Famex Safety Razor

[Bostrin]

You noted in the other Famex thread about the Bohin razor, but the design of that baseplate is a different, sturdier, plus the baseplate itself is marked on both sides to reflect closeness of shave.

Wait, Alex has already come through, but I forgot about it (see the two pictures at the bottom of this old post).
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/396524-Famex-S-O-S-(pun-intended)?p=6094869#post6094869

Kcb's assertion about the correct position of the baseplate is looking very strong right now ...

 

[mjclark]

I am not surprised it performs so well. There are so many things that look right about this razor. It maybe the photo, but if you look along the cutting edge of the blade lengthwise is it straight?. It appears the top cap is curved lengthwise.

You're absolutely right - I hadn't noticed it until your comment but the cap is concave lengthwise and puts a slight smile on the blade.
Is this another variation on a slant?

Also do we have a date for these razors?

 

[kcb5150]

There was one French de that had a completely closed oval baseplate you could flip, but this is plate down and le coq is plate up. The lecoq is incredibly fragile. If you drop it, I would go so far as to say it was a goner because it is so thin.

 

[aimsport]

You're absolutely right - I hadn't noticed it until your comment but the cap is concave lengthwise and puts a slight smile on the blade.
Is this another variation on a slant?/QUOTE]

That cap bend is not by design. I think I know what may have happened. Some Famex have rails along the length of the closed side of the base plate. Those are almost definitely for clamping the razor blade, so open side would be down. Others have no such rails on the closed side and rather have them on the open side. Some handles fit inside the open end, others don't but those could be frankenhandles.

If positioned open end up, there is an interesting possibility for the Famex. If the metal is springy enough not to deform, it could be possible by tightening the handle to adjust to a less aggressive shave. This is all conjecture as I don't have the manual, and even if I did I don't read French. Of course the setting wouldn't be easily repeatable and if overdone could bend the top cap just as you see it bent. A bent top cap has the opposite effect, making the blade more aggressive at the outer edges.

So the history of this razor is quite clear to me.... Jacques, ever mindful of passing Henriette, the bankers daughter, on La Rue Rougemont where she would sometimes walk, took his brother's razor in his trembling fingers. His brother, Didier, had gone off to war, but at the train station had gifted Jacques this razor mocking his younger bother's slowly darkening peach fuzz and saying that before he returned Jacques might yet put this razor to good use. As the train left the station with the screeches, fits, hoots and clanks of the locomotive Jacques heard Didier say "Tighten the razor to make it more mild at first but don't twi..." but the train took the rest of the sentence and the brother to war.

Months later, now standing before a tiny foggy mirror, Jacques was ready, so he thought. He lathered up with his French hard rose lavender soap, and took a short stroke. Too scary he thought, so he tightened the handle. Better, he thought. So he tightened again. And like countless newbies before and since Jacques did too much of a good thing, in this case overtightened and unknowingly bending the very cap that you see pictured above. His next few strokes seemed fine, but then the red and the warmth and sting made it clear something inexplicable to him had gone very wrong. Ashamed at the long red bloody cut on his cheek, he hid from view for weeks. Henriette wondered if she would ever see that handsome young brother of Didier again.

Time passed and Jacques, still embarrassed, too went to war. But the story ends well. His name was mistaken for that of a noble, and his scar for that of a noble's saber scar, and so he progressed rapidly, perhaps beyond his station through the ranks. All ended well, for by the time his long military career had come to an end, while Henriette had grown fat, Jacques bride, Delice a general's daughter, remained slender, quite hot and a vigorous mother of three.

Though the top cap was bent, he kept the razor in his shave den and tried and tried to explain to Delice why he needed it around with all the other razors he had, to no avail. And so exhausted at the nagging, and secretly awaiting the arrival of a new razor from Germany, needing the room he pawned it. Delice, as sharp as a tack, saw right through Jacques overly dramatic pawning, and noticed the shiny new razor appear, but said nothing. Thinking if this be his only vice, things aren't so bad. Until the pipes, tobacco, aftershaves, knives, fishing gear, firearms and the fountain pens started accumulating, there was marital bliss.

You have a fine razor there.

 

[Guru17]

You're absolutely right - I hadn't noticed it until your comment but the cap is concave lengthwise and puts a slight smile on the blade.
Is this another variation on a slant?/QUOTE]

That cap bend is not by design. I think I know what may have happened. Some Famex have rails along the length of the closed side of the base plate. Those are almost definitely for clamping the razor blade, so open side would be down. Others have no such rails on the closed side and rather have them on the open side. Some handles fit inside the open end, others don't but those could be frankenhandles.

