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Post by mjclark on Jun 18, 2014 5:31:44 GMT -6
Well here it is, one of my Fathers Day presents from my daughter. A French lathercatcher which was ID in another thread as a Bayard (there's a named boxed set on Collectors Encyclopaedia) or possibly a Le Taillefer, but I'm going to go with Bayard. Small stress crack in the handle and it won't take a GEM or despined Rolls blade. Luckily it came with a proprietary "Roger" blade. The whole top guard hinges forward for cleaning. Now I've just got to get that wedge blade honed up and ready for shaving. Anybody know where I can get some more blades for this? I'm so excited to try it Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk
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Post by PJGH on Jun 18, 2014 7:48:02 GMT -6
What a beauty! Go slowly and carefully polishing that one up.
Does my Wilkinson Sword blade fit? So long as the width is good, the back clip stops up slight variances in blade depth.
Wasn't Robin on about getting some new wedges made up? Maybe a couple of months ago?
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Post by mjclark on Jun 18, 2014 11:40:19 GMT -6
I'll check out that Pall Mall blade when I get home, and I also wonder about a DE blade with a GEM spine on it. And for sure if Robin could source new blades or NOS blades I'd be in the market for them. I wonder if someone with metal working skills could just chop sections out of a straight razor blade of the appropriate width? Ha ha - I don't even know how the Bayard shaves yet Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk
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RobinK
Lather Catcher
Posts: 505
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Post by RobinK on Jun 18, 2014 12:19:07 GMT -6
I'll send you a Heljestrand wedge blade. It just might fit.
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Post by mjclark on Jun 18, 2014 12:36:30 GMT -6
I'll send you a Heljestrand wedge blade. It just might fit. Thank you very much Robin! That's brilliant
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Post by PJGH on Jun 18, 2014 12:44:07 GMT -6
I was using a Heljestrand in that Le Grelot. It was the same size as the Le Grelot blade and I believe it was the same size as the Wilkinson Swords. We can presume it was a sort of "standard" of the day.
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Post by mjclark on Jun 18, 2014 15:17:14 GMT -6
Both the Pall Mall and DE blades are marginally too wide to fit.
Interestingly, the blade retaining clip is decorated on the (normally invisible) inside edge as well as the outside, which is a classic 19th century device. The ceilings of many Victorian pubs as well as the inaccessible roof of the Albert Memorial in London are richly decorated since this decoration is not just for the human eye but also to the glory of God. Even the invisible parts prove beautiful when revealed....
Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk
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Post by drumzalot on Jun 18, 2014 17:00:28 GMT -6
I saw your post on another forum and I am afraid I do not have any information that can help you. I have also tried to find information on your French LC (and the Rogers blades) but came up empty. Hopefully, you will acquire the perfect blade for your LC. The blade looks like it sits very near the comb (like a Valet). That is one gorgeous LC Marcus congratulations.
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Post by PJGH on Jun 19, 2014 1:21:41 GMT -6
Looking through Waits, there are a few of these with identical heads and handles ... all listed as "Manufacturer Unknown" although each branded up in the circle on the back with their respective names. Only the Bayard is blank on the back.
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Post by mjclark on Jun 21, 2014 12:14:44 GMT -6
Solstice shave with the Bayard this evening using an original Roger wedge blade. I treated the Roger blade in a similar manner to my Rolls and Wilkinson wedge blades: no tape, set the bevel on a coarse synthetic, then a progression of Welsh slates on oil then finished on 0.3u lapping film before stropping that Elsterglanz from Robin, then on canvas and horsehide. I've read reports that the early lather catchers were quite crude shavers and better for showing than for using, but with its proprietary blade the Bayard is a superb shaver reminding me a lot of the ER 1924. It is smooth and aggressive with a lot of blade feel but very manouverable. The big surprise is that it has a wide range of effective angles making it excellent for shaving tricky jawline and neck areas. I'm becoming convinced that using a properly honed proprietary blade, these maintainable blade safety razors such as Wilkinson SEs, Rolls, Valet and now this lathercatcher are actually superbly designed and really great shavers. Perhaps we do them a disservice by modding GEM blades which were not designed for their geometry. I now know that the Valet and Empire are superb with their proprietary blades and behave very differently (and much better) than with those GEM blades. Of course the problem is maintaining those blades. The Wilkinson Empire, Valet and Rolls all address this problem with built in mechanisms but with this Bayard (as with the Wilkinson Pall Mall and other early safety razors) all the blade maintenance has to be done by hand. It's actually more work than maintaining a straight, but man what a great shave! Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk
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Post by PJGH on Jun 21, 2014 13:50:22 GMT -6
It certainly catches the lather ...
I was musing the other night about the lather catcher. We've all seen those dippy pictures of Victorian chaps shaving fully dressed sitting down at a dressing table. Presumably straight shaving , they could wipe off the lather onto a flannel and carry on.
Now, into the Edwardian ages ... when chaps still seemed to have to be fully clothed and seated in order to shave, I can imagine the lather catcher on a safety razor was a swish thing to have. No having to rinse the razor off after each stroke, just shave and drop your razor into to scuttle at the end.
Seem legit?
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Post by mjclark on Jun 21, 2014 14:15:23 GMT -6
Absolutely legit and a genius insight! I often use my straights with a scuttle and razor cloth and with that set up there's no splashes and also no need for running water. The set up won't work with modern safeties because of the need to rinse them (and they won't fit into the Victorian scuttle) but with this lathercatcher I deliberately didn't rinse it for the second and third passes to see what would happen, and it performed just fine. It makes sense since these razors come from a time before running water so they would have needed to be "scuttle compatible" Now you say it, it suddenly seems obvious that these razors were designed to contain the lather since a razor cloth wouldn't work and there was no way of rinsing them. The whole head hinges open to allow the lather to be wiped away at the end of the shave. I've retouched the blade on 0.3u lapping film and Elsterglanz after the shave and that literally took 2 minutes, which is well worth the time for such a satisfying shaving experience. Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk
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paolo
SE Super Freak
Posts: 8
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Post by paolo on Nov 1, 2015 11:45:51 GMT -6
Hi everybody! I jumped into this post and remembered my Derfly: it is the same of Bayard; only the name is different, and the design around it, too. Discovered in France, the blade in unmarked and measures are: mm20 x mm40; it seems to be able to keep some mm more in width ( 22, 23?). In my opinion these razors come out from a production "private label" ante littteram..... . Nice week to everybody.
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Post by PJGH on Nov 1, 2015 12:10:58 GMT -6
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Post by mjclark on Nov 1, 2015 15:31:32 GMT -6
Yes - that head design is everywhere with different names. Did they all come out of one supply?
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