Have always wanted a decent one , so here is one I just picked up , first shave is tomorrow , my SOTD for Saturday. Hope it's all I've thought they would be. Tc:chapeau
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Have always wanted a decent one , so here is one I just picked up , first shave is tomorrow , my SOTD for Saturday. Hope it's all I've thought they would be. Tc:chapeau
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That is one handsome frameback. Like it alot.
That is a great example! Good catch! Enjoy your shave! They do cut close! The smiling blade is a win on my face!
~Richard
Me too! I love a smiler and something about these have been calling to me. But it sure took a while to find one in great shape , and Glen put an edge on it with a Thuri, so new type of edge for me to try too, win, win. Thanks guys. Tc
They had blades numbered from one to seven and sold them in a case with a frame as a seven day set. They also sold many as singles and Arbenz in the UK was a licenses distributor. MM and many others sold the frames and Le Coultre did not patent the idea. He also, it was said, made his own blades from pattern welded watch springs. There is some possible truth to that from some older blades I have.
Beautiful razor - the framebacks are really enjoyable, you'll love it, will be looking for it in the SOTD!
I just bought one and did a quick restoration.
Before.
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After.
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A bit of history:
A 7/8" T&B Jacques LeCoultre razor made in Au Sentier, Switzerland. The LeCoultre family was originally from France and moved to Switzerland in 1593 to operate a blacksmith shop. For many years the family made razors for family members and in 1830 they established LeCoultre Razor Company and began making a frameback razor which had a blade that was removable (see screw at tip of razor. In 1896 the razor sold for $2.00 with one blade and $3.00 with two; that's over $80.00 in 2013 money. Advertisements claimed that the blade need not be sharpened for ten years; English Sheffield steel was use by LeCoultre. The razor company ceased operation in 1919. Few complete LeCoultre frameback razors (those that still have the blade set screw) are available in todays market.
Great job Nelson. What a night & day transformation. I especially dig those translucent scales.
Very cool indeed.
:tu
When I say quick restoration I mean quick, a little 220, 400, 600, 1000 grit W/D, on the frameback, Simichrome on the blade section and the rescale. It took me a total of 40 minutes from start to finish. I've been using these acrylic scales to redo all my old personal razors, getting rid of all the busted celluloid and plastic scales I had. These look cool and work well, they are basically TI copies, I like the green and white. My pinning is getting a lot better too.
I like the matt finish, there are too many times when people take them too far.
Bayamontate, thanks for the info ,, ya mines all there with the screw , so I got lucky , can't wait till tomorrow's shave. Thanks guys for all the kind remarks. Tc
I stalked a LeCoultre for a couple years at a local antique store. The guy wanted $75 for it but I insisted on haggling him down. For about two years I'd stop bby periodically and make him an offer. Then I decided one day I was gonna go in and leave with that razor even if it meant paying full price. When I got there the razor was gone. Moral of the story: haggling is good but you gotta know when to say when. Looking back on it $75 was totally a fair price. Pristine condition and a spare blade. Sorry I let that one get away
I stumbled across this one by accident. The price was very low because the front scale was replaced by one made of wood the other was cracked at the pivot.
Now I've jump into another rabbit hole , got to figure out how to get the other blades for it ,, I have the number. 2 so I need the #1 to call it a set , I think that's probably easier to do than find the other 6 blades with the right numbers!! Please tell me how I do this without buying a bunch of razors? From what I paid for this one I think I got a deal. Tc
Unique. I'm sure you won't be disappointed. How did you come across it?
Here's Jaques Lecoultre The Seven Day Set
Comes with screwdriver, envelope, 7 leaf book & 7 blades with #1 in the razor & the rest consecutively numbered from top to bottom. The box says "7 Lames" meaning 7 Blades.
