WegianWarrior

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Show threadWegianWarriorFeb 3, 2025

February already? New month, new week, old razor 🙂

  • Razor: Gillette Slim
  • Blade: Persona Platinum
  • Brush: Semogue TSN LE 2012
  • Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream
  • Lather: Mike’s Natural Soaps Hungarian Lavender
  • Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
  • Additional Care: Alum Block​
Show threadWegianWarriorJan 31, 2025

I am assuming this is actually the SOTD thread for Friday 31st, and that a Mod will be along to correct the headline…

And just like that, January is over…

  • Razor: Gillette 1958 TV Special
  • Blade: Persona Platinum
  • Brush: Artesania Romera Manchurian Badger, imitation horn
  • Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream
  • Lather: Pereira Shavery Orange Blossom w/ activated charcoal
  • Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
  • Additional Care: Alum Block
Show threadWegianWarriorJan 29, 2025

A nostalgic Wednesday shave.

  • Razor: Gillette 1958 TV Special
  • Blade: Persona Platinum
  • Brush: Vie-Long #12705B
  • Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream
  • Lather: Brutalt Bra TSN LE / Norwegian Wood
  • Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
  • Additional Care: Alum Block
WegianWarriorJan 29, 2025

Patent Time: Hexagonal collapsible safety razor handle

https://sub.wetshaving.social/post/1873384

Patent Time: Hexagonal collapsible safety razor handle - WetShaving

A travel razor usually either have a very tiny handle – like my, admittedly tiny all over, Laurel Ladies Boudoir Razor [https://wegianwetshaving.com/2019/03/the-most-adorable-de-laurel-ladies-boudoir-razor-with-known-provenance/] – or a handle in two parts – like my Merkur 985CL [https://wegianwetshaving.com/2012/05/review-merkur-985cl/]. But James Alex Denby Watt had a different idea. He patented a collapsible, hexagonal razor handle in 1930 – and it worked well enough to be part of a production razor. More on that later – lets first look at the handle. As can be seen from the drawing, it operates on the same principle as the combined traveller’s drinking cup and shaving mug [https://wegianwetshaving.com/2023/10/combined-travellers-drinking-cup-and-shaving-mug/] we looked at a couple of years ago. It is segmented and hollow, and each segment will lock into the ones above and below it when it is extended. This means that the collapsible handle will only be one segment long when collapsed. It also makes for a very cone shaped handle. James gave his handle a hexagonal shape, with slight indentations along each edge. This would, I think, both prevent the pieces from rotating in relation to each other as well as providing a better grip. [https://wegianwetshaving.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/US1749051-drawings-page-1-697x1024.png] Patent drawing for US patent 1,749,051 Additionally, James suggested that the individual segments could be knurled, aerated, ribbed, grooved, pierced, slotted, punched, or otherwise toughened in order to provide a better grip. This, however, do not seem to have been done in the production razor that utilised this collapsible handle; the Compax. As a side note, the Compax was a very interesting razor in its own right. It was an adjustable single edge razor, that came with a stropping machine built into the box, and – naturally, a collapsible handle. You can fine some info and a lot of pictures right here [https://shavinguniverse.com/community/threads/compax.5969/]. I see no reason why this collapsible handle couldn’t be made with standard threads and used with almost any razor head. It could turn any razor into a travel razor. You can read the full patent for the hexagonal collapsible razor handle [https://patents.google.com/patent/US1749051A/en] over at Google Patents.

Show threadWegianWarriorJan 27, 2025

Another week, another vintage razor. What is not to like?

  • Razor: Gillette 1958 TV Special
  • Blade: Persona Platinum
  • Brush: Vie-Long #14033
  • Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream
  • Lather: Jabonman Mediterráno L.E. BullGoose
  • Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
  • Additional Care: Alum Block
Show threadWegianWarriorJan 24, 2025

Did you know it is just 11 months until Christmas Ewe?

  • Razor: Parker 22R
  • Blade: Persona Platinum
  • Brush: Wilkinson Sword Badger
  • Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream
  • Lather: Pereira Shavery Baron’s Choice
  • Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
  • Additional Care: Alum Block
Show threadWegianWarriorJan 23, 2025
Thank you - it’s been crazy busy, but hopefully things have calmed down a bit :)
Show threadWegianWarriorJan 22, 2025

A wonderous Wednesday shave.