If positioned open end up, there is an interesting possibility for the Famex. If the metal is springy enough not to deform, it could be possible by tightening the handle to adjust to a less aggressive shave. This is all conjecture as I don't have the manual, and even if I did I don't read French. Of course the setting wouldn't be easily repeatable and if overdone could bend the top cap just as you see it bent. A bent top cap has the opposite effect, making the blade more aggressive at the outer edges.

So the history of this razor is quite clear to me.... Jacques, ever mindful of passing Henriette, the bankers daughter, on La Rue Rougemont where she would sometimes walk, took his brother's razor in his trembling fingers. His brother, Didier, had gone off to war, but at the train station had gifted Jacques this razor mocking his younger bother's slowly darkening peach fuzz and saying that before he returned Jacques might yet put this razor to good use. As the train left the station with the screeches, fits, hoots and clanks of the locomotive Jacques heard Didier say "Tighten the razor to make it more mild at first but don't twi..." but the train took the rest of the sentence and the brother to war.

Months later, now standing before a tiny foggy mirror, Jacques was ready, so he thought. He lathered up with his French hard rose lavender soap, and took a short stroke. Too scary he thought, so he tightened the handle. Better, he thought. So he tightened again. And like countless newbies before and since Jacques did too much of a good thing, in this case overtightened and unknowingly bending the very cap that you see pictured above. His next few strokes seemed fine, but then the red and the warmth and sting made it clear something inexplicable to him had gone very wrong. Ashamed at the long red bloody cut on his cheek, he hid from view for weeks. Henriette wondered if she would ever see that handsome young brother of Didier again.

Time passed and Jacques, still embarrassed, too went to war. But the story ends well. His name was mistaken for that of a noble, and his scar for that of a noble's saber scar, and so he progressed rapidly, perhaps beyond his station through the ranks. All ended well, for by the time his long military career had come to an end, while Henriette had grown fat, Jacques bride, Delice a general's daughter, remained slender, quite hot and a vigorous mother of three.

Though the top cap was bent, he kept the razor in his shave den and tried and tried to explain to Delice why he needed it around with all the other razors he had, to no avail. And so exhausted at the nagging, and secretly awaiting the arrival of a new razor from Germany, needing the room he pawned it. Delice, as sharp as a tack, saw right through Jacques overly dramatic pawning, and noticed the shiny new razor appear, but said nothing. Thinking if this be his only vice, things aren't so bad. Until the pipes, tobacco, aftershaves, knives, fishing gear, firearms and the fountain pens started accumulating, there was marital bliss.

You have a fine razor there.

 

[nuclearblast]

 

[mjclark]

Ha ha - thank you Gentlemen!
I love this razor and I love this increasingly compelling thread

17 hours on from shaving with the Famex, my face feels like 12 hours in with the 2013 R41.

I'm gonna try with the baseplate flipped later just to see... if my beard ever grows back...

 

[stevil]

That's not a razor - that's a beard executioner!

Congrats on the acquisition! Fine looking beast.

 

[mjclark]

Ok so I tried it with the baseplate flipped and the holes at the top.
Whether this was an intended configuration or not, it works very very well.
I got a milder smoother shave (which was probably all my face could take at this point) but still very efficient, a bit below what my British NEW delivers.

So the Famex gives me two great razors in one - holes down for a fierce annihalator beyond the 2013 R41 and holes up for a smooth well behaved experience just below the NEW.

And yes, as has been observed, it's a DE lather catcher.

 

[aimsport]

Makes sense. Curvature is different flipped.

 

[DrAwkward]

This thread piqued my interest, so I shaved with my Famex razor this morning (3 holes down). Unlike OP, my Famex is not super-aggressive. It is merely moderately aggressive. I might peg it at a 7 on a 10 point scale. However, like OP, my Famex is somewhat milder with the three holes up. My last Famex foray was several months ago and I struggled with blade alignment. This time, I took more care in that department and was able to achieve proper alignment with only a few seconds of extra work.
I do not find the difference between my razor and OP's to be at all surprising. The manufacturing tolerances on these razors appears to be not very precise. Moreover, I think mine is a slightly different model. It looks more like the one pictured in this post:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/396524-Famex-S-O-S-(pun-intended)?p=6094882#post6094882

Mine has more teeth or, um, loops? Plus, mine has a different top cap that may or may not be original (also, no curvature on mine).
Although not the greatest shaver in my collection (or even knocking on the door of the top ten), I love these bizarre razors from long ago. The stranger, the better.