Hard to come by these days. If you do find a seven day set, they usually will have duplicate blades like for example two,#3, but one other number will be missing. Some will be missing the screwdriver also. I also have two 2 day sets & one 4 day set, all consecutive. I also have a single with a no numbered blade but it does come out. One of my two day sets has two #2's so if someone happens to have a two day set with two #1's maybe we can work a swap if they have the same style blades. I did just happened to find another three row, #1 blade but the shape is slightly different but it does fit. The other is a match set. I also have a parts set with 2 rows writing on the blades but they do not match. There are also about two different styles has 2 rows of writing on it with different length & two styles has (three rows of writing) & the blades are different in shape but same length & interchange. You also can't use the shorter (two rows writing) blades in the longer razor made for the longer (3 rows writing) blades. The difference is about 1/16" & a short blade in a longer razor will slide back & forth & will come out. In my parts set I just checked the difference in both 2 rows writing style blades & there is about 1/4" length difference! It can be complicated!!! I have one extra three row writing, #4 complete razor. As far as I can see, the only set that has enough space for the envelope is the seven day set & I just found an extra envelope which had the other shape three row writing, #1 blade. Did you all get that?
This is the Jaques Lecoultre Two Day Set with two, (three row writing blades) #2 the same shape & a (three row writing) #1 slightly different shape blade but fits. The box says "2 Lames" meaning 2 Blades. I could probably change the shape of one of the #2 blades but I hate to try & alter something, then it might not come out right, so I'm going to leave it alone. I will hopefully find a #1 blade one day that is the same shape of the #2 blades!
I found the blades on the 'bay. I got the seven for about $50 USD. LeC blades do come up occasionally so do your search for LeCoultre, and au sentier.
~Richard
PS, there is another maker whose blades are almost the same but do not allow the use of LeC blades due to a deeply contoured top of their proprietary blade. Those fit the LeC though.
You got lucky to find just the blades Richard. I have tried to find extra's before but never had any luck.
Thanks Richard I don't do eBay much, but I'll see if I can figure out how to get some kind of flag that will let me know about them when they do show up ,, I,m just kinda computer dense,, thanks guys ,, engine you have way too many razors for a biker, we don't carry that much baggage in case we have to go fast!!!! Tc
Oh.........BTW, Tc as I recall you keep your others in a safe & I was really awful sorry that one broke when you were putting it in your safe. I know ya don't carry your safe on your scooter or ya couldn't go fast! Thing is, I don't have a safe but I got the next best thing as long as no low life comes around like they did 13 years ago & poisoned my dog to get into my house & rob me!!! That really tore me up & I wanted to get those guys & feed 'em some poison & watch 'em die a horrible death like my dog did! I raised him from 6 weeks old. It bothered me so much, I didn't get another dog for over ten years but I finally got me another faithful friend. You can see him when ya click on my profile & that isn't a selfie pic either.
As ya know, US bikers gotta do what we gotta do & I'm sure your scoot is fast like mine because mine sure isn't slow & I twist that throttle whenever it needs be. I've had plenty of speeding tickets on it but not lately thank God. And as bikers, we look after our own kind plus our friends here on the forum! If I remember right, Wullie is an 'ole biker & I'm sure a few others..........
Ride safe my friend!
Do most framebacks such as that design have it where the blade slides out?
There are as many frameback designs as there were manufacturers. Some had fixed blades and others had various mechanisms to lock in and release a thin blade. I would guess that the idea was to minimize the weight of shaving equipment for those on foreign duty and in the military... many countries existed where a shave was the colonial's leg up in the society. The later Henckles, Rolls, Wilkinson and other double hollow ground blade SE's were of probably for same concerns.
Any guesses count when trying to understand the how and why of things.
~Richard
I just got my first frame back, and the blade seems welded into place. I am just starting to learn about these, I did not know until today that some had blades that could be removed! Thanks for the information Richard:)
Willis, yes! I know for sure because I had two Swedish framebacks that had the blades slide out but I gave one to a person here I consider very special friend! This is it here;
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ml#post1415800
If he cares to share it with us, he will & if not, I respect him very much for that.
This is my other one I have. It isn't as good as the one I had because you can see the marks on the part of the spine where the blade slides in where someone tapped it to tighten it up. It is also more worn at the makers mark.