German Tourist Razors

[mr_houston]

I’ve seen a lot of tourist razors on the bay that often look like these and usually say Solingen:

I’ve always assumed they were junky razors. Am I correct?

I may have just bought one, however. It has a nice wide blade. The scales are pretty simple. Believe it or not, the wedge is cardboard! Seriously.

Here is a before and after a basic polish. No words on the other side. I’m trying to figure out if I should spend any more time on it. Any thoughts?

 

[Slash McCoy]

Those are usually made by Schulze I think. They hone and shave okay. I have never seen a twisty warpy one. By all means, hone it and have a shave with it. Occasionally you see 7 day sets with the blades etched with different German cities and they are kinda cheesy-cool though yeah the scales can be kind of flimsy. I never ran across a cardboard wedge, though, so that's a new one on me. I imagine you will be wanting to upgrade that wedge a little. As long as they are Solingen stamped, the steel is going to be adequate, at the very least. Definitely not an RSO, just nothing special that you would want to pay big bucks for.

 

[mr_houston]

Thanks @Slash McCoy

I did slice that wedge down the middle, to see if maybe it was cork or soft wood. Nope, cardboard.

 

[Slash McCoy]

Fascinating. Maybe a rescale? Also that doesn't look like one of the Schulze souveneir razors. What did all the etching and stamping say? Was it stamped "Solingen"? Why not pin it temporarily between the original scales with an acrylic or wood wedge, hone it, and shave with it for a week? Not much sense in sanding and polishing further if it won't shave and keep on shaving. If it performs decently, then you can make it purty or just keep it looking like a tool and use it, whatever turns your motor. It appears to be in pretty decent shape, to me, for a user grade razor.

 

[johnb65]

I don't know the truth of this but I read somewhere that these razors were produced at the end of WW2 when the only people to have any money were allied troops. If that was the case I guess supplies of materials for scales and wedges would have been hard to source as well. Maybe explains the cardboard wedge, as I say it was a theory that I read, I am getting on a bit but wasn't around back then.

 

[SliceOfLife]

I've owned a few. I never liked them. They're wafer thin ground and tend to be ground well, but the steel gets absolutely DEMOLISHED by even the slightest pitting. Almost any pitting goes clean through the blade. I never did any objective testing, but I always got the impression they didn't finish nearly as well as 100+ yr old German razors either.

That said, they do take an edge and for the right price in good condition, can be worth it. They're often seen in 7 day sets though, and I wouldn't pay much over $100 for a seven day set of them, even in good condition... Maybe in perfect NOS condition just to oil up and sit on display. But I'd much rather have a seven day set from Henckels, Dorko, etc, etc of more standard razors that I trust the quality of.


I also am pretty sure I've seen modern fakes (likely from pakistan) of these late era razors.

 

[mr_houston]

You guys were right on in your advise.

the razor tang says: Silver Steel and Best Qual
the etching said: World K Razor
no country is specified.
I paid $10 plus $3 shipping.

The blade is wide and very thinly ground. It honed up very quickly and easily, the bevel is uniform across edge. Very sharp.

I unpinned it, polished the blade and scales and added a new wedge. I think the scales are Bakelite. When sanding, the slurry was tan. It’s a really beautiful muted red that doesn’t show right in this picture.

The shave was fine. Not particularly special. However, I have not been shaving very often with my straights, so am not the best judge.