Thread: Mysterious magnetic razor

Hallo everybody,

A couple of weeks ago I met a straight razor at a flea market, which is making me go crazy to identify it... Can somebody help?

The blade is 11/16, round point, it might be a very consumed 6/8 and if it is so it's a full hollow ground.
The scales look like they are celluloid, or some plastic similar to it. the touch and the reflexes on them are like those of my Dovo Renaissance's, which are celluloid.
Now the hard point: the stamps have been hardly grinded away by the one(s) who cleaned it before it fell in my hands, and they almost deleted everything. As you can see from the pictures, on one side you can read "1 ----- ROKI" and on the other side an incomplete "Wald - Solingen / Made in Germany".
What really struck me is that the steel is magnetic. I've read different opinions on this kind of steel, but I can assure that it's extremely sharp, I just need to strop it a couple of times before using it.
It's an excellent shaver!

Thanks to who can help!

I can't help you with the identification, but you can sure tell the quality of the metal. I have a couple of old straigt razors I'm working on right now, one is American made and the other is an H. Boker. Even in its un-restored state, you can see how bad the Boker wants to shine. Nice find by the way. The scales even look good.

The 'ROKI' bit made me think it was a Japanese name, so I tried a few *roki searches with Wald Solingen. Came up with :

Razor makers

C. Friedrich Ern, Solingen-Wald in 1922, Kanalstrasse 43 in 1939. Brand names: 'America Del Sud', 'Army and Navy', 'Ator', 'A.V. Humboldt', 'Balance', 'Bank', 'Bar', 'Barbersone', 'Barbers Pet', 'Barden', 'Bessimar', 'Bur', 'Cuba', 'Electro Taban', 'Ern', 'Ern 1166', 'Ern A-Z', 'Ern-Blaauwappen', 'Ernette', 'Ern-Goldwappen', 'Ern-Grünwappen', 'Ern Junior', 'Ernovo', 'Ern-Silberwappen', 'Es-Ex', 'Farwood', 'Flaggen', 'Generale Ameglio,' 'Gong Razor', 'Gorki', 'Janissaire', 'Junk', 'Justrite', 'Ka Ci Be', 'King George', 'Knight Commander of the Bath', 'Kuroki', 'Laborista', 'Le Mondain', 'Lerne', 'Leiste', 'Liliput', 'Little Dorrit', 'Magnetic', 'Master', 'Master of Arts', 'Master of Science', 'Mickiewicz', 'Moustafa Kemal Pascha', 'Niazi', 'Nodzu', 'Oxama', 'Palmerston', 'Peer', 'Perfecto', 'Persian', 'Platypus', 'Primus', 'Protector', 'Püt', 'Raccoon', 'Roosevelt Razor', 'Schwert', 'S Essex', 'Sim Mart', 'Ski', 'Strandbad', 'Suneo', 'The Boss', 'The Crown And Sword Razor', 'The Kid', 'The Michaelin', 'The Mussel Razor', 'Turban', 'Waldern', 'Waldoo', 'Wee Macgreggor', 'Zeibek', 'Zepp.' Open-blade razor maker.

I think that's your man.

Looking at the picture, that "I" looks more like an "L" that has been worn. So perhaps it is ROKL instead of ROKI.

Originally Posted by ChesterCopperpot

The 'ROKI' bit made me think it was a Japanese name, so I tried a few *roki searches with Wald Solingen. Came up with :

Razor makers

C. Friedrich Ern, Solingen-Wald in 1922, Kanalstrasse 43 in 1939. Brand names: 'America Del Sud', 'Army and Navy', 'Ator', 'A.V. Humboldt', 'Balance', 'Bank', 'Bar', 'Barbersone', 'Barbers Pet', 'Barden', 'Bessimar', 'Bur', 'Cuba', 'Electro Taban', 'Ern', 'Ern 1166', 'Ern A-Z', 'Ern-Blaauwappen', 'Ernette', 'Ern-Goldwappen', 'Ern-Grünwappen', 'Ern Junior', 'Ernovo', 'Ern-Silberwappen', 'Es-Ex', 'Farwood', 'Flaggen', 'Generale Ameglio,' 'Gong Razor', 'Gorki', 'Janissaire', 'Junk', 'Justrite', 'Ka Ci Be', 'King George', 'Knight Commander of the Bath', 'Kuroki', 'Laborista', 'Le Mondain', 'Lerne', 'Leiste', 'Liliput', 'Little Dorrit', 'Magnetic', 'Master', 'Master of Arts', 'Master of Science', 'Mickiewicz', 'Moustafa Kemal Pascha', 'Niazi', 'Nodzu', 'Oxama', 'Palmerston', 'Peer', 'Perfecto', 'Persian', 'Platypus', 'Primus', 'Protector', 'Püt', 'Raccoon', 'Roosevelt Razor', 'Schwert', 'S Essex', 'Sim Mart', 'Ski', 'Strandbad', 'Suneo', 'The Boss', 'The Crown And Sword Razor', 'The Kid', 'The Michaelin', 'The Mussel Razor', 'Turban', 'Waldern', 'Waldoo', 'Wee Macgreggor', 'Zeibek', 'Zepp.' Open-blade razor maker.

