Thread: First Post... And some questions about a vintage razor

Hi Dave and welcome to SRP!
My first strop was a 3" Black Latigo. I picked it up at Straight Razor Designs as part of my Starter Kit.
I think it was reasonably priced and it served me well despite my Newbie technique.
Now that I've got the stropping action down, I'm ready to get another (the edges look like a zipper...LOL).
SRD also sells replacement strops (just the leather) and I've upgraded that to the Premium IV English Bridle.
A couple of turns of a few screws and I'm back in business.

That's the way to go IMHO, but it never hurts to look at the classifieds and/or other approved vendors who are part of the community (that means their adverts are on the pages of the site).
That's just one of the real values to this forum/community, the reduction of the whole "Caveat Emptor" (buyer beware) aspect of SR equipment. Again, this is just MHO.

I have a book "Standard Guide to Razors, Third Edition" and the only Alpha Razor Company listed is in Chicago, IL. It doesn't list dates the company was in operation, so this information was not known by the authors. Probably there were so many companies making these razors it was impossible to document them all. I also think this book is no longer in print.

The book does say that most American cutlery companies made straight razors at the beginning of the 20th century, then as the demand for straights declined, it became more profitable to sell imported razors from England and Germany (p. 18).

The pictures are quite soft but the left over scratches make me inclined to think that that razor was restored by somebody on a buffer. The 'Germany' means it was made there, and imported by the american company - in the early 20th century these labels were more strict and better enforced than they are today.
If that strop doesn't look good to you I wouldn't put the razor on it - get a known quality strop first.