Vintage carbon DE blades

[Nikita Lugovskii]

Well, for along time I’ve been testing different vintage carbon DE blades.

Also I’ve been trying to find different reviews on this topic, however there weren’t much of them. So I’ve decided to post my personal opinion on it.

Today I’ve chosen probably the oldest blades which I have in my collection. Let’s start with Henckels. After opening nos blades I’ve checked the edge and I was pleasantly surprised by the edge condition after all this years. However, I’ve still decided to strop it on the plane leather, which left me with mirror edge. Same applies to Orion blades. After shaving with both blades I can say that the Henckels blade is a winner. I’ve managed to get a really comfortable shave with a factory edge from a blade which have been produced nearly 100 years ago. Orion blade felt a bit more tugging, but in general still felt fairly good.
Overall all vintage carbon blades are not as smooth as modern, but if I would compare those two with for example Treet black carbon blades, they are still feel better.

So if you want to try shaving with vintage blades you need to understand few crucial points at least from my opinion:

1) Find yourself a stropper, even if the blade was never used you still need to refresh an edge in order to get a comfy shave;

2) Skin preparation, pay attention to softening your facial hairs, it will help the blade to do its job easily.

If anyone is interested in discussing vintage blades topic I’m more than happy to share my experience, so feel free to comment and ask questions.

 

[Nikita Lugovskii]

Additional pics of my stropper and Orion blades.

 

[Windigo]

These blades have a big drawback, they lose their sharpness very quickly.

 

[Nikita Lugovskii]

These blades have a big drawback, they lose their sharpness very quickly.

Yep, it’s true, that’s one of the reasons why I use a stropper. They will last you one shave. Same concept as using a straight razor. But most DE blades a made from softer steel compared to straights, however, blades of older type like what I’ve been using are made from the tougher steel and therefore retain edge better.

 

[Saxonbowman]

That stropper may be the key. I've tried some vintage blades that looked good under the microscope but did not shave well at all.

 

[RAD patient]

Please give me the brand of that stropper. Been on the lookout for something like it but can only find sharpeners, that do not work.

 

[aussietanker]

Awesome thread. How do you take the picture of the blade edge under the microscope (or whatever it is that gives you the magnified circular image)

 

[Berwick12]

I'm glad somebody refound this thread. I would also be interested in the name of the stropper, and how you took pictures of the blade edge. I have something similar twinPlex stropper, but your handle seems a lot better.

I Really enjoy the artwork on those Orion blades.

Today's chuckle. My phone keeps on trying to auto-correct stopper to stripper. I wish my phone would get it's mind out of the gutter

 

[Windigo]

I'm glad somebody refound this thread. I would also be interested in the name of the stropper, and how you took pictures of the blade edge. I have something similar twinPlex stropper, but your handle seems a lot better.

I Really enjoy the artwork on those Orion blades.

Today's chuckle. My phone keeps on trying to auto-correct stopper to stripper. I wish my phone would get it's mind out of the gutter

I photograph blades through a microscope and it looks like a microscope.

 

[Nikita Lugovskii]

I'm glad somebody refound this thread. I would also be interested in the name of the stropper, and how you took pictures of the blade edge. I have something similar twinPlex stropper, but your handle seems a lot better.

I Really enjoy the artwork on those Orion blades.

Today's chuckle. My phone keeps on trying to auto-correct stopper to stripper. I wish my phone would get it's mind out of the gutter

My stropper has a Мосштамп (Mosshtamp) logo on it, it was made in the mid 1950 in USSR, basically it’s a direct copy of twinplex or any other stroppers of similar design. However, in most cases the leather rollers are covered with chromium oxide, thanks to the previous owners, it took me an ages to get rid off it and condition the leather. But in the end I’ve got a fully restored stropper. I also have allegro stropper copy made in USSR, I’ve modified it a bit (added plain leather insert), which allows me to strop blades without abrasive effect.
By the way, allegro stroppers are pretty good in refreshing blades edge. I will attach some photos of it below (Record blade is for comparison)

 

[Nikita Lugovskii]

My stropper has a Мосштамп (Mosshtamp) logo on it, it was made in the mid 1950 in USSR, basically it’s a direct copy of twinplex or any other stroppers of similar design. However, in most cases the leather rollers are covered with chromium oxide, thanks to the previous owners, it took me an ages to get rid off it and condition the leather. But in the end I’ve got a fully restored stropper. I also have allegro stropper copy made in USSR, I’ve modified it a bit (added plain leather insert), which allows me to strop blades without abrasive effect.
By the way, allegro stroppers are pretty good in refreshing blades edge. I will attach some photos of it below (Record blade is for comparison)

Here are some pics of my microscope, you can find it on Amazon.

I'm glad somebody refound this thread. I would also be interested in the name of the stropper, and how you took pictures of the blade edge. I have something similar twinPlex stropper, but your handle seems a lot better.

I Really enjoy the artwork on those Orion blades.

Today's chuckle. My phone keeps on trying to auto-correct stopper to stripper. I wish my phone would get it's mind out of the gutter

 

[Nikita Lugovskii]

Please give me the brand of that stropper. Been on the lookout for something like it but can only find sharpeners, that do not work.

Mine is a soviet copy of twinplex stropper

 

[Ladit]

If you have no stropper at hand you can use a glas. In this video I show how it's done.

 

[Nikita Lugovskii]

That stropper may be the key. I've tried some vintage blades that looked good under the microscope but did not shave well at all.

Yep, stropper does help a lot. Btw, here are some pics of vintage blades from my collection which are worth shaving with, at least from my opinion.

 

[Nikita Lugovskii]

If you have no stropper at hand you can use a glas. In this video I show how it's done.

That’s a good one, the idea behind it is same as using the honing steel for your knives, basically you are straightening the blade’s edge by removing the dents.

 

[Ladit]

Thank you. I got some stroppers as well, but I thought this could be useful for beginners with vintage blades.