Thread: My New? Boker.

So I just got a hold of this Boker (for a song at that). It came in the mail today so I opened it up. I knew it had some rust and pitting on it, but I thought it'd be salvageable and after hearing good things about Boker and reading some stuff on their site I thought it'd be worth it.




The scales looked flawless, and I love the trademark. Kind of a silly thing I know, but something about it appeals to me.

I touched one of the brown spots and it wiped off. Turned out there was a sticky oily substance on the blade that had apparently acquired some brown goo (maybe from the inside of the box?) over the years. Most of the brown spots just wiped right off.

It was lunch so I decided to put the razor back in the box until I got back from work this evening...but when I did, there was something in the bottom of the box. I got a pair of my wife's cooking tongs and slid them into the box to extract THIS:




I was TOO excited to unfold this. It had been crammed into the bottom of the box, and the bottom was a little torn, but to me this was really cool! My wife even got excited over it!

The wording is interesting...aged...but then the spelling "symply" is interesting too. I tried Googling the spelling, but got nothing.



When I got home tonight I spent a little time on the one real bad spot of corrosion. Thick almost black material that gave a rust colored wash but mostly came off with the 2k wet sand paper I was using. I also wiped the blade with alcohol to get the oily substance off.



So here's the whole batch, Razor, Box, and Instruction Sheet. I'm very excited over this just the way it is...but the thought occurred to me...there are/were NO scratches on this blade anywhere (there are some from the 2k sanding I did for rust removal now), no signs of hone wear at all, no flaws on the scales, etc. Is it possible that this razor has never been used? Could this be a new? (NOS) Boker the seller found in an old house's attic?

I'll fix that status in a hurry, as soon as I can get it honed...I bought it to shave with, but was really surprised how great it turned out compared to what I'd expected when I purchased it!

Can any of you guys give me any info on the age/origin of this razor? (The back of the shank is stamped "Germany" but the H. Boker name I thought was only used by the American plant?) I would love any info I could get just for personal edification.

Peace,

THAT is an awesome razor and so genuine. that "instruction manual" is so interesting. i have no information to add, but that was a VERY good find. good luck with it.

ALSO

i want one of those vintage Old Spice shaving mugs!

Originally Posted by hcintineo

THAT is an awesome razor and so genuine. that "instruction manual" is so interesting. i have no information to add, but that was a VERY good find. good luck with it.

ALSO

i want one of those vintage Old Spice shaving mugs!

Thanks, and I got the mug for $2 at an antique shop. Keep your eyes peeled and you never know what you might find!

What an awesome razor. You could very well be in the right place at right time scenario with that razor. Congrats!

Very nice razor. I can say: nice collection set/kit. Congrats!
Is there any number on the back side of the tang?

Love, Love that razor.

I got distracted and you beat me to it! Great score. Enjoy!

Originally Posted by hcintineo

ALSO

i want one of those vintage Old Spice shaving mugs!

I have one of these also, they seem to be fairly common. I actually remember seeing them for sale on a website somewhere but I can't remember what it was :-\ you'll find one soon enough if you keep your eyes peeled!

Bonus....
You have a fine blade there by all
external tells.

After cleaning, sanding or alcohol always lightly oil the blade. Mineral
oil is a good inexpensive choice.

Frame the instructions for your shave den.

Originally Posted by manah

You're right. That's why I wrote: similar razors, not the same.
These pictures from the 1906 catalog. Possible, the razor here was made later.

I picked up on that Alex. They're very similar...I don't know if the difference is one or two years, or just a difference in size (production line?)...didn't know if you or someone else would know. I really appreciate your sharing those images.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Bonus....
You have a fine blade there by all
external tells.

After cleaning, sanding or alcohol always lightly oil the blade. Mineral
oil is a good inexpensive choice.

Frame the instructions for your shave den.

The blade's been oiled with 3in1. And I was actually talking to the wife this morning about framing the instructions to hang in our 30's themed bathroom. She's done document preservation work in the past so she knows what types of paper/matting, etc. to use to preserve it while still enjoying it. It will definitely be going up!

Update:
So my microscope came in from Amazon today, and after services I spent the evening looking over my blades with it. It was amazing! You can tell definite differences between razors in each stage from dull to shaving great.

The reason for the update is that I looked down the length of the Boker's edge tonight. Good News: No chips even at 60x magnification. Bad/Great News: No bevel. There's no discernable bevel at all. Bevels were easy to identify on all my other razors, but there's nothing here. The blade just comes to an end.