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Participation PIF- Let's Hammer out some shaves

This is the only vintage blade I've ever used. Does anyone else have experience with other vintage blades to compare? I'm curious about how the various problems (and/or benefits depending on the individual shaver) are due to these blades specifically and how much is just the nature of vintage blades.

FYI- I've noticed that some have been posting that they received two hammers and an Astra and some three hammers and an Astra. I went through my records and discovered that everything I packed and shipped had 3+Astra and everything my wife packed had 2+Astra. Apologies to anyone that was "shorted"- this was accidental and not due to any preference for or against any individual recipient.

Have a nice weekend everyone!
 
Is anyone else of the opinion that these blades would have been a whole lot better with the wax dots holding them in place? I think one edge of the one I used was noticeably better than the other, which I theorize is the one edge was resting on the paper wrapper, instead of suspended above it by the wax.

Lol, this is why I never complain about the GSB! They are SHARP!

Interesting observation. Never thought of a reason for the wax dot. Could be right on, but I still don’t like them.
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
Interesting observation. Never thought of a reason for the wax dot. Could be right on, but I still don’t like them.
Lol, I've resigned myself to the idea of them. And I think I learned on here that the reason for the wax is to keep the blade from dulling.

And as my good friend Ted Nugent says about being deaf in his left ear is a small price to pay for Rock and Roll, a bit of wax is a small price to pay for a smoother shave, BABY!
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
Lol, I've resigned myself to the idea of them. And I think I learned on here that the reason for the wax is to keep the blade from dulling.

And as my good friend Ted Nugent says about being deaf in his left ear is a small price to pay for Rock and Roll, a bit of wax is a small price to pay for a smoother shave, BABY!
But yes, I hate those dots too!
 
And as my good friend Ted Nugent says about being deaf in his left ear is a small price to pay for Rock and Roll, a bit of wax is a small price to pay for a smoother shave, BABY!

Never met the “Motor City Madman”, but I know he hangs around my old home area.
 
Received a PM review from @Tpach earlier this week. Realized that it wasn't posted here just now and was given permission to copy and paste here (he also compared it to some kind of Treet carbon steel blade he was trying around the same time). Here are his observations and theories:

"Firstly, the Hammer blade seems to be a great blade. I used it in my Tech and with normal technique I got a borderline SAS-DFS. I say that because I did notice the blade had much different feel on the skin but the sharpness was definitely there to slice through the hairs without issue. I’m a cold water shaver so no warm water whisker softening. I can’t really say the blade was tuggy or scratchy, it was definitely sharp and did its job it just had a different feel. The blade definitely seemed on the thicker side. I’d have measured it but my caliper suffered some damage so in the market now for a new one. I’m going to keep the used blades aside for measurement later. I also have a buddy with a lab microscope that we’re going to look at some blades under.

Secondly, I had a great shave with the Treet BB. It felt smooth from the first stroke. I’m actually not too surprised the carbon steel blades have me a good shave. From my knowledge, carbon steel is softer but less brittle than a stainless steel composition. That would allow the edge on a carbon steel blade to be honed “sharper” than a stainless blade. It seems the stainless blades have to utilize some type of coating to fill in the chips and gaps from the honing process. I’d say the Treet did give a better shave compared to the Hammer. The Hammer seemed to want to start irritating me on my second pass (blade buff pass). Now that I think of it.. the Hammer and Treet seem to respond well to the J hook. I have to hook on my neck because I have spirals of growth on both sides of my neck and if I don’t hook or shave with three passes, I still have noticeable stubble.


Oh, also a side note.. I did cork both the Treet and Hammer blades. I could visually see some burring in the Treet blade and it just felt like a good idea to cork the Hammer due to its age. I didn’t want any unseen corrosion to affect the shave.

