Thread: Acier fondu stub tail

Hi all the latest member to sir-come to my RAD would appear to be a Acier Fondu of some sort
not sure what the other word above this was but?
Still has a hair popping edge to boot.

Ok I have found that Acier. Fondu means cast steel but does anyone have an idea of what brand & possible age this could be ?.
Thanks in advance for your help
cheers D

I looked on strazors.com under heading construction. Looks like 1775-1810 as far as age. Nice find. Congrats

Thanks Bouschie, I did find the tail size to age chart on the stub tail thread
unfortunately not enough left of the Brand to make it out
I have seen another stub tail with an inlay simlar with no markings either
cheers
D

I really like the ancient blades. They have more history than I know. A simple tool. Nice acquisition.

Acier Fondu is Cast Steel.
According Standart Guide, the stamp "Acier Fondu" was used till 1820's.
According to "Old Sheffield Razors" by Henry T. Lummus, December, 1922:
"Many eighteenth-century razors are stamped "Cast Steel" or "acier fondu," which dates them later than 1772, as the commercial use of Cast Steel, which gave Sheffield cutlery its supremacy, did not begin until that date".

Thanks Manah once again you are a the source off all knowedge

I agree with you Pup if these blades could only tell us their life stories I am sure we would be amazed, as it has existed for at least 4 times longer than I have on this earth already.
the question is now "Do I restore& rescale it to her original glory ready for another 200 year run or just clean up and try reset every thing ???

with scales being fairly warped & eaten, I think the neatsfoot is going to get a work out, not sure how I can get around the no wedge & chewed scales there?
but as the egde is still keen I would like to use her in my rotation & give her some overdur attention.
any thoughts on resto degrees?

Cheers
D

First thing I see is the washers. If you take it apart you may loose those right off the bat. Maybe not but I have had some that look great, till they come off. Then you see how easy they crumble or crack. I will say on the oldest razor I have the washers came off good and will go back on fine. If I would have known then what I now now I would have done it all different though. No regrets just might not have changed the blade as much as I did. I have seen were guys will epoxy fill the bug bites and holes in old scales then sand em down and seal or polish. It's the kind of thing you have to visualize before you start. Have to ask yourself, will the old blade look good in brand new scales ? how much do I want to change the old blade ? Now, I like the blade as close to original but the part that touches my face I like to clean up as much as possible and still leave all the character in it. Like take off the black tarnish and leave the old pits and scratches. Yours doesn't look like it needs much for my taste. I would say start with the blade , then decide what to do with the scales to match it. You can always do more but you can't put the test of time back on them.