Thread: New Guy from Illinois

Hello all, Dave Huffman here. I have always been interested in straight razors & all types of blades in general as long as I can remember. My grandpa used to buy lots of US surplus stuff & my cousin & I found his stash of surplus razors one time & messed with them & broke most of them using them as knives. While in the Navy everyone had knives & I had many razor sharp, Ka-bar, Case & Buck knives. Not much to do on watch down in the boiler room on the mid watch but sharpen your knife. Later in life I got into Blacksmithing as a hobby & part time income. Didn't shoe horses but made lot's of stuff including RR Spike knives & cable pattern welded knives. Had to leave that type of work when I got carpal tunnel & trigger finger. In the last year or so I got back into knives & have been in the process of putting together a sharpening service. I was looking around my favorite antique shop & they had a great looking Koken horse hide strop & I bought it to use on knives. About 2 months ago I bought my first straight razor. It was in real bad shape & the scales were toast but even with the rust & all the blade was sharp as heck. ran it over my strop & wow. It is a Geneva Cutlery "Gold Seal" & from what I can find they only used that name on the later "Genco" version. Any help out there?
I now also have a Bengal with no Made in England blade, A Hamilton "Hollow Ground", a Shumate #25 A
& a Joseph Allen & Son razor. I also picked up real cheap a almost perfect John Primble & Son hone. I am thinking of building a small gas forge & trying my hand at forging razors. I have most all the tools I need so I won't have much expense getting into it.
Sorry to be so long winded but sometines when I get on a roll, I can't stop.
Thanks for providing a great place to learn about & just talk razors & shaving.
Dave Huffman

Slawman, Welcome to Straight Razor Place!

Welcome. Do a search and you will find info on forging.

Welcome. Sounds like you've found the right place. :-)

Welcome To SRP Dave. I wish I had your experience as a blacksmith. I would love to make my own blades. More power to ya!
Steve

Welcome to SRP. Don't worry about being long winded. Many of us, myself included, suffer from talkative fingers. They get out of control and have a mind of their own.

Do make use of the Library and FAQ sections. There is a wealth of information there with links to info in depth in places. Of course, asking questions on the forum gives us all a chance to opine on the subject (as there are stars in the sky are the number of different answers you will get - all part of the enjoyment of this great forum).

Yes, definitely listen to Razorfeld. I usually do the same but got side tracked which is bad for me. Use the Library for resources!