STRAIGHT
RAZORS - where they came from
Back
in the days in which we are interested, people
seemed to retain a lot of facial hair. Many men of
the laboring class, and some who were of the upper
class as well, shaved regularly, but mostly once a
week. Judging by that, it could be supposed that
using a straight razor was a real chore. From my own
experience I know that sharpening with a hone and
stropping with a leather strap is not an onerous
task. In fact I have rather enjoyed that job. The
shaving, though, can be a different matter entirely
depending on the skill of the shaver, the patience
of the shavee, and the grade of the razor.
The
manufacturing of straight razors was not a simple
matter. The tradesmen who made them, usually in a
factory, was termed a Cutler. The process he used
for razors was initially the same as for making
knives. They could be made of steel or iron. He
began with a bar of the finest iron, the Swedish
being preferred. It is covered with powdered
charcoal and heated to a white color protected from
exposure to air for several days. This resulted in a
hard, white, crystalline texture that is blistered
on the surface. By either binding several of these
together or by melting them and pouring the melt
called cast steel, into molds of the desired size,
they were prepared for use.
The
work proceeded from one small room to another, each
having a fireplace, a trough of water and another
for specially prepared coke. There were also an
anvil, hammers and other tools of the trade, and two
people to work each room; one the forger, the other
the striker. The forger put the (now steel) bar in
the forge and heated it to the desired requirement.
This act required lots of knowledge. Too much heat
and the metal overheated, or burned, and became
unfit for use for cutting.
But. . .it had to be heated enough so that it
would possess the necessary softness to be worked.
After
it was heated sufficiently, the striker put it on an
anvil and hit it a few licks to get it to the
desired shape. Then the rough blade was cut off from
the bar. Next, iron was welded to the rough knife
for a bolster. To form the bolster the iron was put
into a die and with a swage in place given a few
hits with a hammer. The tang (of iron) was likewise
welded on. Both the bolster and tang were roughly
finished.
Now
to consolidate the steel and make it brighter, the
blade was heated again and hammered some more. It
was then heated to a dull red and the company’s
trademark made by use of a punch-die and hammer.
After that the most important part of work
began: hardening and tempering of the blade. On this
would depend the actual value of the product. The
blade was hardened by heating it to a bright red and
plunged it perpendicularly into cold water. That
made it very hard but also brittle. That was taken
care of by tempering. The hard blade was scoured
with a very fine sand to remove all scales, then
placed on a tray of steel and put into the fire
until they had turned a bright blue color. This was
important and the workman had only his eyes and
experience by which to judge. The blades, now
hardened and tempered, were then inspected by a
manager who tested them in several rigorous ways.
If
the blade passed inspection, it was sent to the
grinding mill (known as the wheel). The grinding was
done on stones of various qualities and sizes. There
were rough grit stones, and finer and smoother
grained stones and also whitning stones. This
process deserves a bit of explanation. The wheels
sat just above a tank of water so that they are
always a bit wet. A flat stick was used to hold the
blade to the stone and when they were done they were
ground on a glazer, a four foot diameter wheel of
wood covered with leather and prepared with a
mixture of beeswax, tallow, and emery.
In
forging the razor was worked on an anvil with
rounded edges, thus gaining its concavity.
Instead of welding on a bolster and tang,
(the razor not having a bolster) the tang was drawn
out. Finally it went to grinding. Higher priced
blades got special treatment. The wheels used for
them were much smaller and took a lot more labor.
The razors that were ground on the larger, coarser,
wheels were of a much cheaper grade─you got
what you paid for. Once it was glazed to a fine
shine and passed a final inspection it was ready for
market.
The
next time you shave consider why the characters in
our time of interest may have eschewed the chore of
shaving.
Bill
Cunningham
NAF
#006