My "Rust hunt find" Mostly a razor stone.

[Winton Applegate]

Oh and I only went as far as my stuff and things drawer to "find" it.

These, as far as I know were my Grand Father’s on my Dad’s side. I only spent time with Grand Dad once as far as I remember. He stayed a few days with us. I must have been like six years old. Good guy as I remember. I liked him. Wore a thick, dark green plaid, wool shirt.

The stone looks like one of those brown rubery magnets but it rings when you set it down or touch something hard with it.

The razor says Geneva Cutlery Corp.
Geneve, NY USA

The knife . . . well . . . a pretty good example of how not to sharpen it. The knife sure walks and talks though.

I guess the real hunt is finding what anyone can tell me about these. No big deal obviously.

[David Weaver]

Old razor hones are not that much different from modern ceramic stones. They are bound aluminum oxide (except for carborundum, which are silicon carbide) with a surface treatment to smooth things out.

They're used differently than we think of using stones, though, and that is that they are intended to work just short of the edge (to keep it thin), but not all the way to it, because they're not that fine and razor edges don't tolerate modern abrasives that well until they're really really small (like half micron). They have instructions that say something like "use wet or dry and 4 to 5 strokes per side", and they show a picture of the stroke. Then they give a bit about the possibility of overhoning if you do more than the recommended number of strokes.

Don't lap the razor hone if you dont' need to, they're often not the same after you lap them (they are softer under the surface treatment and more coarse). I haven't used that particular hone, but they are of varying fineness, which doesn't matter much if you use them the way they're intended to be used since they aren't to be used all the way to the edge.

The genco looks fairly little used, they are good razors. Common pattern of early 1900s that was very hollow ground and something close to 5/8 inch (now that we're all rich and we're shaving ourselves as opposed to a barber shaving us, we like bigger heavier razors....as a barber, you might appreciate a lighter razor like that because it helps to avoid getting too aggressive on a customer's face).

[Winton Applegate]

David,

Ah there you are sir.
I was hoping you might stop in for a quick squint.

Thanks for taking the time.

Don’t lap it.

Thanks . . . that is a very important thing for me to have learned here today.

I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
Now I know some of what I don’t know.

Also, it seems, this stone is not of any use to sharpen woodworking tools. Totally different animal. Right ?

[Steve Bates]

Nice razor, you should give it a go. I've cabbaged onto three of that style so far. I bought a NEW razor on sale that's a bigger, heavier shiny one. I don't care for it as much. Couldn't put my finger on it (pun intended) until Mr. Weaver educated us.

These razors do so much better than a disposable blade. Another slippery slope for your peril. But an enjoyable one I learned.

[David Weaver]

David,

Ah there you are sir.
I was hoping you might stop in for a quick squint.

Thanks for taking the time.


Thanks . . . that is a very important thing for me to have learned here today.

I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
Now I know some of what I don’t know.

Also, it seems, this stone is not of any use to sharpen woodworking tools. Totally different animal. Right ?

Somewhat different stone, yes. Given the stones you have, you'll find no use for it. If you had only coarse stones, you could use a razor hone to thin the burr, but they are less fine than something like a shapton 8k, except for maybe a very few like frictionites and some swatys (which are probably similar to a shapton 8k).

It's worth keeping it around, though, when you master maintaining a razor where the edge is always stropped and the abrasives only thin the width of the edge but never get the whole way there, it's a smooth shave that's about as close to nirvana as a shave will get.

It must have no nicks in the edges for a razor, though - if you decide to use it on the razor, you can scrub it with a plastic bristle brush lightly and then round the corners until nicks are gone. at 18 degrees or so where a razor bevel is, those nicks can put visible damage in an edge.

[David Weaver]

Nice razor, you should give it a go. I've cabbaged onto three of that style so far. I bought a NEW razor on sale that's a bigger, heavier shiny one. I don't care for it as much. Couldn't put my finger on it (pun intended) until Mr. Weaver educated us.

These razors do so much better than a disposable blade. Another slippery slope for your peril. But an enjoyable one I learned.

I have a soft spot for the vintage blades, too - especially the ones that are well ground (not ever razor is perfectly straight, but the straighter they are, the easier they are to maintain). I've had a couple of NY razors (C-mon blackie, it almost got sharp on its own, a genco (or a couple?) and a couple of ontario cutlery razors). I've used and still have several modern razors and they just don't have the crispness of the razors from 125-75 years ago (i'm excepting some of the $600 custom razors, I haven't tried them). You can get an AWESOME NOS solingen razor that's 75 years old or so for $100 or less sometimes, even on ebay, and they outshave anything new I've tried. A new equivalent razor is $300. I think whatever they're using now, they just shoot for a lower hardness target, and it takes just a bit of the keenness away.

The gencos outshave anything new, too, and since they are local to here, they can sometimes be found for pennies on the dollar of a new razor.