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Le Grelot Hospital

Just honed and shaved with my Le Grelot Hospital (correction: it's actually a vintage Special Coiffeur)for the first time today and wasn't all that impressed. The steel was very hard and took forever to get the small chips out and get a bevel. And the shave was just okay. It's only a 6/8 but the thickness of the spine and tang make it feel really chunky. So far, I'm liking my vintage Henckels the best. It was easy to hone and the shaves are very smooth.
 
Just honed and shaved with my Le Grelot Hospital (correction: it's actually a vintage Special Coiffeur)for the first time today and wasn't all that impressed. The steel was very hard and took forever to get the small chips out and get a bevel. And the shave was just okay. It's only a 6/8 but the thickness of the spine and tang make it feel really chunky. So far, I'm liking my vintage Henckels the best. It was easy to hone and the shaves are very smooth.

The special coiffeur (model 52) is not very typical of LeGrelot as it is advertised to be made of swedish steel. The only other Le Grelot like that is their Frameback (coupe celeste - model 5). Most LeGrelot were made of French steel and won't be as hard as this one and more comparable to Solingen steel. There is also one made of Sheffield steel (model 355), which will be softer.
 
Perhaps the hard steel has caused you to move past the bevel setting stage before it was ready? Are you 100% sure that you did a good job bevel setting?
 
Make sure you spend the time needed at each grit. They can take a long time to hone properly, but once you get it right, the shave will be worth it.
 
Ive had a few of these old le grelots and I agree some of the very best shavers out there. In fact thats all I kept in my den after all these years.
They can be hard to dial in but once they are its pure bliss. Im willing to help hone it up free of cost.
 
I agree, when I did my den culling I had 7 of them and was gonna just keep two... Ending up selling two and keeping the rest
 
The special coiffeur (model 52) is not very typical of LeGrelot as it is advertised to be made of swedish steel. The only other Le Grelot like that is their Frameback (coupe celeste - model 5). Most LeGrelot were made of French steel and won't be as hard as this one and more comparable to Solingen steel. There is also one made of Sheffield steel (model 355), which will be softer.

Didn't realize that my Special Coiffeur was Swedish steel. Kind of disappointed because I thought I was getting the famous historical French steel. Maybe that's why the razor is a bit harder feeling and chunky.
 
Didn't realize that my Special Coiffeur was Swedish steel. Kind of disappointed because I thought I was getting the famous historical French steel. Maybe that's why the razor is a bit harder feeling and chunky.
Almost any other LeGrelot would be French steel.
But then again, vintage Thiers Issard were not made of French steel as they preferred British steel and that made them pretty unpopular at home.
And within French steel there are very wide variations: an Opinel is very soft. Like an old sheffield. A Vedel on the other hand is harder than any swedes I've tried.
 
I just bought an A. Vedel from a local knife shop. The owner told me this razor is supposed to be a medical stock razor, Vietnam War era, and that it had come to him covered in a rubber coating which he had to cut and peel from the razor. The scales of this razor are metal and polished. I am sure it will shine up very nicely. The blade is weighty, not light like my two Solingens. I'll put up some pics once I get it cleaned up some.
 
Of course, Vietnam war era for the French was the 50's give and take a few years on either end. I don't know for sure this razor will actually date to this time.
 
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