Bourdais French Straight Razor - NO TAIL

Holiday

from Lanolin
Grand Society
2019 Charity Auction Winner
2020 Charity Auction Winner
Joined
Feb 7, 2019
Location
Darwin
Hi P&C are any of you familiar with this razor?
It arrived with a couple of 69 Thiers Issard
It has a nice set of thin wooden scales with BOURDAIS etched in one
6" long when folded
5/8" blade
and NO TAIL

fqvFX3S.jpg


I tried googling BOURDAIS Straight razor and how to hold a straight with no tail and could not find anything
 
Holiday, maybe you hold it kamasori razor style?

I have seen ones like this before on the Bay and know they are very old, but have never used one.
 
Cheers @Straight up the handle just seems to get in the way. Maybe they are designed for barber use and not self shaving.
 
Try stub-tailed-shavers

Thanks mate, opened up a whole new rabbit hole of information to dive into

Nice old shaver mate

Thanks @Substance I was going to pass it on but am now intrigued how it shaves. The timber scales are in excellent condition, very thin, light weight and straight.
If the razor is 200 - 250 years old it is in amazing condition

@Holiday FYI stub-tailed-shavers

Cheers @SpeedyPC maybe 1700's as you said
The French like their stub tails.
 
Your welcome. Who knows maybe they will become your thing. It helps to focus the buying if you have a brand, age etc. that you collect. None of the straights I’ve shown are actually the focus of my collection. I came to those after a couple of years of buying. Those I’ve shown are however my daily users, and I still buy them if the price is right. Stubs are rare, understandable given their age and a mighty fine choice given that rarity. Just means more care when restoring them. France is a good place to look as they seem to crop up most often either in the UK or France.
 
@Holiday has PIFed this razor to me. I have started to study it in detail before attempting any restoration work. Here are my observations so far:

1. The razor is most probably French made as the name Bourdais is very much French. The blade's point is of the common French style and the stub-tail arrangement was most popular in France.

2. The scales are not of timber. They are of horn, including a horn wedge.

3. The scales' pins appear to be of a bronze alloy rather than the more common brass alloy.

4. The blade is of a near-wedge grind. The grind is not symmetrical (but close to it). This would indicate that it was done on a single grind-stone wheel rather than a matching pair of wheels that didn't come into use until the mid 1800s.

5. The razor was probably an original ⅝ size. Over its years of use, the blade is now worn down to almost a 4/8 (13.7mm) at the heel and 15mm towards the toe.

6. There is some pitting on the bevel (face side) but hopefully this does not extend so deep into the steel that it could affect the edge quality.

7. For age, I would estimate that is was made late 1700s to early 1800s.

Over the coming weekend, I will look into starting some basic restoration on this SR. Once all is done, I will offer it as a PIF. If no takers, I will keep it for personal use as my oldest razor.
 
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