FS:Wapienica razors

Mine just arrived today,
I was pleasantly surprised, the thing is already popping arm hairs and I've only stropped it; Going to give it a try shaving before I even bother with the hone.
Right now however, my impression of it is very good. Where else can one get a new strop, a hone, and a straight for less than 30 bucks, and it NOT be Pakistani....
Of course, it's no Tony Miller strop, but it has that utilitarian COMBLOC kindof "All business no frills" thing going for it.
Going to try the hone on a beat up old razor this weekend and see how it does (seems my Polish razor may already be close to shaving, going to try before I bother with the hone)
John P.

JohnP, did you order the honing stone? If so, how does it compare with the other stones?

Hi, I just bought one of these myself. :)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=130078552745

My girlfriend isn't here to translate, but this is the one with metal (steel/aluminium?) scales right?

Her family is from NE Slovakia, only about 30 mins drive from the Polish border and a little further from the Ukrainian border. I love the area around there, and all the ex-Soviet things that are still to be found around there, trains, bridges, buildings etc.

This will be a really cool addition to my rotation, and great value too. I never thought I'd own a NOS razer from the 70's communist bloc. :)

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Originally Posted by pokkuhlag

JohnP, did you order the honing stone? If so, how does it compare with the other stones?

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I ordered the stone, the strop, and the razor as well.
I've been sortof playing around with this thing, still, but so far I'm pretty impressed. The hone is smooth on the top but the bottom is still rough stone; I've been trying the stone dry, with water, and with lather (much like I do with barber hones) and it does seem to be working pretty well. It seems to work best so far with a bit of water. I'd be completely guessing at this point as I've only honed one razor on it and that being one I've not used my other hones on, but I'd put it somewhere over 4,000 grit. Sortof a black slate, I've noticed a bit of slurry builds up while I'm honing, but I don't have any other dark colored stones to compare to other than blue Belgian, and this is definitely a finer hone than the one I have.
The strop is quite utilitarian, definitely has "army" written all over it....not pretty but effective.
So far I've had one shave with the Wapienica (it wasn't ready to shave at first as I previously thought) but I think I'm going to tune the razor a bit more.
Jury is still out, so to speak, but right now I think this is one of the best NOS sets I've ever gotten ahold of;
I have a decent straight, a decent stone, and a working strop, for less than 30 bucks, new.
I'm quite happy and have since sent for more. No, it's not a duck or even a Puma, but it's FAR better than anything else in the same price range. IMHO for the money you can't touch it.
I'm rambling but hope this helps.
John P.

Just finished my second shave with the two razors that I have.
These are a stiff,single concave grind that has been very well done. I honed these on three seperate occasions. They are neither of a soft temper nor of a very hard temper.
There is a very slight warp to each razor that is easily handled by using the X pattern while honing. The fit and finish are very good.
The shave test went very well. I was quite pleased. These take a very nice edge and shave smoothly and quietly.
They should be able to handle any beard.

I give the razor's get a definite thumbs up!:tu

Well after reading this I ordered 2 razors, the saftey razor, and the strop/hone combo. Cost including delivery was $40.15. Every other razor I looked at was twice this expensive. I figured this was a heck of a deal. It wil be my first straight razor. If I like it I can then justify the Norton 4k/8k and another razor, or maybe this will be all I need. Now I need to order that DVD before the stuff from Poland arrives.

Hey, if Randy says it's OK... I ordered one of these to try out. It'll be my first NOS razor--cool.

Josh

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Originally Posted by HD FBOY

Well after reading this I ordered 2 razors, the saftey razor, and the strop/hone combo. Cost including delivery was $40.15. Every other razor I looked at was twice this expensive. I figured this was a heck of a deal. It wil be my first straight razor. If I like it I can then justify the Norton 4k/8k and another razor, or maybe this will be all I need. Now I need to order that DVD before the stuff from Poland arrives.

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Please take note that it took 3 sessions on the hones and two shave tests before I was satisfied with the edge. They do not arrive shave ready.

