New (old) Star - can I use it?

**buma** · 05-24-2012, 03:24 PM

so, surprisingly this Star razor came up (along with a nice Gillette travel razor and case) on the 'bay and my minuscule bid actually held to the end of the auction - auction ended at just under $19 for the pair. Just came in today and was pretty wowed by what I think is an almost complete 1900 Kampfe Star SE razor.

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from my limited knowledge of these razors it seems to have:
the razor (the head and main handle)
smaller strop handle (screwed into the base of the handle)
the two-sided tin box (seen better days, however)
what I think is a blade holder in the small end of the box (wild guess, not sure actually)
and a single unused Star blade

I think only the blade holder attachment is missing. The small handle part that holds the blade holder seems well-loved - there are areas on the bottom of the handle that seemed to be 'sharpened' off/ thru the barrel after many years of use.

So - as I'm not a collector but more a user, the question needs to be asked: can I use this thing with a standard SE blade? it looks to be about the right size, and I'm guessing the spring that protrudes thru the head is what holds the blade in place while in use.

Can anyone offer some advice on it? Thanks in advance, folks!

**RocketMan** · 05-24-2012, 07:20 PM

It isn't entirely easy to tell from the angle of the photograph you have provided, but it would appear to be the first hinged lather catcher design with the side adjusting blade screws. This puts it at 1901 and was probably not a long running razor as the adjustment design was altered just after this razor.

Unless I am wrong, and it is a later frame, there are no blade stops on this razor and therefore a modern rib back blade would not be able to be used. It is intended to be used with a wedge blade as all their razors up to this point indeed were. The blade holders in this frame adapt to the shape of the wedge blade and would only allow the wedge to sit in so far. With adjustment of the side screws, the 'gap' of the blade edge relative to the frame guard can be set to suit.

A wonderful razor none the less!!!

**gearchow** · 05-25-2012, 07:23 AM

+1

You'll be able to tell immediately whether or not a modern SE blade will work once you insert one. If it wobbles or moves around at all, don't bother. ymmv on the "don't bother", somebody will jump in and say how the blade or razor can be modified - I know you all.

-jim

**swamps** · 05-25-2012, 08:05 AM

Mine is the same type of head as your but the side clips are in a different spot but as long as you have the little lugs at the front on each side see 1st pic you should be ok with an SE blade 2nd pic has a blade loaded and it's secure doesn't move at all...

**MacDaddy** · 05-25-2012, 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by gearchow

ymmv on the "don't bother", somebody will jump in and say how the blade or razor can be modified - I know you all.

Well... You could always solder the blade in place onto the body of the razor, and when you want to change blades just melt the solder, pop the blade off, and solder on a new one.

**retturn2blades** · 05-25-2012, 11:04 AM

Originally Posted by MacDaddy

Well... You could always solder the blade in place onto the body of the razor, and when you want to change blades just melt the solder, pop the blade off, and solder on a new one.

Why didn't I think of that? :)

**buma** · 05-25-2012, 01:46 PM

rollercoaster of updates...
good news - the Star I have does have the little stops at the front
bad news - stop was lower due to the curved nature of the wedge blades,
good news - a little bit of tweaking made it work better, put blade in and it seemed mostly steady
bad news - pressing on the back of the blade made it 'pop' out
good news - ripped a spine off an old blade and made a 'wedge emulator' out of it and it seems to work well
bad news - turned one of the side adjustment screws for the side clips the wrong way and broke off the nut flange on it (or it was just corroded and was going to break anyway, but not sure on that) and I take it there's no way to fix it
good news - doesn't seem to matter where the side clips are anyway as they just seem to make sure the blade doesn't wander off the razor head.

so... with all that, here's a pic of the now loaded razor, and some of the tools used this morning to make it work :) Can't wait to try and shave with it this weekend...

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**natchez** · 05-25-2012, 05:55 PM

Nice work to get it up and running. Enjoy your shave. IMO they shave a lot like the 1912s.

**buma** · 05-25-2012, 06:33 PM

Thanks Natchez

so another stupid question - how DOES one shave with this thing? Like other SE razors? or is there a trick to it?

