Your Use of a GEM Demaskeene Razor

[Joey1964]

Yes, I use the Kampfe razors with true wedge blades and have for quite some time now. What I enjoy most with these razors is the fact that the blades last pratically indefinately with a bit of care. With that being said, honing them is an essential skill that must be learned unless one cares to send them off to someone else. These blades sharpen up beautifully just using a simple coticule with water and slurry followed by a bit of stropping on leather.

I would have to say that the Kampfe razor that always delivers that BBS shave would be the Kampfe 1901 model with the swinging guard. The 1902 model, which is the most common, never seems to cut close enough for my taste. The 1896 model with swing guard is a cut below the 1901 but still better than the 1902 in its various versions that were sold until about the early 1920's or so.

The two piece tubular handle was designed to hold the slotted stropping device that was a pressure fit into the bottom section of the tube. Normally during shaving only the top part of the tube would be attached to the razor, although you could certainly use both sections together. But the primary purpose of the two piece handle is for ease in stropping giving you something to hold onto...without that length it would be easy to accidently drop it during stropping thereby chipping the edge. And when the edge gets a chip you are in for some serious quality time on the stone to remove it...It's happened to me twice in the past by my own negligence!

Sorry, meant to say 1900 instead of 1901 in the above post. Getting old and decrepit, I suppose!