Thanks Randy. I ordered the DVD and am quite adept at sharpening just about anything. My pocketknives all will shave hair. I understand the razor is a bit different but if I ruin one, well it is only about $10 including shipping. After I review the DVD if I have any questions I will post here. Thanks!!

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Originally Posted by HD FBOY

Thanks Randy. I ordered the DVD and am quite adept at sharpening just about anything. My pocketknives all will shave hair. I understand the razor is a bit different but if I ruin one, well it is only about $10 including shipping. After I review the DVD if I have any questions I will post here. Thanks!!

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I used to think as you....

But believe me....this is totally different way of sharpening.....a dull straight razor is sharper than all my knifes.....

but it is great

Don't get complacent and think that your knife honing skills translate to razor honing. Shaving hair may mean "razor sharp" for knives, but "razor sharp" for razors means that being able to pop a hair layed on top of the blade just means you're getting "close" to being razor sharp. The archives of SRP are replete with stories of guys that thought their knife honing skills would translate to razors, but the problem is that a lot of things you know about sharpening knives are incorrect for razors. Read the honing articles in the library, and check back through the archives for information on razor honing. It may well work out that you'll hone this razor right up and be getting great shaves with no problem. But don't get discouraged if you run into problems -- you wouldn't be the first.

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They do not arrive shave ready

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I am not sending shave ready , I am busy :hmmm:

If it´s a decent shaver that will take and hold an average edge, it´s more than worth the price non-shave-ready. Therefore, I don´t see any issues here,

Could one of you guys that have this razor tell us the size?
Is it a 5/8 or 6/8?:shrug:


Inquiring minds want to know........Thanks!

I don't think it's a 6/8; don't have mine in front of me but I would put it somewhere between 4 and 5/8.
HTH
John P.

They are a 5/8, 0.625"

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Originally Posted by randydance062449

They are a 5/8, 0.625"

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now I have smaller 4/8 i think :hmmm:

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Originally Posted by randydance062449

Just finished my second shave with the two razors that I have.
These are a stiff,single concave grind that has been very well done. I honed these on three seperate occasions. They are neither of a soft temper nor of a very hard temper.
There is a very slight warp to each razor that is easily handled by using the X pattern while honing. The fit and finish are very good.
The shave test went very well. I was quite pleased. These take a very nice edge and shave smoothly and quietly.
They should be able to handle any beard.

I give the razor's get a definite thumbs up!:tu

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Yup, I have one with a slight warp in the blade too, it's noticeable when you hone it and when you close the blade. Shipping is nice and fast , it's also signed delivery :D. For 8.50 euro it's nice.

wojtec76,

Are the current razors on your ebay site 4/8 or 5/8?

I'm half tempted to order another 6 of these and make myself a 7-day set... :hmmm:

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Originally Posted by wojtec76

now I have smaller 4/8 i think :hmmm:

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5/8 = 0.6250 inches = 15.87 mm
9/16 = 0.5625 inches = 14.28 mm
4/8 = 0.5000 inches = 12.70 mm

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9/16 = 0.5625 inches = 14.28 mm

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exactly so I have

Just received my razors from Wojtec they arrived on time, and hopefully sharpened up nicely. The test will be tomorrow, and i'm a total straight noob.
Thanks for the quick shipping to "Kanada" Wojtec.
Brad

Still waiting for mine :w

Getting antsy ><

-Jorge

Still waiting for mine too, no big deal though - it comes when it comes. :)

Got mine Friday. The case the SR came in has a great old feel to it -- and it's black, which I was happy about.

The razor itself has a good feel, and it's just very simple and nostalgic in a way.

Honed it up and shaved with it Friday (I'm no where near a honemeister). Not a great shave, but it got the job done. I'm sure another session or two on the hone should make it keen.

Worth the money for sure =D

-Jorge

My Razors, Hone, and Strop came in today. Razors are not shave ready. Any advice on using this 4k hone I received to get the razor shave ready. Quality was surprisingly good. No regrets here!!