**RocketMan** · 05-25-2012, 07:16 PM

Good to see that you have a later frame! Set your blade and start shaving - you will pick it up right away!

**Rob72** · 05-31-2012, 05:59 AM

Originally Posted by buma

Thanks Natchez

so another stupid question - how DOES one shave with this thing? Like other SE razors? or is there a trick to it?

YMMV, etc., etc.,

There is a LOT of exposure with these, and they don't compare, using the wedge vs. a modern blade, IME. With the modern blade, I run an angle more like a DE (or Louie Bluie, using the naked blade). This doesn't give much opportunity for the blade to grab-and-slice, its more like a punch-die, taking hair off at the bare surface of the skin.

The difference is much like a Weck Sextoblade (uses Personna hair-shaper blades) and a straight. With the Weck, I use the spine to determine how much blade is on my face; if I intentionally start with the edge on skin, and try to "adjust the angle", I start taking tissue samples. The straights have enough "give" to allow me to run the edge directly.

**buma** · 05-31-2012, 03:59 PM

Well, first shave was a bit of a nightmare as I found that even though it had a blade stop in the toothed comb, it didn't cover the extreme edges of the razor blade. So as I shaved the weak side of my face, I ended up looking like some sort of reject from a horror movie as I cut about 4 or 5 slices into my face and it turned into a big bloody mess. Luckily for me they weren't deep, but man I've never bled so much from a single pass on a shave.

So did I give up? Not on your life. Next day, pulled out my rotary tool and beveled the edges of the blade back to where the blade-stop touched the blade, so it ended up looking like \_________/ this. Stuck it back in with my newly improved wedge emulator (another re-mod of a SE blade spine just bent in a different way), and shaved away!

No horror show this time (well, other than a few weepers). The second and third shaves on the blade were just so-so - not sure if it was the new wedge emulator or if it was just me not figuring out the proper angle yet or what. However, this razor is definitely going into the rotation for at least a few more shaves in the future as the blade mods aren't that hard to do yet.

What one does to shave with a 100 year old razor...

**Haggises** · 05-31-2012, 07:24 PM

you're a braver man than me buma, but well done for giving that old razor a new lease of life.

**BigFoot** · 05-31-2012, 07:52 PM

Originally Posted by MacDaddy

Well... You could always solder the blade in place onto the body of the razor, and when you want to change blades just melt the solder, pop the blade off, and solder on a new one.

That may be some of your best advice yet Porter.

**alex2363** · 06-02-2012, 10:13 AM

Originally Posted by MacDaddy

Well... You could always solder the blade in place onto the body of the razor, and when you want to change blades just melt the solder, pop the blade off, and solder on a new one.

Porter your funny....I hope he dont do it.

**alex2363** · 06-02-2012, 10:14 AM

Originally Posted by buma

Well, first shave was a bit of a nightmare as I found that even though it had a blade stop in the toothed comb, it didn't cover the extreme edges of the razor blade. So as I shaved the weak side of my face, I ended up looking like some sort of reject from a horror movie as I cut about 4 or 5 slices into my face and it turned into a big bloody mess. Luckily for me they weren't deep, but man I've never bled so much from a single pass on a shave.

So did I give up? Not on your life. Next day, pulled out my rotary tool and beveled the edges of the blade back to where the blade-stop touched the blade, so it ended up looking like \_________/ this. Stuck it back in with my newly improved wedge emulator (another re-mod of a SE blade spine just bent in a different way), and shaved away!

No horror show this time (well, other than a few weepers). The second and third shaves on the blade were just so-so - not sure if it was the new wedge emulator or if it was just me not figuring out the proper angle yet or what. However, this razor is definitely going into the rotation for at least a few more shaves in the future as the blade mods aren't that hard to do yet.

What one does to shave with a 100 year old razor...

very good, keep us posted

**The Kiwi** · 06-02-2012, 10:19 AM

Fact is, there are only a certain range of metals for which soldering is an option. Stainless steel isn't normally among those you can work with, and the heat required to melt solder and get carbon steel to let the solder stick, just might be hot enough to distort the blade itself. Probably much less true as thick as the SE blades are, but even if anyone was already soldering things on the job all the time, blades probably aren't good choice for the procedure.