Any idea on value?

Hi all,

I'm completely new to razors so don't kick me if I'm asking a really stupid question.

I managed to obtain 2 razors from my dad that used to belong to my grandpa. He bought them when he was young so these razors are at least 50 or 60+ years old.

One razor is made by J. A. Hellberg and the other was made by Eriksson & Bjorklund. Both were made in Eskilltuna, Sweden.

The razors have been used for many many years but have always been taken care for. They're in a pretty darn good condition for their age with only the Eriksson & Bjorklund having minor nicks in the edge which could be easily sharpened out.

Both of them have a black (which feels like buffalo) handle with a small white spacer in the back. The Hellberg has a yellowish spacer while the Eriksson & Bjorklund has a more yellowish tint to it so I'm guessing it's some type of bone as well?

Anyone would have any idea of the value of these kind of razors? I'll try to put some pictures up later but any info about these would be greatly appreciated. I tried googl'ing the makers but I didn't get too far.


p.s. Don't even think that I'll be selling these. I never knew my grandpa and this, next to a 50cm butchers knife, is the only things I got that'll still make me fantasize about how he would really be like. :(

Welcome to SRP. If you were able to post photos some of the members might be able to tell you something about those particular brands. On SRP we don't give estimates of values on razors. If you do searches on ebay you may find a razor similar to yours and be able to track it and see what it brings. As far as shaving with them goes in my experience any razor made in Eskilltuna is a good one.

If you have no intentions on selling them (neither would I) then value really means nothing. I'm sure they're priceless for you, given they were handed down.

If anything, I would say once cleaned (if necessary) and sharpened, they will probably shave well.

Swedish razors are good, from my understanding.

The value thing wouldn't be for the intention of selling but more out of curiosity. Just like having a painting that you still wouldn't sell but would still like to know the value off.

I've just had a little chat with my dad and I'm actually surprised about the age of these razors. My dad doesn't even know when he bought it. He had it since my dad was born and my dad said that it would probably be closer to 80 years. :eek:

Now comes the tricky part of getting these sharpened somewhere since I do not dare to sharpen these. I can put a razor edge on my regular folding and fixed knives but this is a whole other story. After that I gotta learn how to shave with a straight razor. It's been something on my to-do list ever since I first saw these specific razors when I was a little kid.

I'll try to make some pictures tomorow in the daylight.

Understandable you would like a ballpark value.

Without pictures, it makes it more difficult, and what makes it even more difficult is that collectors (unlike the people here, who actually USE the razors) will likely end up paying more, and that of course depends on what they see as "valuable."

Collectors look for different things, like scales with pretty designs on them, etc. where people here might look for a German, Sweden, Italian, Sheffield made razor, to name just a few. Then again, collectors don't really care about the condition of the blade so much as we do, since WE are interested in actually using them :)

You might see collectors pay $100 for a razor, where someone from the forums here wouldn't give $20 if the blade is damaged.

It's things like that, that make it hard to put a value on something, but with pictures, I know these guys could give you a ballpark of what they might pay for something like it :)

As far as getting someone to sharpen your razors, if you look in the Classifieds, under Member Services, there are several people that can cleanup/restore and sharpen your razors.

Before you decide, I would post pics, so you can get an honest opinion on what should be done to them.

Look forward to seeing the pics :)

Brakkie just to be safe I wouldn't put those blades on a hone there unless you've sharpened a quite a few straight razors. I've seen way too many otherwise beautiful blades scratched up by people trying to hone them like they would a steak knife or hunting blade. Seriously wide or uneven bevels, ground down edges, and even crude barbers notches all take an otherwise perfectly preserved blade and transform it into an ebay special.

I will not sharpen them myself. I understand the difficulty of sharpening a straight razor and have some serious respect for the people that can hone a razor to a perfect shaving sharp edge.

AirColorado: I've seen what people can do with a perfectly good knife. In my case this wasn't a razor but it was still a good folding knife that a, non specified, family member borowed from me and trying to be nice, sharpened it for me. Unfortunatly he sharpened it with such an angle that there were nicks in the edge from breaking. Needless to say I spend an entire afternoon fixing it.

The problem would be finding someone adequate enough to take a look at these without having to ship them to the states. (I'm dutch so I'd rather try to find something closer to home)


sorry for not posting up pics, the weather has been really cloudy here so I didn't have enough light to make some proper pictures!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Brakkie

The problem would be finding someone adequate enough to take a look at these without having to ship them to the states. (I'm dutch so I'd rather try to find something closer to home)

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Bart is in Belgium if that's close enought for you, and from what I hear, you will get a GREAT shaving edge from him :) Might wanna send him a PM.

I finally got some pics. Although the camera still didn't wanna work me it's showing the razors fine. The nicks in the blade are too small to photograph so no pics of them. They're incredibly small anyway.

Any info would be very much appreciated!

DSC_0093.jpg (4.2 MB)

DSC_0098.jpg (3.8 MB)

PA251305.jpg (2.5 MB)

PA251303.jpg (2.9 MB)

DSC_0102.jpg (4.7 MB)

DSC_0105.jpg (3.9 MB)

PA251308.jpg (2.3 MB)

PA251310.jpg (2.6 MB)

The real value here is that these blades are passed down to you by your family. Money cant replace the fact that these blades have been in your family for generations.

Hone them up and use them. Treat them with respect and give them to your offspring.

After looking at some of the pics, these blades dont have far to go to be shave ready. Send one or two out to get honed up and have at it.