Thread: And I shaved with THIS Mulcuto razor?

Yep. I shaved with this razor this evening and had no nicks and pretty smooth shave.





Now a story.
I bought this and a Gold Bug razor at local antique store. I used the scales off the Mulcuto razor for the Gold Bug razor, that I had first dulled and then used for practice. I had the Mulcuto blade off and there was a nick on the blade about where you see the LARGE piece missing. As I was rubbing the face flat to use this razor for a practice razor I went sideways and took out an even bigger chip from the blade. This and the Gold Bug had cost me around $7.00 for the both, so I relegated the Witte Gold Bug to use as a practice razor. This "blade" sat on my desk as a letter opener.

I decided to redo the scales on the Gold Bug and used the scales from the 1 cent Pakistani razor and put them on the Gold Bug. I now had the scales off the Gold Bug, which were the original Mulcuto scales. Follow so far?? Well, I thought about something with those twin-blade Gillette disposable razors and the fact that they have a lot less area to cut when you use them. I wondered how much difference a small blade would make for shaving.
I had talked to Lynn Abrams about honing and his suggestion with what I have is that when I get to the 4000 and 8000 stones, to go pretty lightly and use that Coticule slurry stone I have, and for finishing, use the Coticule on my Franz Swaty barber hone but keep it light with a lot of water on the stone.
So, I used my belt sander, and took this Mulcuto down so that it had some resemblance of a bevel, and then went to the 1K, 4K, 8K stones with slurry on the 4K and 8K and finished up with the barber hone and a Coticule slurry, keeping a very light pressure, just the blade's weight and enough to keep it flat (per Lynn), and then stropped it.
Gave it a shot and it was a pretty comfortable shave considering. The big "cut out" was dulled with my Dremmel and then further made dull with very fine sanding disc in hand. So, what I shaved with is the front portion of the blade. It glided along smooth, NO NICKS, and no razor burn. THANKS LYNN!!
Lynn Abrams is a really smart honemister.

Oh, and the Gold Bug by Witte that I redid the scales on( I used the handles from that 1 cent ebay Pakistan razor) ... here it is below:





Also please note that there is extensive pitting on the Mulcuto and I had to put electrical tape on the spine to get a decent shoulder to work from. Must have worked ok. No nicks and no razor burn. Didn't even smart any applying Witch Hazel.

I imagine our great-grandfathers would have found a way to salvage that blade. I have an IXL PIPE I cut down to about 1.25 inches due to a large chip. I'm still working on restoring that blade and plan on putting a new set of scales on it.

Personally, I'd just trash that Mulcuto.

I've seen some people even out those types of massive chips. Use a Dremel or some metal-cutting tool and start at the bottom of the tang and cut into the blade and then even it out where your edge starts. It'd almost look like a Japanese razor. I'll try to post a pic when I get to to work to explain.

I agree it's a POS Commiecat. It was more an exercise on honing up my honing skills starting from total scratch (EXTRA dull). Besides, I was curious if having less surface cutting area (width) made a difference in how the blade feels on the face. Either it was because I shaved yesterday, or it is because the bladed is a lot narrower, but it did cut very clean and feel smooth on my face. It is amazing what kind of shape some of these old vintage razors are allowed to go into neglect.

Originally Posted by Gibbs

It glided along smooth, NO NICKS, and no razor burn.

Doesn't sound much like a POS to me. It might not win any beauty awards, and that razor certainly look different. On the other hand, it is comfortable and it works. There's not much more to it, really. Nice job.

I applaud you, but just the same for safetys sake, I would not hesitate to grind out that heel before it bites you!

Hello, Gibbs:

Some chances in life are worth taking. I would not consider shaving with the Mulcuto one of them. You got away with it with the first shave, but you might not with the second. I suggest retiring it. You might use it to practicing honing, but then somewhere in the process you will probably need to test it to see if it is shave ready — and I can see that razor delivering a serious cut.

Regards

Obie

Thank you nun@sharp. I did take my Dremel and a stone wheel and make the contour "with" the blade edge making it flat. Then I used a 200 grit sanding disc and rubbed it all different ways to make sure that it is not not the least bit sharp.

I could grind down further....

obie, there is only one area that is sharp, and that is the straight part of the front of the blade. You can run your finger on and around that "notched" out area all you want and not get cut. Won't even cut thread, nor string. The thinness makes it just a tiny bit "sharper" than a butter knife but not by much. Perhaps making it into someting more ike the Japanese razors would be in order. Without a shoulder or stabilizer, it looks similar to this:


NICE looking razor, huh?

Hey Gibbs could yout post a pic I'd like to see how it turned out.

Originally Posted by wmac

Hey Gibbs could yout post a pic I'd like to see how it turned out.

Other than the picture in post #1 above?