crown cutlery razor

Bought this thing from ebay, I suppose the plastic bamboo scales might have screamed "for the sake of novelty only" but I guess I had my earbuds in when I bought it, or I just didn't care because of how cheap it was.

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It seemed to get along just fine with my 8 and 12 k naniwa water stones, no issues but I was never 100% sure if I was distributing pressure properly as the edge has a bow in the middle and then a small lift towards the tip, and the rest of my straights are... straight... for lack of better explanation regarding their edge. Then when I brought out the strop it became a bit of a bully. By this I mean that its strange spine geometry (not sure if it was from hone wear or just its near "point" top) made a strange noise going up and down my leather paddle. Reminds me of what a noogie sounded like as a child and I suddenly felt very bad for my theird issard, made sure I offered it some reassurance and praise later so its feelings weren't hurt, can't afford to have my favorite strop developing a complex. The same feeling I had about pressure with the shape of the edge applied to the stropping as well. I don't see it as problematic, just doesn't give me that feeling of "guarantee". I've now shaved with it twice and I feel that given its only been used twice the edge is deteriorating more then I would have expected. If you don't mind honing every week and don't want to spend any money.... find one of these things, if you want a real razor look elsewhere.

Your razor dates to around the 1890's . The blade is supposed to look like that , it's what we call a "smiling" blade . I think you have a decent razor . A smiling blade requires the skill of an experienced razor honer . I would send it to such a person to have it honed . When you get it back you might be surprised at how well it shaves .

Thanks Dave, I don't understand what I'm doing wrong but I'm also too stubborn to have anyone else do it. (been using nothing but straights since I was 14, way too stubborn to let someone else get one ready by this point), Point is, I can get it nice enough to pass a hanging hair test from any part of the edge now, at first I could only do it from the bottom end but then I re-honed it starting at a 4000 shapton instead and its fine now, but I can still only get it to last for a shave or two... very abnormal. I would NOT mind letting someone rescale it for me though, I can't help but feel like a cartoon trying to use the plastic bamboo thing.

Just finished restoring a crown cutlery myself fantastic razor and very good shave, so glad I did not pass her up

I don't know why the edge only lasts for 2 shaves . Maybe you're not stropping it quite right . The "X" stroke works best when stropping and honing a "smiling" blade . If it's not the stropping , you may be honing a wire edge , that is breaking off when you shave . What's not to like about those scales ? They are part of the razors history , and were common at the time the razor was made . There were many different designs , the bamboo is just one of them . Here's a pic of one I'm working on .Attachment 84751

You guys just aren't gunna let me hate on this razor are you? No there's no wire edge, and I don't think I've ever stropped something without using that x stroke. It gets to the same edge my boker does, flies through a hanging hair test with any kind of hair. I get a stroke or two where it feels like my hair is melting off like butter then it starts dieing and by the time I'm getting to the other side of my face I'm debating on wether or not I should go strop it again. I've never had this with any of my other razors before, I assure you its not a matter of any wire edge and I assume there is nothing wrong with the stropping if I can get it that sharp at the beginning. Is that a serial number or something? Mine doesn't have the 907? And if you ever want another one let me know.

Mines not a Crown , it's from Sanda Cutlery Co. , and just has the same scales . With honing , and stropping out of the equation , the only thing left is bad steel . Perhaps , someone overheated it on a buffing wheel , in the past . If the razor isn't working out for you , sell it on ebay so someone can give it the love that it needs :D .

Lol, thats where I found it! By the way, I found a winchester razor. You guys really know your stuff and as soon as I saw it on ebay I had to get it for my dad. He's a total fanatic for that company (he loves his lever action) but I didn't even know they made razors. Any of you know if they're any good? I mean I could give it to him for christmas as it is, but if they're any good I'll probably do it up nice and see if I can't give him the full treatment and send it his way with a spare strop. I just want to make sure its worth the effort first, the blade does not appear to be warped.

Ps, never even thought of the heating thing, mind you I don't know much about metal, Its been baffling me so much even if I have no way of proving it I think I'll just convince myself thats what it is so I can stop goin nuts over it.