Post by Flintstone on Feb 5, 2019 10:21:24 GMT -6
Does anyone know what Kampfe Bros Lather Catcher razors were typically plated with (e.g., nickel, silver)? I'm assuming most were nickel, because the old and uncared for specimens that I've seen have lacked the blackish patina I've seen on known silver-plated razors. I have seen some really large boxed sets that have claimed the items were silver plated, so maybe the tin-packaged models were nickel and the fancy large wooden sets were silver?
My 1902 has lost all but but a few smidges of some silver-colored plating....her brass is pretty much in full display. Just to clarify, I'm a huge fan of copper and all of it's mixed-metal alloys (brass and bronze); and my preference is to leave my razors as I've found them -- with the exception of sanitation, rust-removal and applying some limited protection), so I am not looking at re-plating my LC. My curiosity stems from my unmentionables in the early 1900s which always seem to be silver-plated. Since those early razors were my first introduction to early vintage models, I made the assumption that silver-plating was de rigueur for early model razors.
After doing a little bit of looking at the history of silver-plating and nickel-plating, it looks like plating in general (silver and nickel) took off in the mid-1800s. In 1869 a Dr. Isaac Adams patented an electrolytic bath process for nickel-plating, and launched a heavy marketing campaign in the U.S. in Europe. Interestingly enough, it looks like silver-plating took off prior to nickel plating (around the 1840's). Please keep in mind that I spent minutes not hours looking into this, and while I'm fascinated by metallurgy, I've got zero-training/background in that particular science.
My 1902 has lost all but but a few smidges of some silver-colored plating....her brass is pretty much in full display. Just to clarify, I'm a huge fan of copper and all of it's mixed-metal alloys (brass and bronze); and my preference is to leave my razors as I've found them -- with the exception of sanitation, rust-removal and applying some limited protection), so I am not looking at re-plating my LC. My curiosity stems from my unmentionables in the early 1900s which always seem to be silver-plated. Since those early razors were my first introduction to early vintage models, I made the assumption that silver-plating was de rigueur for early model razors.
After doing a little bit of looking at the history of silver-plating and nickel-plating, it looks like plating in general (silver and nickel) took off in the mid-1800s. In 1869 a Dr. Isaac Adams patented an electrolytic bath process for nickel-plating, and launched a heavy marketing campaign in the U.S. in Europe. Interestingly enough, it looks like silver-plating took off prior to nickel plating (around the 1840's). Please keep in mind that I spent minutes not hours looking into this, and while I'm fascinated by metallurgy, I've got zero-training/background in that particular science.