Thread: Poor Man's Filarmonica Especial 14

I would say I'm too cheap to buy a filly (which is sort of true), but in the last month, I've bought almost a dozen NOS razors, all the way up to a tanifuji cape kennedy.

I am too cheap for the filly, I guess, but not for something particularly rare.

So I bought this off of ebay for $120 (plus another $18 to ship it here from uruguay), and thus it's not going to be a "look at what I got for $3" type of story:


And unfortunately I couldn't get most of the pitting out without getting rid of the etch, so the etch is gone. A full size 14 for $120+shipping doesn't have to keep its etch.

I spent an hour on it this morning and got most of the pitting out of it, and then another 15 minutes to get it honed. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

It had a tiny crack just forming at a nick near the front, but fortunately it hadn't progressed far, and I got that out without removing much blade.



Still a little bit of pitting in it, as you can just make out, and that little bit of imperfection really shows up if you buff the mill marks out of the side of the razor (which I did), so I put the mill marks back.

The only thing I used on it was 220 grit wet and dry and a little cushioned drum that you can use on a lathe.

I feel bad about taking the etch off, but not because I care about the value, just because the maker put it on and it takes a bit of the personality away. But that's the way it goes.

I know nothing about the virtues of a filly, or the different types, just wanted one to shave with, and one that was not post jose monserrat.

No clue what size these things are, but the picture aspect makes it look like I removed more than I did. It's a little over 15/16ths from the top of the spine to the edge, I'd guess at the most, I removed a 32nd of an inch from the blade with a carborundum stone as I was getting rid of the nick.

You did well and saved a classic! The older ones were considered to be great shavers.
~Richard

Those old filarmonicas are indeed superb shavers, you did a great job!
Let us know how you like the shave.

I hope you guys are right (about the shave). this one rings like a bell when you're stropping it. It was probably already a fairly thin grind, but it's a bit thinner now.

Awesome find! That's no, "poor man's" Filarmonica...you got a great deal.

The shave with these is sublime...I feel that the razor literally sticks to your face, and I've never had a disappointing experience with any of the Filly's I own. IMO, the Filly's are one of those blades that are everything and more that they are cracked up to be.

Give it a few shaves, love to hear how you feel about it's performance.