Thread: Acier Fondu?

Originally Posted by U2Bono269

is a razor that old actually usable?

Gssixgun/Glen restored a razor for me very similar to this one and it shaves beautifully.

Originally Posted by U2Bono269

...is a razor that old actually usable?

Absolutely. This old Greaves acier fondu quickly honed up to a keen edge and gives an excellent shave.

Regards - Walt

I wish to thank you gentlemen for your input. I thought that the razor may've been a Wostenholm or a Johnson. In any event, it is a nice shaver. However, the steel is very soft and it makes it gentle at its sharpest. I have shaved with it once shortly after cleaning it up just to be able to say "I shaved with a two-hundred year old razor." I know, wip-di-doo (that's what my wife said). The cleaning up was necessary because whoever owned it previously had taken a flat file to it and boy did it look ugly! Thanks again.

These razors cry out loudly for the gentle caress of a Coticule, IMHO

They provide a very comfortable shave, sometimes they are not the closest of shaves, but it does have the added allure of like you said "Shaving with a 200+ year old razor" that still does an excellent job of what it was made to do...

diyguy's

Originally Posted by cflaageriv

"I shaved with a two-hundred year old razor." I know, wip-di-doo (that's what my wife said).

Whoop-de-doo indeed. What other 200-year-old item do you have in your house that can still perform the function for which it was intended? Any other everyday article from two centuries ago is probably a pile of rust or locked away under glass in a museum. You hold a piece of history in your hands and you should appreciate the fact that someone, ten generations ago, highly valued this razor and it has survived by one means or another to end up in your hands for safe keeping. You owe it to that original owner, and to history, to value this piece of acier fondue and horn as a tangible connection to another time and place and show it the respect it deserves. Shave with it, enjoy it, appreciate it. It is your passport to a time machine that few others can experience.

Regards - Walt

Originally Posted by Martin103

Acier fondu is actually melted steel ,,,, acier mouler is cast steel.......

Semantics but ... crucible or cast steel is made by melting so the translation is quite ok. I think acier moulé would refer more to casting a shape eg a statue

Originally Posted by Martin103

Acier fondu is actually melted steel ,,,, acier mouler is cast steel.......

The steel is formed (melted) in crucibles, then cast into ingots and sold for use, thats where the cast part of the name comes from. The razors were still forged into shape - they were not 'cast' into a razor shape.

Regards,
Neil

Looking at the stamp I would guess it is a very early George Wostenholm. This pipe is very familiar.

Awesome looking razor and a great find!
Please treat it with the respect it deserves, for all our sakes
Nobody has commented on the rivets/washes........the largest I have ever seen, and appear to be in fantastic shape.
Probably brass? Is is possible to get a rough idea of a razors age by the style of the rivet?
Thanks for posting this

here is my razor. come again. Cast steel not available 1740th
identify someone the firm "Nankin"? France?
it is almost new .. All my old knife shave like new