
I don't grow a beard anymore, not even in the winter, because I'm always looking forward to the next shave!

Welcome!

Ed
quicknicker

Thanks..No I would not want to start with this razor. It feels top heavy in my hand and a little unbalanced. I would go for a newer style blade. Back to the razor...I'm pretty sure it says germany...but it's alittle hard to read. The 3rd, 5th and 6th letters are hard to read.

The razor definitely looks like it could be that old. Tough to make out the letters, but you could clean off the surface rust rather easily. It would come off with metal polish and rubbing (won't hurt the razor at all). May even come off if you rub mineral oil into it (would hurt even less than metal polish). Try a toothpick or qtip. Rust like that is very weak, and the steel under it is MUCH stronger. If you clean up the tang a bit, it may make the markings easier to see.

be careful with this really nice razor!

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

The razor definitely looks like it could be that old. Tough to make out the letters, but you could clean off the surface rust rather easily. It would come off with metal polish and rubbing (won't hurt the razor at all). May even come off if you rub mineral oil into it (would hurt even less than metal polish). Try a toothpick or qtip. Rust like that is very weak, and the steel under it is MUCH stronger. If you clean up the tang a bit, it may make the markings easier to see.

Should I use mineral oil on the handle too? I took a toothpick and q-tip to the letters before these pics. Most of the surface rust looks easy to come off but the rust is thicker around the lettering itself. Also, how far is it supposed to open? It only goes about 90 deg and I dont want to force it open any farther.

That looks like a really neat razor and as far as the markings go, I certainly defer to the experts.

For the clean up though I would start with some 0000 steel wool and a little oil or WD 40. It won't hurt anything at all and will really help you get the active rust off.

Will N.

I love the looks of the razor, and the story that has traveled along with it is compelling. I have to wonder what the motivation was of the person who wrote the accompanying text. I have some razors, but none of them has a text description of when I bought it or what I was up to at the time. I would love to believe all of it, but I cannot resist being somewhat skeptical.

Very cool. That razor has certainly been around a while as evidence by the design, but I agree with the others that it is not likely to be old enough to go with the box.

So far as the box is concerned...I can't see any reason for someone to write that on the box unless A) Edward Kindley was once a much more noteworthy character, or B) Edward Kindley was the scribe's ancestor (grandparent, great uncle, etc.). To me the idea that the details were recorded by a family historian makes more sense. Edward Kindley seems a random name for someone to put on a box in order to try and make more money. From what I've found researching my own inherited razor box, the box seems to match the note (be old enough), but I am NOT an expert by any means.

So far as the razor goes: I'd go with the steel wool and mineral oil (I'd be concerned about WD-40 drying out the wood scales). The razor should open about 320 degrees, but with the rust it may be binding up. I wouldn't try to force it. Cleaning away the rust should help the movement, and may reveal additional maker's marks that would help identify the razor.

+1 to the idea of getting a shave ready razor (from whippeddog.com or the classifieds in the menu bar above). This will a) help you figure out why there are 30K+ registered members of SRP and b) give you an idea of what that razor could do with some TLC.

Peace,