In conclusion, these are some things I’ve theorized:

1) carbon blades can be honed sharper, making a fused metallic edge coating not necessary

2) carbon blades can be stropped, allowing razor and blade model to not thrive as much

3) some stainless blades that don’t have a metallic coated edge may be smoother/harsher to some due fused metallic coating dulling the blades edge

3b) I can imagine higher end stainless blades, with a metallic coating, are of better quality and “sharper” than the lower end metallic coated blades. The process of adding the metal coating is probably more efficient at making a micro fine layer to fill in any micro knicks in the blades edge

Oh, also a side note.. I did cork both the Treet and Hammer blades. I could visually see some burring in the Treet blade and it just felt like a good idea to cork the Hammer due to its age. I didn’t want any unseen corrosion to affect the shave."

Thought you would all enjoy/have opinions about some of the above theories.
 
For my third go-round with the Hammer:

Still using the unknown brush and Arko stick. Went for some "Smells like Old Spice" for AS.

Dropped the blade in a red tip SS for a change. I did palm strop it after #2.

One side of the blade was terrible, but the other side actually felt really good and smooth. I got a decent shave with no irritation but it didn't seem to last very long. Around lunch time I could really feel stubble that I wouldn't normally with a blade that suits me better.
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
Never met the “Motor City Madman”, but I know he hangs around my old home area.
Anyone I've met that ever hunted with him says he is safer in the woods than most, and a (bleep) of a hunter.

I know one guy that didn't even pay to hunt with him, lol, but that was 45 years ago I'd bet.
 
Shave number two with the Hammer (Lot#6) was just as bad as the first, and the blade is now in the bin.

Today’s gear: Mühle R41 Twist, Semogue 620 boar, PdP No. 63 soap, and Acqua Di Parma Colonia aftershave.

WTG pass was with the Hammer and XTG was with a fresh Med Prep. The difference between these two blades is far greater than night and day, and I can see no reason why anyone would use the Hammer when just about any other blade would be better. Still no cuts, nicks, or irritation, and the Med Prep was able to get me to DFS.

My other blade is marked with a ‘16’ (I think), so I’ll try it in a couple of days and see if it’s any better. I’m not hopeful.
 
Next two shaves complete. Like the first two, I used the tuck 20 blade for a complete shave on Friday and the tuck 2 for 1/2 and the Astra for the other half on Saturday.

Prep and Set Up was the same for both shaves, but more complete than the first shaves.

Both days had a good hot water prep with hot washcloth, soap, hot washcloth sequence. Much better prep for these two. Used a 2 band badger with a nice scrub and Tabac stick and a face lather. Used a mild pre-war Gillette Tech.

Friday shave was using only the tuck 20 Hammer. The blade continued to pull, but it was a little better than first shave. The milder razor and this being the second shave with this blade, was less uncomfortable. In no way smooth, but not as bad as previous. Did three passes and got an SAS. No nicks. Seems almost impossible to get a nick. Again, no after shave irritation. Used alum block and felt very slight sting. Finished with Tabac Lotion After Shave with only a little tingle. Satisfactory shave but not really comfortable at all due to the constant pulling. On second uses, the blade improved, but still would not make my top 10.

Saturday and time for the tuck 2 Hammer and Astra combo. Prep was same as Friday. Same setup of brush, soap and razor.

Change the sequence with Astra first on right 1/2 of face and Hammer on left side. Astra was very smooth. It worked very well with the Tech and no pulling, just slicing. Very nice. Hammer from tuck 2 was better than first try. It was better than the tuck 20 blade and also improved from the first shave. Still tugged but not quite as much. I found with both Hammer blades on all four shaves that I could not find any angle to reduce the scraping feel. Seemed like the blade is wider than the modern blades. More like a Kai, but not nearly as sharp. I kept changing the angle, but never found a sweet spot. Did a full 3-pass shave and got a DFS with both blades. Finished with Tabac Lotion After Shave with only a little tingle.

I'm stopping this trial here. I will keep both blades and try them again in a few days. If anything changes significantly, I'll do a follow-up post here later.

Summarizing, the Hammer is a rough shave. Feels like a wider blade than most. Definite difference in the two blades. Tuck 20 blade was much rougher than the one from tuck 2. Could not find a blade angle that felt smooth. Various angles were Very Rough to Less Rough. Smooth? NOT!! Blades definitely not in the sharp category. Not comfortable shaves, but left with no irritation. Not sure how that happens. The two Hammers made the Astra feel like a Feather, but with no irritation.


