Comment on Mailcall! Fancy, mysterious and a bit creepy Friodur 50
gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 5 months ago
So, I’d guess that the show side was done by Henckels and the back side was etched by someone else. Stainless was invented in the very early 20th century (1913). My father (1912) told me what a big deal it was when stainless became available in items used by the general public. I think this was late '20s, early '30s. A Friodur razor made in that era would, in fact, be a very big deal. Very cool razor!!! I’ll be riding to Friodom with my trusty 14. I still have no clue what soap I’ll use.
djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social 5 months ago
Certainly a possibility, and I can’t find any sources supporting or contradicting this. It looks certainly like an odd choice of symbols for Henckels. One thing sticks out to me, though: the Friodur logo is on what is typically the back side. All decorated blades I know (contemporary examples include Puma, Rolli, Böker, Filarmónica, earlier examples are Wade & Butcher, Frederick Reynolds, etc) are etched/inlaid on the other side, including later decorated Friodur blades.
So I think it likely that the Friodur logo wasn’t meant to be the main decoration. This wouldn’t necessarily mean that the masonic symbols were, though. I’m wondering whether this was a blade meant to be personalised.
Oh, I can imagine! I think it took a while before it became a true replacement for carbon steel, though. Stainless steel welding was a problem for a long time, and early stainless blades wouldn’t hold an edge until cryogenic hardening (Friodur) was discovered.
Same! I am incapable of making a decision right now 😅
gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 5 months ago
Probably a group of Masonic wetshavers got together and commissioned Henckels to make them a razor that was personalized for the group!
djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social 5 months ago
Sounds plausible