Victory is Mine!!!!

It didn't start that way, but I ended up OK. Here's the deal. There's a LeCoultre Frameback (with the set screw) in a local shop. I've been stalking this razor for nearly 2 years now and even made the guy one previous offer on this razor. The guy is just a little too proud of it for my tastes. I mean it's a nice looking razor but not $65 worth by a long shot. I was hoping to haggle him down to $45 but was prepared to go $50 tops. No joy! he wasn't budging on the price and I wasn't budging on not paying $65 for that razor. He had another straight in the case that was just beat to death (hone wear on the spine, beat up, probably not even very restorable) and he wanted $65 for it too. So I whiffed on the frameback. Off to a second source not far away. I run these bases a couple times a month and had only ever seen a couple beat up old safety razors in this place but, ya never know.

So on my first pass, I saw only one straight razor box with a monkey tail sticking out of it. I went and asked the guy to open the case so I could check it out. Off name, German razor, looked OK and probably would have been an easy restore. Then the old man hands me a closed leather pouch and says, "There's a couple straight razors in this too." No DD Goldenedges but two very restorable razors. The larger of the two (man, this thing is a hoss!) is a T Noonan and Sons Arabic. This company apparently made razors from 1901 to 1960. The smaller razor is a bit of a mystery. I know it was made in Eklstuna, Sweden, and without cleaning it up I can't make out the company name but can see the word, "Turnblum". It also has an X with a star in the middle on the blade (it's not engraved.) I've decided that this razor will heretofore be referred to as "THE SWEDE" Any intel on how old this razor might be would be appreciated. Anyway, both razors and the leather pouch cost me the princely sum of $16. GREAT SUCCESS!
http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/v...ldGI/Score.jpg
http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/v...ldGI/Swede.jpg
http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/v...dGI/Arabic.jpg

Congrats,

Nice razors you have there. The second razor is Klas Tornblom, Eskilstuna.

I've begun cleaning up The Swede and it is in fact a Klos Tornblom, any idea how old it might be?

Nice lookin razors and a heck of a price! Congrats and enjoy :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 1OldGI

I've begun cleaning up The Swede and it is in fact a Klos Tornblom, any idea how old it might be?

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No Klos but Klas. Klas is a common Swedish name. Klos doesn't mean anything, at least that i know.
There's a thread here somewhere with some facts of Tornblom razors. Damn i can't find it right now. Anyway it is a beautiful razor and once properly honed, excellent shaver too (like all the Swedes). I have exactly the same razor with different scales.

Edit: Actually the name was/is 'Törnblom' not 'Tornblom' but i think they never marked the dots above the letter o, as it exists usually on the Scandinavic, Samian and Greenlandic alphabet only. It is the same with letters Å and Ä. Nowadays Ö turns into oe, Ä into ae and Å into ao. That is why our hockey players in NHL or F1 drivers get some weird names sometimes.
Just an useless information burst of the day.

For 16 bucks you had a very good day ! Both are very nice, n a leather pouch too boot ! Great Score !!!

SWEET. You found oue like Mikeal and Bill. Stunning Razor

Your Swede is sporting ivory scales, too! I have a similar one. The scales are thin and fragile, but when polished will have beautiful grain and sheen. Is there any Arabic script on the other razor? Congratulations on your lucky finds.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Croaker

Your Swede is sporting ivory scales, too! I have a similar one. The scales are thin and fragile, but when polished will have beautiful grain and sheen. Is there any Arabic script on the other razor? Congratulations on your lucky finds.

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No Arabic script. On one side of the shank it says "T Noonan and Sons Co., Boston, Mass, Made in German" on the other side it just says "Arabic" in kind of an italic sort of script. I'm guessing it's called Arabic because it's easily large enough to carry out a ritual beheading :)

I've had razors that are shave ready with just a bit of clean up and a quick touch up hone. The Swede apparently will not be one of these. The edge it started out with made a butter knife look dangerous and we'll get there but progress is painfully slow. The Arabic should more than make up for it though, out of the box it was easily plowing up rows of arm hair. A good cleaning and a quick touch up hone and stropping should have this one good to go.

My Tornblom was also very difficult at the bevel setting stage. None of my waterstones would do the job, so I used a DMT 325 plate with EXTREME care and very light strokes. About 25 laps did the trick and it shaved arm hair. From there it was all natural waterstones, up to a mirror polished bevel which gives me an excellent shave. I know you will take your time with your beautiful Swede, as I did, and you can expect great results.

Yeah, it's already kicked my butt today. I'm making progress and it will shave arm hair but the bevel acts like it's not that crisp. If it were a pocket knife, I'd say it had a decent edge on it but that just doesn't work for a straiight razor. I had hoped to get it in the rotation this week but that's not gonna happen. Fortunately though, I've got an assortement of other shaving tools to choose from. As predicted the Arabic was scary sharp after a few laps on a barber hone and a couple hundred laps on a horsehide strob. So this week, I've got 2 straights and 3 safetry razors to choose from, I think I can get by without the SWEDE until he's really ready to go. For me, I'd rather wait and shave with a good razor than rush it and shave with a marginal one.

+1 on taking your time. Glad the Noonan turned out to shave well.

Nice razors. I passed on a LeCoultre a few years back at an antique show. I'm still kicking myself about it, however. The dealer wanted $75. The razor, original box and paper wrapped blades were in mint condition. I think it was missing one blade. It was a collector piece to be sure. I went back to the same dealer the next year and the razor was gone.:(

Chris L