I think that's your man.

That sounds pretty convincing, and an excellent piece of research.

I wonder, though, what the OP meant by "Magnetic", and where he got it? I note it is also in the Ern list, so perhaps it is on the razor. If so it is probably just a piece of advertising hokum. So far as I know all razor steels are magnetic, in the sense that a magnet will attract them. Non-magnetic stainless steels, although excellent for boat fittings etc. aren't suitable for sharp cutlery.

That leaves the possibility that this razor has been magnetised, in the sense that it will pick up unmagnetised iron and steel. This would presumably have been done by some member of the intellectual classes who owned it. In a knife it would be a serious fault, for bluntening could easily be caused by metal fragments it picked up and perhaps left in a sheath, or fragments generated by the coarser hones used. This probably isn't a problem with a razor. One way of demagnetising it is by an amount of heat which would draw the temper, and while electrical demagnetising is possible, I don't know what the effect might be. I'd just leave it the way it is, and keep it away from iron filings.

At the recent Mid Mo Meet, the subject of magnetized razors came up. I tried to explain this device. It's cheap (I have no financial interest, etc.) and it works for all simple tools as long as you can fit them in the holes. The other nice aspect is that you can magnetize a screwdriver to hold a screw and then demagnetize it later.

See here: General® Professional Magnetizer/Demagnetizer (3601) - Screwdrivers & Nutdrivers - Ace Hardware

That is an interesting device, and it is a pity a razor wouldn't fit into the holes. Without trying to pass myself off as knowing about electricity, there are two ways I can imagine an electrical device magnetising or demagnetising steel. One, as this appears to be, is by generating electromagnetism - presumably generating magnetism equal and opposite to what it already has. The other is by induction heating, which eliminates magnetism and heat-treatment just like any other kind of high temperature. I'd be wary of adopting someone else's inadequately described device, just because something has come out of it demagnetised.

Thank you so much for your answers, especially to ChesterCopperpot for the research
I noticed this magnetism because I laid it over my cigarette case and when I took it up the case came with it, there is no visible reference to magnetism on the razor. What astonished me is that it shaves far better than the other razors I have, which are: a Dovo Renaissance (inox steel, almost impossible to use), a Joh. Engstrom (I'm going to post pics of it on the Swedish club), a Joseph Smith & Sons Celebrated Razors 3415 and an unidentified Square point razor on which I can read just "Special Razor" and, below, the letters RANN (it came to me in a red Marx & Co. box). I don't know if it is due to the fact that it's magnetic or not, but it's certainly my favorite.
Also I cannot say from when it is magnetic, but since it is with me it has not lost its faculty, so I guess it has undergone some kind of strong treatment. I cleaned it with a Dremel and blue paste like all the others I have (except for the Dovo which was new) so I don't think it has got magnetized by the heat developed by the Dremel point.

Originally Posted by Mauri

Thank you so much for your answers, especially to ChesterCopperpot for the research
I noticed this magnetism because I laid it over my cigarette case and when I took it up the case came with it, there is no visible reference to magnetism on the razor. What astonished me is that it shaves far better than the other razors I have, which are: a Dovo Renaissance (inox steel, almost impossible to use), a Joh. Engstrom (I'm going to post pics of it on the Swedish club), a Joseph Smith & Sons Celebrated Razors 3415 and an unidentified Square point razor on which I can read just "Special Razor" and, below, the letters RANN (it came to me in a red Marx & Co. box). I don't know if it is due to the fact that it's magnetic or not, but it's certainly my favorite.
Also I cannot say from when it is magnetic, but since it is with me it has not lost its faculty, so I guess it has undergone some kind of strong treatment. I cleaned it with a Dremel and blue paste like all the others I have (except for the Dovo which was new) so I don't think it has got magnetized by the heat developed by the Dremel point.

I don't want to sound like I am labouring the obvious too much, but have you checked on whether the razor or the cigarette box picks up other steel objects? I would think that one of them does and the other doesn't.

I think the magnetic razor shaving well is just coincidence. The problem with the Dovo is almost certain to be a honing problem, and you would probably get good advice which would solve it, from people who know a lot more than me about them, on the honing forum.

Yes I checked, it's the razor!