Thread: Giesen & Forsthoff

Gentlemen,
Recently I was attracted by the offer of a new Giessen & Forsthoff razor 6/8 (Timor Hamburgring) because it is historically a reputable firm and wellknown brand and it was relatively a bargain. Star Shaving Supplies in Oklahoma was the supplier and the price was less then € 80.00 (I crouch for a dime). In my neighbourcountry Germany directly bought at the factory the razors are more expensive.
I bought it and in order to set a perfect bevel and to make it shave ready I went through the whole series of hones and strops (from 2.000 grit to plain horseleather and litterally all there is to practice in between).
But the results are hopeless. It is impossible for me to provide the razor with such an edge that I can have an acceptable shave with it. And I repeated the ritual over and over again with all possible variations.
It sounds unmodest but I know how to hone and strop because in my rotation I find more straight razors then I have fingers on both my hands and toes on my feet and they are all equipped with the Mother of All Edges.
Anyone of you an idea why the G & F does not perform? Birdie Num Num steel?
Hope I read from you!
Thanks.
Joost

sorry for your experience. the vintage G&F were remarkable blades, the recent incarnation of them are much as you experienced although sometime even they are good. i would recommend that you contact the vendor directly and let them know about your experience. it is unfortunate that we are seeing new low quality razors that have historically great reputations. soon i envision new wade&butchers and dubl ducks that will simply ruin the value and trust in the original blades.

jim

I have heard this about many ressurected marques. Old G@F's are super. The name is being used, as are the Timor and Hamburg Ring Monikers, which indicate excellence in vintage examples. But the old makers are long gone. IMHO there is no substitute for vintage in most of these cases. Sad that name recognition results in sales of substandard grinding and steel. Should be illegal, but the name was probably aquired for a song!

I recently picked up a clean modern 6/8 Timor (actually 13/16+) for cheap. I knew the modern razors were considered not so good, but thought I'd give it a try. I found the razor had a pretty heavy grind (nearly 1/4 hollow), absolutely no bevel set from the factory and the steel was fairly hard. I ended up taping it and putting it on an my old 600 diamond plate to get the bevel done before I died of old age. After finally removing the scratches from that, it is a fine shaver. The honing reminds me of the Torreys I've had. My razor needed a LOT of hard steel removed to form a bevel.

eod7,

I found the same to be true of my Fromm 72R, which I believe is also made by Giesen & Forsthoff.
I set the bevel to be coplanar with the spine as is standard practice, and it's a good shaver too. Nowadays I would just keep the factory bevel and hone it up to shave-readiness.

Jeff

Have you ever noticed that the Hit n Miss razors tend to give our membership the most problems ????

Ask about a Zeepk (insert many other names here) and you get a uniform response that they are junk, except for the few kids that want to try and shave one to prove they can, and are really cool for doing so

Ask about a Vintage DD (insert many others names here) and you get a pretty uniform response that they hone great and shave the same, expect for the few kids that want to look cool by putting down a well established brand..

But ask about the hit and miss new brands and all you get is confused

Some of these brands are just Hit and Miss, some hone just fine and shave ok, others of the same type make you want to throw them against a wall and cuss... Such is life

One I wish I kept,a great razor but an older G&F.

I wish you had kept that Adoration too, that way I could ask you to sell it to me

I bought one of the new G&F's mostly to practice honing on and boy did I get a lot of practice! I eventually got it shave ready and it's a pretty decent shaver but it took hundreds of laps, grinding down the heel of the razor, etc. Pretty much major surgery but I my expectations were low when I bought it.

It's actually been sort of fun to fool around with because I don't really care if I screw it up. Every time I get a new stone or want to try a different honing method I pull out the G&F and experiment. If you go into the purchase with that attitude it might be worth the money but you could do as well with a decent vintage razor.

Yeah Weasels,
I pretty much did like you; I even call my Fromm "the test bed" because I've used it for all sorts of honing experiments. G&Fs can be fun to practice honing (or shaving) with.
Jeff