Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-05-24
TIRED. RAz0Rs.
The Keen Steel, as Well as barber
Needs Rest-An Experts Talk,
From the Cincinnati Times-star.l


From the Cincinnati Times-Star.l
9Do you know that a razor gets tired, at
] times, Just the same as the barber does ~
asked Vine-street manipulation OF the
steel Of a reporter.
Upon being answered in the negative,
he continued: "Well, it is fact. A
razor may be honed and honed until the
| edge is like tissue paper, and although it
refuse to work. Lay it aside for a day or
two, and then use it, aud you will find it
TO work all right. 1t is simply tired and
wants rest
| Believing that other interesting facts
/ concerning the sharpening of razors and
| other tools might be obtained, the re-
porter ascertained the address of a man
who made the business of grinding razors,
! scissors, knives, etc, and called upon him
for enlightenment on the subject He
:, und several men at work at the shop,
.c,, bending over grindstones, while 9TH
avs n ere using the smooth homes The
nrc,nr;e,. n, upon learning the reporters
bns!Enass h indly volunteered all the in
Formation in his power.
COT course said he, 'the interesting
mart Of our bu.ia, ass is in connection with
r r,,,1 n ror - 900 that lot there? Those
are the propertv % BARRIERS about town.
They can hone their iris. ruments, but they
can't grind them. Honfn Z razor Is rub
bing out an edge on it by mes,A IS OF a smooth,
soft stone. Constant honing will eventu-
ally wear away the edge so that IL oeye $.
remedied by the grinder. In grinaA ng
razor long experience is necessary in ora er
to do a frst-class or even fairly good JOB,
shat is, to get fine thin edge on the
blade and have it of equal thickness
throughout the entire length. II is a bus |
mess that is not attractive to many, and it |
is hard to get experienced men. One who |
does understand his business, however |
will always have plenty 10 do. 'Concav-
ing is the most interesting operation |
When new razor is received it is Of |
thin N-shape with no extended edge |
The operator takes it and grinds it first or |
an S-inch wheel. Then on one little
smaller, and so on down until the last one,
which is about the size of half dollar,
finishes the concave and leaves a thin edge |
some distance up into the blade |
Then it is finished off on fine emery |
wheel, after which it must be honed to be |
ready for use. In our knife and scissors |
work there is nothing that would in
terest you. We simply grind them |
until they have a good edge and then |
with a little whetting they are completed. |
Most of our work, as | said before, comes |
from the BARRIERS. Men nowadays think |
too much of their time and too little Of |
their dimes to want to bother about shay |
ing themselves 1t is a practice that has
been decreasing rapidly, especially during |
the past few years. Still, there are many |
who continue to scrape their own faces for |
various reasons, best known to themselves |
We have considerable work to do for them, |
as not one in half dozen knows how to |
take care of razor. They soon lose the |
edge and then come to us for another, and, |
of course, we give it to them. We sell |
great many razors to individuals as we'll as
BARRIERS, purchasing them in their original |
form and finishing them in the manner
described above. We have both English |
and American-made razors, but the former
are generally considered the best There |
is nothing better made than good Shelf |
field blade, and perhaps the majority in
use are of that make. The steel is of |
fine quality, finer and easier to work than
the American-made, and fully as cheap. |
The American razor of to-day does not give |
exactly the satisfaction that one of English |
make does, but the day may come when it
will"
Glow about those itinerant street grind |
ers, with their kits carried on their backs
do you know anything about them?"
asked the reporter.
eyes, know all | want to of them.
They don't have any effect on our bust
ness, as the public at large are the suffer-
ers and about all the work they attempt |
comes to us to be completed. Oftentimes, |
however, they ruin good tools. A man
will start in when he has only the rudi-
ments of the trade learned, and for few
dollars can secure an outfit and start off on
a tour of the country. They travel gener-
ally from town to town, earning enough to |
pay expenses, and nearly all of them are
satisfied with that"