So Who Invented The Shavette?

[mjclark]

So we all know that Dovo coined the term "shavette" but who actually invented the replaceable blade straight razor?

The ancestor of the shavette is the frameback straight razor, where the blade is a thin section of metal mounted in a seperate and thicker metal spine.
Obviously the flat sheet of metal which constituted the blade did not require any grinding - in effect the frameback is "infinitely hollow" - it takes an edge very quickly and is an aggressive and bitey thing!

The French were making Framebacks with interchangeable blades in the 1890's which were the same as seven day sets but with a single handle.
The flat blades were held into the frame with a screw and could be removed and replaced but the blades were still intended to be honed indefinitely.

I'd thought that the first true replaceable blade straight razor was the Weck with the long thin SE blades that we now know as hair shaper blades.
Weck's patent dates from 1908 but a year earlier in 1907 Durham Duplex has patented their hybrid razor.
Durham Duplex literature was explicitly stating that their stropping attachment could be used as a straight razor with a replaceable blade.
So did Durham Duplex invent the shavette?

 

[Lmarkow]

I guess you'll need to define the term. Does the def. include a "disposable blade"? Different definition attributes will yield different answers to your question.

I would not consider a frame back to be a shavette, because my def. includes "disposable blade."

 

[mjclark]

I guess you'll need to define the term. Does the def. include a "disposable blade"? Different definition attributes will yield different answers to your question.

I would not consider a frame back to be a shavette, because my def. includes "disposable blade."

Yes I agree. My understanding of a shavette is a straight razor with disposable blades (blades which are discarded once they have become dull).
A frameback does not have disposable blades but the Framebacks with interchangeable blades are like the primitive ancestors of the shavette.

The first two true shavettes that I am aware of are the 1908 patent Weck and the 1907 patent Durham Duplex (in stropping configuration).
But who came up with the idea of a disposable blade straight razor first?

Is the suggestion by DD to use the stropping attachment as a straight razor a later revision to imitate Weck, or did DD think of it first?
And what originally inspired Weck?

 

[Doc226]

https://youtu.be/O7HcSsKSPw8

This crazy guy?


Ho inventato le fettuccine Alfredo

 

[johnmrson]

Mr Shavette?

 

[gvw755]

https://youtu.be/O7HcSsKSPw8

This crazy guy?


Ho inventato le fettuccine Alfredo

Are we back to Seraphim's chopstick kamisori again? That thing just has a life of it's own.

 

[mjclark]

So I tried the Durham Duplex shavette style today:

It's a big blade and a very very comfortable shave.
Maybe this really was the first shavette as we know it.

Not as manouverable as the Weck but a whole lot of fun [emoji3]

 

[RocketMan]

So we all know that Dovo coined the term "shavette" but who actually invented the replaceable blade straight razor?…….. So did Durham Duplex invent the shavette?

I like to think it was a very early ASR product - Old English which indeed used a replaceable/disposable wafer blade and beat out Durham by at least two years releasing Old English in 1905. They indeed invented the disposable wafer single edge shaver. Shavette as well is for 1/2 DE blades. So Old English is a replaceable blade straight razor. Not a frameback blade which could be maintained for perhaps years, but one with intention of stropping until unuseable then toss and replace. A page completely out of Gillette’s book and at the same time. It feels good in hand, but had a very short retail life.

 

[Gamma]

Pretty sure ASR co. was formed in 1906. That razor in the pic looks a lot like a Sextoblade but anything is possible.
Regardless, I believe the Curley was invented/patented in 1900... removable blade, swinging guard, definitely shavette type of thing. Have had a couple few of them, none at the moment though. No idea if it was the first of it's kind or not but it is older than the Sextos, or the Durham...

 

[RocketMan]

Pretty sure ASR co. was formed in 1906. That razor in the pic looks a lot like a Sextoblade but anything is possible.
Regardless, I believe the Curley was invented/patented in 1900... removable blade, swinging guard, definitely shavette type of thing. Have had a couple few of them, none at the moment though. No idea if it was the first of it's kind or not but it is older than the Sextos, or the Durham...

Sextoblade was patented in 1909 and “looks a lot like“ an Old English. Curley blades are similar to other transitional razors - proprietary blades that were quite resharpenable, not disposable per se, and were frequently sold with only one installed blade. This Old English ASR razor uses disposable type blade technology developed by Reichard & Scheuber - and sold Internationally in 1905 under the ASR name. Both the ads for a different razor below are from 1905 - one from US, the other manufactured by “American Safety Razor” from Argentina. Internationally they were using the ASR name in 1905. Note also the reference to Radio Magno - the Reichard 1903 patented safety straight immediately preceeding Old English that used a tangless wedge blade. This was updated with the disposable wafer/spined blade developed by Reichard & Scheuber/ASR and sold by Sears in 1905 (Sears reference according to Waits). Old English - the first disposable blade straight style razor with removable safety guard.

Regardless (such a dismissive word), the Curley is not a shavette.

 

[Gamma]

Curly’s were a Shavette for sure. The modern Dovo Shavette takes special blades. Weck blades are special too. And they were all removeable and disposable and replaceable.stroppable, sharpensble. I have the Weck hone/strop somewhere. Just like a Rolls, or the other SE of that sort that are also called Safety Razors. As long as replacement blades were made, and advertised as such, those blades can be cosidered to be disposable; to be disposed of when no longer useful. Thats a dictionary definition. By description the Lecoultre razors are even earlier types of Shavettes. The Durham Duplex is in the mix too.

ASR formed in 1906 so it doesnt seem plausible that they released anything in 1905 as noted above. What year they 1st made the Old English razor, I dont know. I did not see any verified patent paperwork online. But I would be hard to believe it was before 1906. From what I remember, they started out producing lather catcher types. I would expect the OE to follow. As it is with anything, patent dates may not be indicative of born date; e.g. patent applied for stamps, etc. At any rate there were earlier razors with disposable and replaceable blades. All a little different, some had more substantial blades than others, but all still replaceable and disposable, which is how most people define ‘shavette. I cant subscribe to saying something is or isnt disposable ‘enough’ to be or not be a shavette since its just a catch-all term generally applied to any razor with replaceable/disposable blades.