 

[mjclark]

This thread piqued my interest, so I shaved with my Famex razor this morning (3 holes down). Unlike OP, my Famex is not super-aggressive. It is merely moderately aggressive. I might peg it at a 7 on a 10 point scale. However, like OP, my Famex is somewhat milder with the three holes up. My last Famex foray was several months ago and I struggled with blade alignment. This time, I took more care in that department and was able to achieve proper alignment with only a few seconds of extra work.
I do not find the difference between my razor and OP's to be at all surprising. The manufacturing tolerances on these razors appears to be not very precise. Moreover, I think mine is a slightly different model. It looks more like the one pictured in this post:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/396524-Famex-S-O-S-(pun-intended)?p=6094882#post6094882

Mine has more teeth or, um, loops? Plus, mine has a different top cap that may or may not be original (also, no curvature on mine).
Although not the greatest shaver in my collection (or even knocking on the door of the top ten), I love these bizarre razors from long ago. The stranger, the better.

This is becoming more and more interesting.
I've been involved in similar discussions about Ever Ready 1912s where it appears that, due to the lack of any standardisation, each individual razor shaves differently leading to all sorts of confusion when discussing them.

So when were these Famexs (Famices?) manufactured?

 

[DrAwkward]

This is becoming more and more interesting.
I've been involved in similar discussions about Ever Ready 1912s where it appears that, due to the lack of any standardisation, each individual razor shaves differently leading to all sorts of confusion when discussing them.

So when were these Famexs (Famices?) manufactured?

Not even Alex seems to know when the Famex razors were made. However, have you ever seen anything that screamed 1930's louder than the Famex?

 

[mjclark]

Not even Alex seems to know when the Famex razors were made. However, have you ever seen anything that screamed 1930's louder than the Famex?

Good point - I think my Ronson might come close:

but you're right...the Famex has a real early Art Deco look.
I think the period between WW1 and WW2 was the Golden Age of razors,both safeties and straights.
All my favourites are in there, and now the Famex is in there too!

 

[nuclearblast]

Do you guys read French?

If you don't, tomorrow I can go and lurk a little more on the French forum and try to find some info. Can't promise anything though.

Sometimes not even the French are quite sure about their razors ...

 

[mjclark]

Do you guys read French?

If you don't, tomorrow I can go and lurk a little more on the French forum and try to find some info. Can't promise anything though.

Sometimes not even the French are quite sure about their razors ...

That would be brilliant!

 

[PokerChip]

Do you guys read French?

If you don't, tomorrow I can go and lurk a little more on the French forum and try to find some info. Can't promise anything though.

Sometimes not even the French are quite sure about their razors ...

Years ago I had a basic understanding of the french language. I was raised in New England (RI) and all our neighbors primary language was french. I learned french before I learned english so I had to learn as a kid to speak french. Later my family moved to Quebec, Canada where they primary language there is french. There I spoke french out of necessity. As an adult I did have the opportunity to speak french while I was in Europe so my french was coming back to me.

I have "decent" comprehension of french but am in no way fluent in the language. If I had time and some help with a website to back me up I could figure out what was being said in french. After not speaking it for 30+ years I'm rusty. But I can figure out what's begin said in some cases.

Having said that, I'm sure we have members who's primary language is french. There has to be at least one or two who can translate from french to english.

 

[nuclearblast]

Years ago I had a basic understanding of the french language. I was raised in New England (RI) and all our neighbors primary language was french. I learned french before I spoke english so I had to learn as a kid to speak french. Later my family moved to Quebec, Canada where they primary language there is french. There I spoke french out of necessity. As an adult I did have the opportunity to speak french while I was in Europe so my french was coming back to me.

I have "decent" comprehension of french but an no way fluent in the language with time on my hands. After not speaking it for 30+ years I'm rusty. But I figure out what's begin said in some cases.

Having said that, I'm sure we have members who's primary language is french. There has to be at least one or two who can translate from french to english.

I can perfectly read French. I lived there, and in Belgium too, although in Belgium I didn't need to speak French frequently. Sometimes it is hard to find a Belgian in Brussels ...

 

[DrAwkward]

Do you guys read French?

If you don't, tomorrow I can go and lurk a little more on the French forum and try to find some info. Can't promise anything though.

Sometimes not even the French are quite sure about their razors ...

Mais oui! Je ne parle pas français, mais j'aime (rasoirs) Le Coq.

Oh my, that did not sound quite right. Please allow me to try again.

J'aime rasoirs français.

Much better, although I do like Le Coq better than any other French razor brand. Even Leresche.

Anyway, Edgar, please find out whatever you can. I would be grateful.

Merci!

 

[DrAwkward]

Good point - I think my Ronson might come close:

but you're right...the Famex has a real early Art Deco look.
I think the period between WW1 and WW2 was the Golden Age of razors,both safeties and straights.
All my favourites are in there, and now the Famex is in there too!

First, you win! That Ronson definitely screams 1930's like no razor I have ever seen before.
On a more serious note, the interwar razors are definitely my favorites. I love the way they feel in my hand and the way they shave.