My first vintage straight-razor

[Shangas]

Hey everyone.

I already have one straight-razor, an Aesculap that shaves amazingly well. Today I purchased another straight-razor at the local flea-market. I want to know exactly what I have here.

Scales:

Celluloid imitation ivory.

Blade:

6-7/8ths, carbon steel.
Round point.
The Double Crown Razor
Extra Hollow Ground

Near the tang:

The Double Crown Razor
Registered Trademark

Made in Solingen

In near perfect shape. No rust, dings, cracks, dents or chips. The razor has lost much of its original lustre (although it reflected in the sunlight when I bought it, and damn near blinded me!) and I intend to polish it up a bit to see if I can make it look any nicer. Then I'll sterlise it, whirl it through the ultrasonic cleaner and sharpen it up some.

Post-polishing:

I assure you, it looks a lot better in person.

 

[Luc]

Double crowns are great razors!

 

[Shangas]

So experts, tell me. Have I bought a top quallity? Or at least decent quality razor? Or is this a lemon which I can use for buttering my morning toast?

 

[Luc]

So experts, tell me. Have I bought a top quallity? Or at least decent quality razor? Or is this a lemon which I can use for buttering my morning toast?

No expert but German made razors are usually excellent. I had a double crown before, good razor.

 

[Shangas]

Thanks for the feedback, Luc. I'll hone it up and strop it soon and see how well this thing shaves.

Any idea how old it is?

 

[Luc]

Thanks for the feedback, Luc. I'll hone it up and strop it soon and see how well this thing shaves.

Any idea how old it is?

No idea sorry.

 

[Shangas]

Aah. Well thanks for the vote of confidence, if nothing more, Luc.

Honed, stropped and shaved. First shave was okay. I didn't cut myself, but then, the razor didn't do much cutting either. Shaving with a razor like this certainly feels...strange. The blade is so thin I'm wondering whether it'll snap at any second.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

Definitely no lemon there...thats a quality blade.

Why does this razor feel so different to the other one you bought off the flea market guy? (Too lazy to go back and check the model right now) but I recall it was a 5/8 with steel looking scales...

 

[Shangas]

This is my first razor:

100% stainless steel (incl. scales. Pins of brass). Aesculap 5/8 round-point hollow-grind razor.

Carbon steel Double Crown extra hollow-grind razor with celluloid ivory scales.

The second razor's blade-size and shape, combined with the reduced weight means that I'm finding it rather...different in my hands. But hopefully I should get used to it soon.

 

[Greybeard]

Aesculap is a German company that's been making surgical instruments for a long time. Aesculap razors are stainless steel blades that were originally sold to hospitals and used to shave patients. They're usually 1/4 or 1/2 hollow ground with heavy stainless steel scales. The Double Crown could be a full hollow. It would definitely feel different.

Edit: I see from the picture you posted that your Aesculap is 4/8 and your Crown is 6/8 in size. That would compound the different feel.

 

[Shangas]

Thanks Greybeard. I was aware of Aesculap's surgical history, but I haven't been able to find out any information on my Aesculap razor. When would it have been made? I can't imagine that the company is still making them today...is it?

 

[Greybeard]

Thanks Greybeard. I was aware of Aesculap's surgical history, but I haven't been able to find out any information on my Aesculap razor. When would it have been made? I can't imagine that the company is still making them today...is it?

Unfortunately I don't know how old your razor is. Aesculap was founded in 1867. Stainless steel started being commonly used after the late 1920's. I have seen an Aesculap straight with "Made in West Germany" imprinted on it. I believe most hospitals went exclusively to disposables in the 1970's and some used DE's prior to that.

So, at a guess, between 1930 and 1960.

 

[Shangas]

Well...

I have honed and stropped my new razor to within an inch of its life (and the lives of my honing-stone and strop!) and taken it for a test-shave.

It's...very interesting.

It shaves well, but it certainly feels very different. The extra hollow-ground blade and the faux-ivory scales feel extremely light in my shave-hand, probably because I'm used to the all-metal Aesculap that I use on a near-daily basis.

Apart from the physical lightness is also the lightness of the touch, if that makes any sense.

When I put the Aesculap to my stubble, it feels heavy and substantial. The Double Crown feels like...I don't know what! It has a very light, tinny, scrapey-sound as I shave and I'm constantly horrified that the blade is going to wrinkle up on me and turn into crushed up tin-foil!

It's clear to me that the Double Crown frowns heavily on poor preparation. While with the Aesculap I can escape with semi-moist skin, the DC scrapes and rattles and rasps along my stubble and face if it doesn't have sufficient lathering and lubrication first.

It's not a bad shaver. It actually did pretty good, I guess I'm just not used to using it just yet.

 

[Legion]

Stick with it. The crown is the better of the two razors. You could get it rescaled if you wanted to change the balance slightly. Also, your honing technique would probably have to differ between the two razors slightly. The wider blade, thinner grind may need a lighter touch.

 

[Shangas]

Rightly or wrongly, I bought the razor more because of the scales than the blade. But the blade looked like it came from a reputable maker, so I threw the dice and made a gamble. I like the colour of the scales, so removing them won't happen anytime soon.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

Ahhh...right...the heft is significantly reduced when you remove the stainless scales...

Makes sense!

 

[Shangas]

It took a hell of a lot of honing and even more stropping, but I finally got that sucker of a straight-razor shave-ready!

I took the Double Crown for a facescraper today and managed to achieve a near-perfectly-smooth shave. And no razor-burn or cuts etc at all. I'm feeling very pleased with the results and rather proud that I managed to get this one shave-ready...I'd almost given up hope on this one.