A 4K hone alone is not enough to get your razor shave-sharp. It will make a good bevel but has to be followed by an 8K hone.

The way to alternate 4K and 8K hones is called a 'pyramid'. If you enter this into the search feature you will find all the necessary info.

Good luck!

I don't speak or read Polish unfortunately (my Granddad grew up in Krakow before joining the U.S. Army prior to WWII, but never got to pass on the language) but based on my crude attempt at reading the case of the razor, I believe they are perhaps surgical razors? (at least the all metal handle ones). It would make sense. The French army surgical razors (www.deutscheoptik.com has them) look identical, with similar all metal scales. Apparently used to shave patients prior to employing the scalpel.... Anyway I could be out in left field. I see the word chirurgiczna on the box, think it resembles the word "surgical" and start making wild assumptions about the intended use for these.
regardless, I think these are a steal.
John P.

It means surgical.
I just ordered one too, sounds like a great deal! I hope i can find more razors like this when I move to Poland next month. Seems strange to ship it to the UK and then to have take it back, but oh well!
Looking forward to trying it, how much honing do they tend to need before being shave ready?
Nick

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Originally Posted by nickyspaghetti

It means surgical.
I just ordered one too, sounds like a great deal! I hope i can find more razors like this when I move to Poland next month. Seems strange to ship it to the UK and then to have take it back, but oh well!
Looking forward to trying it, how much honing do they tend to need before being shave ready?
Nick

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Mine were not a piece of cake to hone. The steel in the razors is quite good and hard. It may take several hone-shave test cycles.

I think i'm getting close on mine. At least the razor burn is easing off, but i'm a total noob so as long as there is no blood i'm happy.
Nice razors, i like that modern look, they seem like they are stainless steel though.
Any idea what grit the hone is?

Nick,
How many of them did you order?
I got lucky with the last one I tried (A 6/8) it only took 2 or 3 touch up strokes on the hone (still not sure what grit that thing is) then about 25 or so on the leather, and got a decent shave with it. Against the grain it still pulled just a bit, but I was pleasantly surprised with it really.
I am really bad at guessing hone grits, but I have both a blue and a yellow Belgian coticule at home, and I would say the hone comes in somewhere in the ballpark of the yellow. The "compressed slate" seems perhaps even finer still.
John P.

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Originally Posted by JohnP

I am really bad at guessing hone grits, but I have both a blue and a yellow Belgian coticule at home, and I would say the hone comes in somewhere in the ballpark of the yellow. The "compressed slate" seems perhaps even finer still.
John P.

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The yellow is finer than 8k? Maybe thats why it's taking so long to hone up?
The other possibility is i dont know what i'm doing :shrug: and have overhoned.

Just ordered one, and a strop too. Decided against the hone as I already have a norton and wasn't sure of the grit on the hones.
I think for the money, you can't really go wrong with these razors.

Just had to check one of these out. I bought one last night on that ebay link. I figured it would be neet to have somthing from Poland sence it was so reasonably priced and all seem to rate it well.

Eddie

Just got mine in today. Two issues with it. The first is that one side of the scales is bent rather extreme. I'm not too worried about that as it's metal and I can easily straighten it out. Looks like it was bent during shipping. My other gripe is that there's a slight nick on the blade edge. It can be honed out, but it's probably going to take a little bit of time. Anyone else have any edge issues?

I got mine today.....It looks fine....

but the package is not USPS proof....he he hehe

Yeah, the packaging was light, but for $10 I'm not going to complain much. I think the box had something dropped on it and that's why half of the scales were bent. But the ding in the blade was obviously there prior to it being shipped. I really don't want to complain much, as, like I said, it's only $10, and it CAN be fixed. But it sure would have been nice to get it without the ding. I'm wondering if I should contact the seller. I don't want to make a big fuss about something, especially low cost, but...

Mine also came with a small ding that will need some 1k lovin' to remove but the scales were fine and I like the stiff grind.