My new razor!

[mrmaroon]

Hey guys, I have astory to tell! I was home for the week (spring break) and my mom and I went to town to go to antique stores. My main goal was to find an escher, or any hones for that matter but I got side tracked... after visiting 6 places we hit the least likely place to have what I wanted - a pawn shop! Well to my surprise they had around 40 razors!! Anyways, there was nobody at that counter so I did what any right minded RADite would do and asked the dumbest looking lady for help. She popped open the case and I started sifting. I was first distracted by a W&B double coffin case but alas it held 2 different razors. After going through 10 or so I picked out a Wosty frameback with a brass spine and replaceable blade. After this I saw my baby : Tucked away in the back was probably the most beautiful razor ive ever seen. It wasn't in a box so it didn't have a price (I would have paid 50-75) So I asked the lady how much it was worth and bit my lip....

She looked behind her and yelled out "Dad whats this razor worth!? it says uhh... D-A-M-O-C-L-E-S" Her dad was busy with a different customer and couldn't see the razor he yelled out "20 dollars" I said "I'll take it!" Here it is, for your viewing pleasure. I still need to refinish the blade with diamond paste, so far its been hit with 2000 grit wet/dry. Im going to get it re-gilded as well.

http://www.straightrazorplace.com/forums/razors/50585-help-identify-razor-please.html

 

[Smythe]

Borrowed bandwidth from our friends at SRP... I promise, to give it back .

What you have is a fine razor, ERN made a wide variety of razors, and until today I thought I seen them all.
I have seem very few with inlayed scales, if it's brass than that would explain the gold gilding on the tang and tail... and possibly the spine up to the point.

You lucky ba$tard! :thumbup:

 

[Bart]

A great find. Congratulations.
Ern. They take very nice edges.

:thumbup:
Bart.

 

[mrmaroon]

I think this baby might be stainless. It is a lot harder honing than any other blade of its type I have honed. Also, if this was made in germany, why does it say trademark in spanish on the scales?

 

[tat2Ralfy]

Oh I do love a ERN, nice score indeed :thumbup: I find the steel is nice and hard almost to the point of being a pain in the ass, but boy I never honed one that didnt deliver

 

[Smythe]

I think this baby might be stainless. It is a lot harder honing than any other blade of its type I have honed. Also, if this was made in germany, why does it say trademark in spanish on the scales?

Well… contrary to popular belief, Stainless Steel in razors is generally softer than Carbon Steel, though some folks say it tends to resist abrasion… it’s just the nature of stainless. But stainless resists tarnishing so the edge will last a long time (you would be surprised how fast carbon steel will tarnish… especially at the edge… a few seconds).

In those vintage factories, thermocouples weren’t in wide use (if any at all). The tempering was “eyeballed” by observing the color change of the steel as it heats up, when it takes on a “straw” color, the steel was considered properly tempered and then removed form the furnace.
But this process was not perfect, so there will be variations in hardness. It is possible your razor is hard(er) carbon steel, and may feel like honing on glass, or as if the blade is merely rubbing the stone and not cutting (no draw). In my opinion this may be better tempered steel, when you finally get it sharpened it will hold an edge longer than most… however it’s a small window of hardness, and the down side is if it’s too hard it may tend to microchip when honing… or when shaving will microchip, and you get some razor burn… funny thing is… this situation (with ANY razor), will cause you to question your honing ability unless you are familiar with this particular steel condition
But not to worry I have scarcely ever met an ERN that didn’t shave well… old Friedr knew how to make good razors.

You may see the trademark in Spanish... but remember Germany export products to many countries including English speaking countries... of course, they would label the products in the native language of the destination… your razor was marketed for Spain or some other Spanish speaking country.

 

[mrmaroon]

Neat, thanks smythe. Yes I finally got it honed, it is my new favorite! As for the hardness, when initially getting the rust off I hit it with the 2000 grit and was thinking "What the hell" didn't even scratch it?" It was easy to get the rust out and leave the finish intact! it is a superior shaver. How old do you think it is? I was gonna guess 40-60's

 

[mrmaroon]

Another question (last one I promise) when you say the edge will have "chipping" are you talking flea bite chipping? or chipping on a much smaller level? Under 100X I see no chipping, only a small nick on the rounded tip that I don't feel like honing out.

Thanks for the help smythe, you replaced bart as my new hero!

maroon

 

[tat2Ralfy]

You would see microchips at a lower mag IMHO, if I cant see any at 60X I cant feel any in the shave, if we looked at the edge at say 1000X we would probably throw the razor away and all grow beards :scared:

 

[mrmaroon]

I see, well looks like its not that hard then!