  • Razor: Parker 22R
  • Blade: Persona Platinum
  • Brush: Vie-Long #13051M
  • Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream
  • Lather: Asylum Shave Works Frankincense & Myrrh
  • Aftershave: Asylum Shave Works Frankincense & Myrrh
  • Additional Care: Alum Block
WegianWarriorMay 23, 2024

Patent time: The Simens Razor Sharpener Patent

https://sub.wetshaving.social/post/967722

Patent time: The Simens Razor Sharpener Patent - WetShaving

A couple of days ago I shared a video I found [https://wegianwetshaving.com/2024/05/restoration-of-a-siemens-razor-blade-sharpener/] on the restoration of a Simens razor sharpener. And guess what? I’ve now found the patent for it. Filed by Ferdinand Souczeck in 1933, the patent was applied for in – as far as I can tell – Czechoslovakia, Austria, and USA. I’m not sure if Ferdinand worked for Simens, of if they simply bought the rights of him. What I do know is that Simens must have manufactured the device in several places. The one I own is clearly marked as made in Sweden, while other examples I found online is marked with Austria, Japan, USA, USSR, and elsewhere. Every invention is an attempt to solve a problem. But the problem Ferdinand tried to solve wasn’t to sharpen the blade per se – it was to sharpen it better. To quote: >In known grinding devices of this type, the movement between the razor blade and the grinding agent which is necessary for the grinding is generally only rectilinear and of a definite type of stroke, regardless of whether it is parallel, inclined or perpendicular to the edge and whether a grindstone or grinding rolls are used. However, this type of grinding favors the production on the sides of the edge of the blade of grooves which make it difficult or even impossible to obtain a complete grinding of the sides of the edge. The grinding, moreover, results in subjecting the blades to an injurious bending stress. So according to Ferdinand, the problem with other razor blade sharpeners were that they were grinding in a linear back and forth motion. The solution, he claimed, would be to move the blade in a circular motion. And while other sharpeners did that, Ferdinand claimed they put a bending motion on the blade. The solution Ferdinand came up with, and Simens manufactured, was a box with a string. You put your blade in the box, closed the lid, and pulled the string. And when you opened the box, your blade was sharper. [https://wegianwetshaving.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/US2004838-drawings-page-1-697x1024.png] Patent drawing for US patent 2,004,838 Inside the box is where the magic happened. As can be seen from the drawings, there are a few things going on. In one half of the box you have three gear wheels with pulleys. The two outermost ones have eccentric spindles. The string is wrapped around the pulleys. On either side of these gearwheels are two spring loaded grinding members, set at an angle. A matching set of two grinding members are set in the opposite lid as well. As can be seen, the blade is placed on the spindles. Once the box is closed, the grinding elements are pressed against the blade sides. And when the string is pulled, it rotates the gears, which in turn moves the blade in a circle. Or as Ferdinand put it in the patent text: >When the razor blade is positioned on the carrier pins 18 and the device is closed, the blade prevents the inter-engagement of opposing grinding teeth and, under the opposite but equal spring forces constituting the grinding pressure, is accurately positioned centrally of the gap formed between the two halves of the casing by the collars on the guide pins I I when the grinding members on both sides are not overlapped by the razor blade to the same extent (see Figure 2). >If now the somewhat tensioned operating cord 11 is pulled from side to side, or, in the case where the cord is stationary, the grinding device itself is reciprocated along the cord, the razor blade will execute a curvilinear movement in its own plane. There is, of course, a few differences between the device as patented, and the device as built. The big one is in the shape and position of the grinding members. Whereas the patent shows them with a flat top and set at an angle, my Simens sharpener (and every other one I’ve seen pictures of) has them with an angled top and set straight in the box. Unlike so many of the patents I discuss, this one was quite successful. If you search for “razor blade sharpener” online today, a lot of your results will be of the Simens razor blade sharpener. It was successful enough that an Albert B Swanson filed a patent [https://patents.google.com/patent/US2922260A/en?oq=2%2c004%2c838] for what was basically an electric version of it in 1958. Today, we are often told, you shouldn’t sharpen a regular razor blade. But if you needed to, a Simens razor blade sharpener would be just the thing to do it with. You can read the full patent for Simens razor blade sharpener [https://patents.google.com/patent/US2004838A/en] on Google Patents.

