Do Faux Framebacks count? My Hillbilly Sofa King is the closest thing I have to a true frameback:
Post Your Pictures - Framebacks
- Thread starter mdunn
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One of my best shaving razors
My towa Japanese framback
I have this frame back mounted to a fixed frame, kamisori-style.
This is a Wostenholm I*XL Celebrated Concave that I just got back with new scales. Shaves like a dream!
Here is one I have Le Grelot Hospital N°4
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Thanks for posting that Ian, I have it’s twin and wondered who made it, probably Le Grelot Mine has an interesting back story, as do may of my framebacks and rattlers. It/s stamped as ‘James H. Flagg New York’ and ‘US patent January 2nd 99’. I began wondering what the heck you could patent in the US? It’s obviously French and is stamped ‘made in France‘ and I’ve seen other French razors like it, now including @Ice-Man So the mechanism isn’t likely patentable and nothing else would seem patentable. The monkey tail shape is the same too.
James H Flagg was a cutlery store in NYC from 1897 to 1906 when he folded, IIRC, so the date has to be January 2nd 1899. There’s a problem with that, it turns out, that New Years Day, January 1, 1899 was a Sunday, so Monday the 2nd was a holiday just as it is today. So there were no patents issued on January 2nd to anyone. I looked and he did have some patents, but they were not related to straight razors, more like tools and such.
So it’s a curious razor just for that
James H Flagg was a cutlery store in NYC from 1897 to 1906 when he folded, IIRC, so the date has to be January 2nd 1899. There’s a problem with that, it turns out, that New Years Day, January 1, 1899 was a Sunday, so Monday the 2nd was a holiday just as it is today. So there were no patents issued on January 2nd to anyone. I looked and he did have some patents, but they were not related to straight razors, more like tools and such.
So it’s a curious razor just for that
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Joseph Rodgers in ivory, Cutlers to Their Majesties, so no later than 1901. It’s in the style of Mappin and Webb Lancet framebacks, and it’s a Frankenrazor with another little story. I bought the razor from a dealer who had re-scaled it in honey horn. The horn was beautiful but the scales were huge and badly matched to such an elegant razor.
Some time ago I was poking around looking for razors on the internet, and and found some antique store ‘pickers’ that didn’t know what they had, I bought a different Sheffield razor with a not-so-pretty blade for $21 delivered, and recognized the ivory. I didn’t feel too bad relieving them of this as many of their wares were quite overpriced, including a spotted horn scaled razor for like $135 That was maybe worth $30-35.
I threw the razor in the ‘scale pail’ awaiting an opportunity which arrived in the Joseph Rodgers. Those scales have a period lead or pewter wedge, and the straighter shape is likely what was on the razor originally. I sent it all to Alfredo and the good doctor did the swap. He said that they were a perfect fit, I think that the only work was re-pinning it.
Et Voilá as the French say.
Some time ago I was poking around looking for razors on the internet, and and found some antique store ‘pickers’ that didn’t know what they had, I bought a different Sheffield razor with a not-so-pretty blade for $21 delivered, and recognized the ivory. I didn’t feel too bad relieving them of this as many of their wares were quite overpriced, including a spotted horn scaled razor for like $135 That was maybe worth $30-35.
I threw the razor in the ‘scale pail’ awaiting an opportunity which arrived in the Joseph Rodgers. Those scales have a period lead or pewter wedge, and the straighter shape is likely what was on the razor originally. I sent it all to Alfredo and the good doctor did the swap. He said that they were a perfect fit, I think that the only work was re-pinning it.
Et Voilá as the French say.
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Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
This is a faux frameback, all one piece of hard steel but the blade is thin and straight tapered, just like a ‘regular’ frameback. It’s a souvenir from a trip to take my goddaughter’s daughters to France for their high school and college graduations. I bought it for 10€ in a brocante in Avignon, and the scales were shot, so Alfredo did his magic with some Turkish burl that I had acquired, and he installed the 3rd pin to stop the blade from coming out the bottom of the scales instead of the original curved lead wedge. It’s also one of the best shaving razors that I own, and those of you that know French razors know how good they can be. This one is stamped ‘Gauthier A Pont St Esprit’, which is about 30 miles north of Avignon. Very close to Chateau Neuf-du-Pape wine country. It’s most likely a Thiers Issard made for a local shop, when I did some research I found some Gauthiers still in Pont St Esprit. I have a friend one that’s identical in shape and size, stamped as a TI.
But wait, there’s more! Pont St Esprit has it’s own story, the village was the site of a mass outbreak of hallucinations one day, IOW much of the village went on a trip without leaving town. One or two people died, one from trying to fly out of a window. The conclusion was that it was likely ergot poisoning from bad wheat, and the ergot does indeed make LSD and is a recognized hazard with moldy wheat. Later on, one of the British Tabloids, maybe the Sun, tried to say that the incident was a CIA mind control experiment, and the event still has notoriety for that piece.
But wait, there’s more! Pont St Esprit has it’s own story, the village was the site of a mass outbreak of hallucinations one day, IOW much of the village went on a trip without leaving town. One or two people died, one from trying to fly out of a window. The conclusion was that it was likely ergot poisoning from bad wheat, and the ergot does indeed make LSD and is a recognized hazard with moldy wheat. Later on, one of the British Tabloids, maybe the Sun, tried to say that the incident was a CIA mind control experiment, and the event still has notoriety for that piece.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
These two are pretty similar, but the St Joanis ‘Le Triomphe’ is again one of the best shaving razors I own, along with the Gauthier (and a few Fillys and CVHs). St Joanis was founded in the late 1860s I believe, and is still in business today as Alain St Joanis, a cutlery maker of high repute. If you want a 10-piece full place setting that will make your castle look shabby and set you back $12k or so, Alain St Joanis can do it. The other is a Leon Pelleray, and is a Swedish steel razor that also shaves very well. It’s got a little wear at the toe, but still a very nice period razor. Alfredo cleaned up the horn scales on each, horn=scaled razors of this period look like they were finished by rubbing them on the sidewalk, which is not my preference.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Another more conventional twin-blade frameback with the faux damascus pattern that was popular at the time. The blade is held in place by a set screw, hence the screwdriver. The tang is stamped ‘Grand Salon du Louvre, Marseilles’. These are nice for travel, two blades for the space of one, but if you lose that screw, you’re screwed, so the lever lock might be a better option for travel.
BTW, it’s best to always use tape honing these, the frames are usually not hardened, and if the blades are not exactly the same width, the spine will have to wear in to the blade EVERY time that you hone the other blade. So tape with gusto and let the chips and the stone fall where they may. I use 1 mil Kapton on these.
BTW, it’s best to always use tape honing these, the frames are usually not hardened, and if the blades are not exactly the same width, the spine will have to wear in to the blade EVERY time that you hone the other blade. So tape with gusto and let the chips and the stone fall where they may. I use 1 mil Kapton on these.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
This is a C. H. Guerre faux frameback with faux damascus patterns that were typical of the time. It’s said that Napoleon III saw a Guerre razor at a Paris exposition and thought that they were very nice, and they are. This is a dainty razor, fairly small and thin, but it will like most French framebacks, shave the barbs off a barb wire fence. Guerre was also the the brand of choice of one William (aka Wild Bill) J. Donovan, founder of the OSS in WWII which later became the CIA. One of our B&B brethren spotted his straight razor in the on-line CIA museum and sent them an inquiry never expecting a reply, but reply they did. Wild Bill’s Guerre razor was not a frameback/rattler though. The thread is here somewhere, try searching on ‘Guerre’ if you’re interested.
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