Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1883-09-05
Concerning RazOrs.

IMAM inc moran law. iHcy are thS
touch TO nature that makes all man
kind kin, from President Arthur in
his dressing room to his constituents
at penny-ante poker game in Thomp-
son street. No, few razors are made
in this country-none worth speaking
of, say one in n million. The best
come from England. The next best
are Swiss. The French razors deserve
proud distinction or climaxing the
worst, so far as / know. Some used
to be made in Bridgeport, Conn.,, but
| believe the enterprise was abandon
ed. Some are made yet in Massachu-
sets, at Worcester, but not many.
"In one respect we do better here
than in England. We can give here
a deeper concave grind than the Eng
lish grinders can put upon razor,
consequently many thousand dozens
of blanks are shipped here every year
for finishing. The reason for this is
that skilled and careful German
grinders are in the business here.
The business started in Hamburg,
and has drifted into German hands
almost entirely so far as this country
is concerned. Years ago the most
famous Sheffield firm of cutters in the
razor trade imported two German
grinders to show how their class of
work could be done. 1t precipitated
ageneral strike, and the employers had
to come to the strikers demands-the
bouncing out of the Deutschers.
The Sheffield grinders are English
men and will not readily accept the
competition of men of other national
tiles or adopt the methods of others.
They are not fond of change. Razors
ground to perfection over here have
been shown to them rs models, but do
you imaging they would follow them
as models No, indeed. Primarily
razor, to be good, must be made of
good steel, but it must also be ground
properly to be fit for shaving. Every
thing, in fitting any edge tool for use,
depends upon correct understanding
of the service it is expected to per-
form, and nice adaptation of its edge
TO Just that service. A carving knife,
for instance, must be ground fiat on
one side and wedge shaped OH the
other; a pocket knife must be ground
convex, and have a sufficient thickness
behind its edge to keep it; and a ra-
zor must be ground thin and concave.
See this one for instance. 1t is, as
you will observe, thinner q little back
of the edge than close to it, hardly
thicker than sheet of paper. Nip
the end of its edge with your thumb
nail and you will hear it ring like a
little silver bell. More razors are
spoiled by improper grinding than in
any other way. The only way to
know positively whether a razor is
good or not is to shave with it. The
eye will not determine its quality.
But even if razor is of the best steel
and faultlessly ground, it may be
spoiled and rendered quite unfit for
shaving by improper stropping. A
little too much stropping, or not quite
enough, and you will have a bad edge.
Then the razor, which is really not at
all to blame, is condemned as no good.
Often, too, people who are not
adopts in the handling of razors COM
plain that their razors do not shave
well, when the fact is that they scrape
with them, holding the blade almost
at right angles to the skin, or use
them with a straight push of the edge
against the hair. The proper way is
to draw the razor with an easy Gid
ing motion against the hair-so. Use
it right, and even if it is not quite a
first-class razor or in perfect condition,
you can still get pretty satisfactory
shave with it. But, for lack of doing
that, people get the queerest notions
about their razors-actually attribute
to them whims and obstinacies rs if
they were sentient beings. l know
one gentleman who aflirms that his best
razor, his pet when in town, will not
shave him at all in the country. He
actually believes that. The fact is
that he is away from his ordinary con-
dtions of being and surroundings
when in the country, and unconscious
ly of course, neither treats his razor
hui uSeS III us Hc WOuiu al hoiic'
Many men affirm that their razors re-
fuse to work well on the sea coast, as
if the razor cared where it is used.
Three-quarters of the people who
shave themselves do not know how to
use razor, and consequently are liza
bic to condemn n good one.
A razor is supposed to be better for
rest after it has been used for a
good while. And it is. My idea
about it is that an imperceptible rust
gathers on it in disuse, and when that
is honed and stropped off its edge is
thinner and sharper than before. But