Thread: Antique shop find

I found a Kraut & Dohnal Volcano straight razor and can't seem to find much info on it except when the company was in business and the address(obviously). It was only $10 and won't take too much work to make it usable. There's a few little nicks in the blade to take care of. I sifted through about 20 straight razors ranging in all types of condition, one of them I couldn't even get to open, to find a couple good ones. I don't know if anyone can provide any insight into this razor (mainly quality of the blade). I am not sure what the handle is made of, it has some grain to it and seems to have the same coloring as bone after it ages a bit. Let me know what you all think about it. At the least it will be usable after I clean it up, which is mostly what I am going for. Thanks!

Well, it generally looks OK from the photos. My only comment or word of caution would be to pay careful attention to that chip you can see in the first photo 1/3 of the way along the edge at the heel end - it could be nothing, but look carefully for cracks and chippy bits anywhere where a chip corresponds to areas of black rust.

Also looks to be a crack in the top scale at the pivot pin which may bear watching as well.

James.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

Well, it generally looks OK from the photos. My only comment or word of caution would be to pay careful attention to that chip you can see in the first photo 1/3 of the way along the edge at the heel end - it could be nothing, but look carefully for cracks and chippy bits anywhere where a chip corresponds to areas of black rust.

Also looks to be a crack in the top scale at the pivot pin which may bear watching as well.

James.

Thanks. I was worried about the crack in the handle, but it is still solid and not moving around somehow. I'll keep an eye on it as I continue to use it. I didn't notice any cracks coming from the chips in the blade. The biggest one looked more like a dent in the blade. It did clean up and shave well. I didn't think it was shaving at all till I saw hair on the blade. It seems like a decent blade for general use. Worst case I could make new scales if the crack gets worse.