WegianWarriorMay 16, 2024

Patent time: Griffbefestigung an Rasierapparaten – handle attachment to shaving apparatus

https://sub.wetshaving.social/post/946359

Patent time: Griffbefestigung an Rasierapparaten – handle attachment to shaving apparatus - WetShaving

It is easy to forget, as one is looking at old patents online, that not every inventor spoke English. I’ve looked at [https://wegianwetshaving.com/2023/07/self-destroying-disposable-shaving-brush/] several [https://wegianwetshaving.com/2018/04/razor-on-a-spring/] interesting [https://wegianwetshaving.com/2021/06/samuel-schereschewskijs-device-for-lathering-the-beard/] non-english [https://wegianwetshaving.com/2023/10/john-h-woods-barbermaskine/] patents [https://wegianwetshaving.com/2021/11/a-more-modern-shaving-cup/] in the past, and stumbled over an interesting looking one today too. It is for how to do attach a handle to your shaving apparatus. Or to put it in a different way; a handle attachment to your razor. Patented by Paul Druseidt, the invention gives a razor that both pack flat and is easy to assemble. It consists of a normal-ish razor head and a U-shaped handle made from spring steel. The handle is ever so slightly smaller than the head of the razor and can nestle inside it. [https://wegianwetshaving.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DE_323451_C-757x1024.png] Patent drawing from German patent 323,451 The key is the shape of the recesses or hole on the underside of the razor. The keyhole, if you will. As can be seen from the drawing, it was longer one way than the other, and had arches or troughs on either side. The U-shaped handle was, as mentioned, springy. You would insert it along the long axis of the hole, then twist it 90°. The arches on either side would stop it from slipping back, and the tension of the spring steel would hold it in place. After shaving the handle could be twisted back, removed, and placed against the inside of the razor head Or, to quote the patent; >…der U-förmig gebogene Handgriff 6 zwecks Befestigung an der Kammplatte 2 mit seinen federnden Enden 5 in zwei unter der Kammplatte vorgesehene muldenförmige Aussparungen 4 eingeführt und sodann um 90° gedreht wird, wobei die federnden Enden in zwei weitere, enger aneinander liegende, muldenförmige Aussparungen 3 eintreten und in diesen festgehalten werden, während er nach Gebrauch aus den muldenförmigen Aussparungen herausgezogen und von unten gegen die Kammplatte gelegt wird. For those whose German is a bit rusty, the autotranslated version runs as follows: >…the U-shaped curved handle 6 for attachment to the comb plate 2 with its resilient Ends 5 inserted into two trough-shaped recesses 4 provided under the comb plate and then rotated by 90 °, the resilient ends in two more, narrower Adjacent, trough-shaped recesses 3 enter and held in these while he is pulled out of the trough-shaped recesses after use and is placed against the comb plate from below. All clear and fairly straight forward. I though initially that a top cap could have been fastened by the pair of hook shaped projections on the bottom plate. I also though that these projections also would have acted as blade guides for a normal Gillette three hole blade. Further research showed me that maybe was no top cap, and the hooks just held on to a proprietary blade. The first hint came in Waits’ Razor Compendium. Waits’ Compendium do mention a Druseidt razor – along with the similar Impero and Ratio razor. And in the description of the later, Waits states that “the special thick double-edged blade has two square holes and two centre oval dimples”. Waits’ Compendium also mentions that “later versions has two pieces”, by which he seems to mean that at least the late production Ratio was made with a top cap. This in turn matches with pictures I found in a thread over on Shaving Universe [https://shavinguniverse.com/community/threads/druseidt.5181/], which clearly shows a top cap. A top cap, I might add, that looks very much like Waits’ description of a “special thick double edged blade”… Was Waits just confusing a poor quality picture of a top cap for a proprietary blade? Quite possible. It could simply be that a lot of the Druseidt, Impero, and Ratio razors that have survived have lost their top caps over the years. Interestingly all three of the razors mentioned also have u-shaped handles. But none of the three has the handle attachment method described in the patent. Instead they uses a swinging out handle, which still relies on spring pressure to lock in place. Overall the Druseidt patent looks like it would make an interesting razor, possible more interesting than the Druseidt razors that were actually manufactured. You can read the full text of Druseidt’s patent [https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/006173485/publication/DE323451C?q=pn%3DDE323451C] at Espacenet, or a translated version [https://patents.google.com/patent/DE323451C/en?oq=DE323451] at Google Patents.