- Joined
- Feb 23, 1999
- Messages
- 4,855
Sarge mentioned in an earlier thread about letting a razor rest for a day or two to allow the edge to realign. In the Victorian era a lot of people took this approach. I dont know if it really holds as much with our modern steels. Opinions seem to differ now on whether or not you need to let them rest.
Wealthy Victorian gentlemen sometimes had seven-day sets of razors. They could then use one on each day of the week. They (or their butlers) seldom had to worry about stropping. Just once a month or so. I saw one of these come up on e-bay a while back. It was kind of expensive, so I just watched it. No one bid. Then it was relisted later for a hundred dollars less. I put in the minimum bid, so if someone wanted it for $1 more they could have it. No one else bid, so I got it. Later the seller told me he had had the kit for years, and I bought it for less than he paid for it.
When I got the razors I examined them carefully. The old leather case was beat up with the years, but the razors were in good condition.
The scales look like ivory, but many old razors were made of celluloid. This was about the first plastic, and it could be made to look like ivory, tortoise shell, and a host of other things. Celluloid will melt and hiss when a hot needle is touched to it. This stuff doesnt. You can see saw marks on the unpolished inside of the scales. The scales are thinner than the celluloid scales usually are. These kits were fairly expensive in their day. I believe this one is ivory, as the seller claimed it was.
Here are the pictures.
Why is this on a khukuri forum? Well the concept generalizes in an obvious way. Say you have an oak handled Ang Khola. Every day you take it out to chop wood and you need to sharpen it. Dont you think it would be more convenient to have a matched set of seven, and then you could just sit in front of the fire on Sunday morning and sharpen them all at once?
And how about a 7-day set of chitalangis for when the vines start to grow? And a horn-handled set of AKs for when you want a change from wood.
See, you guys are just getting started!
Wealthy Victorian gentlemen sometimes had seven-day sets of razors. They could then use one on each day of the week. They (or their butlers) seldom had to worry about stropping. Just once a month or so. I saw one of these come up on e-bay a while back. It was kind of expensive, so I just watched it. No one bid. Then it was relisted later for a hundred dollars less. I put in the minimum bid, so if someone wanted it for $1 more they could have it. No one else bid, so I got it. Later the seller told me he had had the kit for years, and I bought it for less than he paid for it.
When I got the razors I examined them carefully. The old leather case was beat up with the years, but the razors were in good condition.
The scales look like ivory, but many old razors were made of celluloid. This was about the first plastic, and it could be made to look like ivory, tortoise shell, and a host of other things. Celluloid will melt and hiss when a hot needle is touched to it. This stuff doesnt. You can see saw marks on the unpolished inside of the scales. The scales are thinner than the celluloid scales usually are. These kits were fairly expensive in their day. I believe this one is ivory, as the seller claimed it was.
Here are the pictures.
Why is this on a khukuri forum? Well the concept generalizes in an obvious way. Say you have an oak handled Ang Khola. Every day you take it out to chop wood and you need to sharpen it. Dont you think it would be more convenient to have a matched set of seven, and then you could just sit in front of the fire on Sunday morning and sharpen them all at once?
And how about a 7-day set of chitalangis for when the vines start to grow? And a horn-handled set of AKs for when you want a change from wood.
See, you guys are just getting started!