Thanks for the trial blades @tbhoff . I got what I paid for.
 
Two more shaves behind me on this Hammer blade (tuck #3 for refrence), and things are working out fair enough. Continuing with the Tech has made this blade usable, but not highly desirable. I don't see a reason to kick this blade to the bin yet, as it is providing a fine overall service. Based on my first shave, I didn't expect it to live in the rotation this long, but here we are. I think this type of thing shows why it is a good idea to have a few razors in the collection, because sometimes that's all a blade needs to perform is a different razor.

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--Oct 3rd Shave--
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Razor: Gillette Fat Handle Tech
Blade: Hammer Brand Blades (3)
Brush: Yaqi Lucky Dice 26mm Tuxedo
Soap: CBL Tonsorial Roasted Oatmeal Stout
Splash: Old Spice Hawkridge
Balm: AoS Sandalwood

20201003_091837.jpg


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--Oct 4th Shave--
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Razor: Gillette Fat Handle Tech
Blade: Hammer Brand Blades (4)
Brush: Yaqi 24mm Timberwolf
Soap: CBL Tonsorial Sandalwood and Myrrh Remix
Splash: Old Spice Hawkridge
Balm: AoS Sandalwood

20201004_094857.jpg
 
Blade No. 1 (Mine weren't marked with tuck numbers). Not a comfortable shave at all. Major amount of drag. I shaved DE in the late sixties and seventies (switched to other stuff and returned recently, but that's another story). I can't remember any blades from back then that were this rough. Almost seems like some kind of finishing step was omitted during sharpening.
But thanks to @tbhoff for the opportunity. Always something to learn here.
 
I didn't shave over the weekend so the 4th shave this morning had much more to go through.

I am really noticing that the blade feels better going against or across the grain than with the grain. It's weird. Even when I felt one edge of the blade was worse than the other, both sides did feel similar XTG or AGT. Finished with a decent shave. I am going to see how far this blade will go and blade #2 will try in some different razors.
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
I didn't shave over the weekend so the 4th shave this morning had much more to go through.

I am really noticing that the blade feels better going against or across the grain than with the grain. It's weird. Even when I felt one edge of the blade was worse than the other, both sides did feel similar XTG or AGT. Finished with a decent shave. I am going to see how far this blade will go and blade #2 will try in some different razors.
I find the most comfortable (relative term) is the XTG for me.
 
Anyone I've met that ever hunted with him says he is safer in the woods than most, and a (bleep) of a hunter.

I know one guy that didn't even pay to hunt with him, lol, but that was 45 years ago I'd bet.

I've never been hunting, as my dad wasn't into it, and it's not something I want to get into alone to start with. I can imagine doing a first time hunt with Uncle Ted would be one hell of an experience!!
 
I find the most comfortable (relative term) is the XTG for me.


For me, any modern blade I normally use is no where near tuggy with the grain as the Hammer blade. However, I am going XTG and ATG with no irritation with the Hammer. Shaving like I that with a modern blade would definitely cause me irritation and possible nicks.
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
For me, any modern blade I normally use is no where near tuggy with the grain as the Hammer blade. However, I am going XTG and ATG with no irritation with the Hammer. Shaving like I that with a modern blade would definitely cause me irritation and possible nicks.
This is without question the strangest blade I've ever used. (That is not saying much, but there it is.)
 
Pretty sure 5 shaves is all she wrote for this Hammer blade. Overall I'm surprised it made it this far in the rotation, but here we are. I don't believe I'll be revisiting this one, but it was an interesting experience.

Razor: Gillette Fat Handle Tech
Blade: Hammer Brand Blades (5)
Brush: Yaqi Sagrada Familia 22mm two band badger
Soap: CBL Master Barber Dragons Blood
Splash: Old Spice Hawkthron
Balm: AoS Sandalwood

20201005_094457.jpg
 
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