Thread: Top-heavy fractions on old razor scales

I restore a lot of oldies and see this very often in unrestored ones. I feel it has to do with honing strokes and was done by old Honemeisters for future reference when the razor comes back for a refresher. No one has been able to crack the code so far. I am restoring an old Johnathan Crookes and see it once again in the ivory.
As one can see, 90/4, 7/12 and lastly (obviously crossed off) is 64/2. These fractions are always top-heavy and I have seen them on a wide variety of razors and scale materials. I would be angry to see it applied to mine by someone paid to do work, but must have been acceptable practice back in the day!

hhmmm , not that ive saw a ton of razors but i think this is the first ive saw marked ...

Very interesting, do you think it has to do with the hones he used on that particular razor?

It makes me think of a few Hamilton 992 railroad watches I've owned in the past. If you unscrew the back and look inside watchmakers would scratch/engrave numerals signifying when they overhauled the watch. Probably a warranty thing I guess ? I think you're right about the fractions being so the honemeister knew he had the razor before and maybe when he had it.

Part and parcel of what went on back in the day,the razors we pine over today were once nothing more than tools.
I used to be in the watch Buis,the watchmakers would scratch the date and name in the caseback as to when they serviced the watch, you see that on 50K pateks,today they use sharpies.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

It makes me think of a few Hamilton 992 railroad watches I've owned in the past. If you unscrew the back and look inside watchmakers would scratch/engrave numerals signifying when they overhauled the watch. Probably a warranty thing I guess ? I think you're right about the fractions being so the honemeister knew he had the razor before and maybe when he had it.

makes sense ... i ended up making a list for my razors so i knew what ones i used tape and how many pieces ...lol

As someone who's been sharpening tools constantly a good portion of every day of the last 30+ years of my life, as any craftsman who works with hand tools does, I hate this "honemeister" stuff. It makes people think that there's some mythological greatness involved in sharpening, which there definitely is not. You put it on the stone and shove it around until it's sharp. The first straight I ever held, I said "Oh, this is going to be SO easy--I've never had a tool that was so well designed just for sharpening", and it is.

A real artisan craftsman never marks his territory like a dog on someone else's work. Even on those watches, I bet it's inside where the customers can't see it. My bet is that this is something that owners did to remind themselves of how they sharpened it, and if there are a lot of examples, I bet you can track it to some instruction sheet somewhere or 1890-vintage shaving blog or forum. I can't imagine that any professional guy sharpening things would need this kind of notation on the side of a customer's razor. If you need notes, or try to make it seem to your customers like it's magic, you're a charlatan.

They don't seem to corellate to dates. IMO.. I truly think they scratched the honing regimen to reference next time. I have seen it LOTS. I always sand it off. History, sanded off!

Originally Posted by mdarnton

As someone who's been sharpening tools constantly a good portion of every day of the last 30+ years of my life, as any craftsman who works with hand tools does, I hate this "honemeister" stuff. It makes people think that there's some mythological greatness involved in sharpening, which there definitely is not. You put it on the stone and shove it around until it's sharp. The first straight I ever held, I said "Oh, this is going to be SO easy--I've never had a tool that was so well designed just for sharpening", and it is.

A real artisan craftsman never marks his territory like a dog on someone else's work. Even on those watches, I bet it's inside where the customers can't see it. My bet is that this is something that owners did to remind themselves of how they sharpened it, and if there are a lot of examples, I bet you can track it to some instruction sheet somewhere or 1890-vintage shaving blog or forum. I can't imagine that any professional guy sharpening things would need this kind of notation on the side of a customer's razor. If you need notes, or try to make it seem to your customers like it's magic, you're a charlatan.

Is there any particular stone I should put it on, before I start shoving it around?
Should I shove it gently around or give it one good push?

Hey Tom,
Our great grandfathers could have been on one of those vintage 1890 shaving blogs/forums together; I bet they got smacked a few times, by the Mods too, especially your's.

Yes, the term is loosely applied to anyone who can have a blade screamin. Gee, we have LOTS of honemeisters!