Shaving Americana (Pic Heavy)

Picked up quite a few good deals lately on some barber hones and a fairly good condition razor. The hones have been reconditioned although they were all in fairly good nick when I got them. My process is to lap with 220 SiC, 400 SiC, 400 W/D, 800 W/D, 1000 W/D, 2000 W/D then soak the hones in melted petrolatum. First hone is a gorgeous C-Mon dual sided hone, second is a Bob Taylor hone made by the A.M Hone Company, third is a rather spartan looking Carborundum 118S. All came out nice, the C-Mon and Carbo were dead flat so likely unused, the C-mon was just a little oxidized on the surface so the lapping just cleaned it up. There was a low spot on the left side of the Bob Taylor hone which lapped right out but someone had used the side of the hone for something like fishhooks so it has two deep grooves but nothing that will interfere functionally.

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Next up is a nice little Union Spike razor I got for the princely sum of $14. Pretty great condition, the toe has been honed slightly narrower than the heel but nothing too obscene really compared to many I have seen. These were real every-man, workhorse razors so the ones I often come across at least, are heavily honed and oftentimes really misshapen from poor honing, giant frowns at the toe end of the blade, etc; not worth cleaning up but this beauty won't take too much time or effort. Great ivoroid scales and the coffin isn't too shabby either. These narrow American wedges are great shavers.

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Gotta love the Spike Razors. I think I have 4 or 5 of them. And nice work on the barber hones. I did that to a couple myself. Although I did not go as high as you did on the grits. Still, I found it a fun bringing barber hones back to like new.
Nice work.

Great find on that spike. That's one I don't have that I have been meaning to get. Actually I think I may have one destined for the wind chimes. I have a Robeson Shuredge of the same period though that could be it's twin, same square ended scales an all. Gotta love that American steel from between the wars. Hard as can be so they are a little work to hone but great shavers and hold a great edge. That was a golden age for American cutlery of all types.

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Originally Posted by Gasman

Gotta love the Spike Razors. I think I have 4 or 5 of them. And nice work on the barber hones. I did that to a couple myself. Although I did not go as high as you did on the grits. Still, I found it a fun bringing barber hones back to like new.
Nice work.

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If you have any pics of your Spikes would you mind posting?

They really made some nice razors back then, although the US peak of straight making coincided with the mass exodus of men from the straight to the safety razor so it didn't really last long and a lot of companies seem almost like shooting stars in a sense. I've been finding that barber hones that are worthy of cleaning up are getting a bit thinner on the ground, it's always nice to find ones which are easy to bring back to life.

I keep a little Clauss razor that I've just been maintaining with various barber hones and plain stropping, of course now our abrasive technology is so much better and barber hone edges are considered sub-par for most but I don't think they're too bad really if you use a delicate touch. Takes one back to a simpler time, a Spike, barber hone, boar brush and a puck of Williams or Colgate is how a good chunk of men shaved in the early 20th century and it's fun to do that ourselves once in a while, just to show it's possible to get a good shave without dens full of stones, soaps, etc.

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Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

Great find on that spike. That's one I don't have that I have been meaning to get. Actually I think I may have one destined for the wind chimes. I have a Robeson Shuredge of the same period though that could be it's twin, same square ended scales an all. Gotta love that American steel from between the wars. Hard as can be so they are a little work to hone but great shavers and hold a great edge. That was a golden age for American cutlery of all types.

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Talking of golden ages, there was a magazine called The American Cutler that was a kind of industry news/magazine in the early part of the last century. Google books has a bunch of issues. Amazing what was going on, there were even occasional articles featuring some of the razor companies like Genco, incredible the size of the factories and the amount of product being put out yet the quality was there.

Something like a Spike was a very basic, low cost razor for the working man or barber, yet the steel is top notch, no compromise in function. You buy a cheap blade today and it's some mystery "surgical stainless" blade that is as soft as butter. I have an old ivory handled flatware set from my grandmother and the stainless table knives are made from good martensitic stainless that you can actually sharpen. Now it's all 18/10 cooking pot metal.

Anyway, all sorts of topics are presented from developments in steel technology, foreign competition and union politics, consumer trends. It really was a different time for US cutlery and I think the golden age addage is justified.

Here are 2 with a quick look through my pics. They could use a little more work but I like a razor that looks closer to its age.

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The third one is from the Union Razor company too. Same maker as the Spike.

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My Spike razor was always a good shaver. It was one of the first razors that I honed successfully, tho not on the first try. :)

Nice work. Love seeing those old barber hones restored.