Thread: 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.

Originally Posted by pokkuhlag

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

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!

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

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.

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!!

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!!

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