Chess Solingen razor info help

[beattie2000]

Hi Everyone, i picked this razor up (attached photos) as I liked the look of it, its Sheffield steel, assumed Solingen ground etc.

I can't find any info on it online, chess Solingen etc. has anyone got any ideas on it? I can only find info on the kayser Ellison steel

It is meant to be delivered soon and will hone it up and see how it performs

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

Not familiar with that particular razor but looks like an older 1930-50's-ish Solingen razor by the scales, (nice faux Ivory) and pinning. Appears to be well ground and in good condition with very little spine wear, some 0000-steel wool and good metal polish will easily clean up nicely. Heel could use some correction/reprofiling which will make it easier to hone.

That it is 3 pinned is an indicator of a quality made vintage razor, possibly made for the Japanese market. Hard to tell from the photo, some of those higher end old vintage Solingen were belly ground and great shavers.

Do a Google search for (Kayser Ellison&Co's Best Sheffield Silver Steel “Can anyone date this”) for an interesting post on by Neil Miller, and a possible connection to Worldmaster razors, later Otto Busch from Solingen - Wald. which may be related to your razor.

Also Worldmaster / Kyser Ellison steel. (Worldmaster, Favorite Straight Razor Grind)

Look at a possible Fritz Bracht /Tennis razor connection, they look similar in stamping design to your Chess. Many of those razors ended up in Japan and may have been for export to Japan. Bracht a master grinder had his hand in a few brands of quality razors.

 

[beattie2000]

Not familiar with that particular razor but looks like an older 1930-50's-ish Solingen razor by the scales, (nice faux Ivory) and pinning. Appears to be well ground and in good condition with very little spine wear, some 0000-steel wool and good metal polish will easily clean up nicely. Heel could use some correction/reprofiling which will make it easier to hone.

That it is 3 pinned is an indicator of a quality made vintage razor, possibly made for the Japanese market. Hard to tell from the photo, some of those higher end old vintage Solingen were belly ground and great shavers.

Do a Google search for (Kayser Ellison&Co's Best Sheffield Silver Steel “Can anyone date this”) for an interesting post on by Neil Miller, and a possible connection to Worldmaster razors, later Otto Busch from Solingen - Wald. which may be related to your razor.

Also Worldmaster / Kyser Ellison steel. (Worldmaster, Favorite Straight Razor Grind)

Look at a possible Fritz Bracht /Tennis razor connection, they look similar in stamping design to your Chess. Many of those razors ended up in Japan and may have been for export to Japan. Bracht a master grinder had his hand in a few brands of quality razors.

Awesome info, many thanks for that!! Ill do those searches, Worldmaster references with kyser steel was as far as I had got. Will look into the other suggestions also! Is interesting at the very least! It has came to me from Japan.

Ill def remove some material from the heel if it annoys me trying to work around it, will reply with a shave update wen I can also!

 

[Darth Scandalous]

You'll see Kayser-Ellison steel stamped on Dreifuss razors too(a Paul Drees/Adresso sub-brand)

 

[beattie2000]

You'll see Kayser-Ellison steel stamped on Dreifuss razors too(a Paul Drees/Adresso sub-brand)

Yea, good shout! This one i seen has exactly the same stamp, same layout with the "registered" also. Will dig a bit more into those

 

[beattie2000]

Shave test update.
Gave the razor a clean and honed it up, there was some minor chips needing taken out:
Bevel set on 1k/6k KDS king stone
Finished with coticule under running water and then a few minutes on ultra fine black Arkansas, linen and leather

Shaved great and smooth although hasnt topped my Joseph Rogers Saracenic for the smoothness top spot, my skin feels epic after the Joseph Rogers but still pretty good with this newest addition. Its still better than the modern razors i own. Will keep on experimenting with it on the stones, def like the look of it! The blade feels stiff like a half hollow

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

Heel and toe do not appear fully honed. Reprofiling the heel will move the heel corner away from the stabilizer and allow the razor to lay flat on the stone.

Lifting the heel a millimeter or so, will better honing the toe with an X stroke. You can also ink the bevels and add a layer of tape to make a micro bevel. Your progression should be fine.

 

[beattie2000]

Heel and toe do not appear fully honed. Reprofiling the heel will move the heel corner away from the stabilizer and allow the razor to lay flat on the stone.

Lifting the heel a millimeter or so, will better honing the toe with an X stroke. You can also ink the bevels and add a layer of tape to make a micro bevel. Your progression should be fine.

Yea, I'll reprofile the heel next time to make it easier, only had so much time to get it shave ready with the child/Mrs lurking about. I was angling the razor to get around the spine this time while doing x strokes. I did ink the bevel though on the 1K stone and made sure i had a edge/new steel from heel to toe with my magnification before moving on. i just didnt need as much steel off from the heel or toe before I smoothened it all out with x strokes and went on to polishing, it did need some slight rocking onto the toe. It passed HHT all over and shaved very well, i just noticed myself that the spine was more worn down on the middle to get the entire bevel touched down, I've tried to remove as little material as possible, majority of that was already on there etc.

 

[beattie2000]

Yea, I'll reprofile the heel next time to make it easier, only had so much time to get it shave ready with the child/Mrs lurking about. I was angling the razor to get around the spine this time while doing x strokes. I did ink the bevel though on the 1K stone and made sure i had a edge/new steel from heel to toe with my magnification before moving on. i just didnt need as much steel off from the heel or toe before I smoothened it all out with x strokes and went on to polishing, it did need some slight rocking onto the toe. It passed HHT all over and shaved very well, i just noticed myself that the spine was more worn down on the middle to get the entire bevel touched down, I've tried to remove as little material as possible, majority of that was already on there etc.