Hello - the Curse/Luck of EBay?

So obviously I'm new. I've been on the fence about straight razors for a few years now (DE shaver) and for some odd reason got the itch to finally take the plunge and of course what do I do? Go straight to eBay and purchase 2 straights.

Of course after I do this I realize I should probably research some more and that's when I discovered this site! Hello.

Thats also when I discovered the big bold advice to never buy off of eBay when you are new to straight razors and don't know what to look for. I also read that was some peoples favorite threads to read and laugh at so I thought what better way to introduce myself than to show you guys my completely ill informed guess purchases.

Will I be sad if I got taken for a ride? Sure. But I didn't spend a ton so I won't feel awful. Anyway, what everyone likes see around here. Here are the two razors.


Straight Razor 1

Straight Razor 2

There you have it. My two spur of the moment Ill advised purchases. I will most likely be lurking around a lot and learning from the more experiences guys, so thank you all in advance for all the great info that is here.

Welcome to SRP! Didn't have much luck viewing your razors as the links go to EBay's main page when I click them. As long as you didn't spend too much on them you are probably okay. Good luck! :)

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Originally Posted by Speedster

Welcome to SRP! Didn't have much luck viewing your razors as the links go to EBay's main page when I click them. As long as you didn't spend too much on them you are probably okay. Good luck! :)

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So sorry about the links. I was going to fix it but I think a mod already took care of it (thank you).

No I don't think I spent a ton of money on them but part of the fun after realizing my mistake of blind knowledge buying was so you guys could laugh or commend my luck. Hopefully you can see them now.

I look forward to learning a lot from everyone here.

Welcome to SRP ! Ya done good. Get 'em pro honed though. See our 'member services' in the SRP classifieds, and don't forget to check out the beginner's guide. :gl:

Member Services - Straight Razor Place Classifieds

Straight Razor Place Library:Books/Beginners Guide - Straight Razor Place Library

Welcome to the forum. From the photos in the links I would say you got away pretty lightly and dodged the eBay bullet. I am no expert but can't see anything hugely wrong with those razors. You may or may not have to get them honed.

Bob

Fixed the links for you.

The first is in better condition, the hone wear on the second along with the description does not instill confidence (I prefer to see spade called a spade, unless it's Oscar Wilde who is doing the calling).

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Originally Posted by gugi

Fixed the links for you.

The first is in better condition, the hone wear on the second along with the description does not instill confidence (I prefer to see spade called a spade, unless it's Oscar Wilde who is doing the calling).

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That shows how little I know. I would have sworn the 2nd one was better. Lol. Crazy. I've got a looooong way to go but it will be a fun ride. Can you go some more into detail about the differences you see or what makes you feel this way? If it's not too much to ask. Thanks.

Jimmy,

Thanks for the recommendation. I will definitely test them out and see if they need a pro hone. I tried to focus on eBay items that were supposedly "shave ready" to avoid this step but it retained isn't something I will know until I try to shave.


Bob,

Thanks Bob. Everyone has been very kind. Makes me feel happy I didn't latch onto some utter trash.

Well, it takes experience and you should take a look at the ebay101 thread for some more explanations, but ultimately you need to see razors in person after you've seen them on pictures to start noticing the signs.

Anyways, the first one has narrower bevel and it may be that the pictures are blurrier, but from what I can tell (with the much more natural curvature at the tip and the heel) the chances are it's real. They both have bigger honing flats on the spine towards the tip.
The bevel on the second one shows scratches, it is quite wide and especially towards at the heel gets towards the stabilizer. That means that it was honed with significant pressure to flex the razor it and that's not a good thing regardless of whether it was done because the honer is impatient/doesn't know how to hone that part without pressing hard on it, or the razor had issues that required it.
So, calling the finish 'mirror', the hone wear 'even', using unnecessary adjectives in all-caps, throwing out meaningless 'big' numbers, visible scratches on the bevel - these are not the things that people who know what they are doing tend to do, hence my skepticism.

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Originally Posted by gugi

Well, it takes experience and you should take a look at the ebay101 thread for some more explanations, but ultimately you need to see razors in person after you've seen them on pictures to start noticing the signs.

Anyways, the first one has narrower bevel and it may be that the pictures are blurrier, but from what I can tell (with the much more natural curvature at the tip and the heel) the chances are it's real. They both have bigger honing flats on the spine towards the tip.
The bevel on the second one shows scratches, it is quite wide and especially towards at the heel gets towards the stabilizer. That means that it was honed with significant pressure to flex the razor it and that's not a good thing regardless of whether it was done because the honer is impatient/doesn't know how to hone that part without pressing hard on it, or the razor had issues that required it.
So, calling the finish 'mirror', the hone wear 'even', using unnecessary adjectives in all-caps, throwing out meaningless 'big' numbers, visible scratches on the bevel - these are not the things that people who know what they are doing tend to do, hence my skepticism.

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Whoa. That's amazing the things you can see when you know what to look for. I'm not even sure I can see everything you mentioned even when looking for it. I assume that means all the issues come down to possibly needing to be honed by a professional? If that's the case I'll gladly say I dodged a bullet on my purchases.

I really appreciate you taking the time to go more in depth.

There's so much to look at with these Straight razors. DE were so easy, grab a blade, slap it on and go.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

Bob,

Thanks Bob. Everyone has been very kind. Makes me feel happy I didn't latch onto some utter trash.

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Nothing to thank was just what I thought no kindness involved. The razors may not be NOS condition but I can say that I do have razors in my rotation that have ugly hone wear/ mishoned but still shave well. Not beauties but they work.

Bob

Yeah, with a DE you are buying a holder for the blades, with straight razors you need it to be in good condition.
But either of these should be fixable with good honing if its not up to spec. Well, you can't put back the steel, so you can only hide the wider bevel with sanding over if the aesthetic bothers you, but it's usually much better deal to buy one of the razors that have survived in excellent condition.
There certainly is no rotten steel, chips and warping, 1/8" of the blade width missing which are the type of things that would make me consider simply throwing the razor away and moving to a better one.

BTW you need a strop - that's the only thing that keeps the edge going a lot longer than a cartridge/DE blade :)

I can add that I have purchased from the seller in picture one. The razor I received quickly, was as described with the exception of shave readiness. It was far from a shave ready razor by my standards. I could see the scratch pattern in the bevel with the naked eye.

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Originally Posted by gugi

Yeah, with a DE you are buying a holder for the blades, with straight razors you need it to be in good condition.
But either of these should be fixable with good honing if its not up to spec. Well, you can't put back the steel, so you can only hide the wider bevel with sanding over if the aesthetic bothers you, but it's usually much better deal to buy one of the razors that have survived in excellent condition.
There certainly is no rotten steel, chips and warping, 1/8" of the blade width missing which are the type of things that would make me consider simply throwing the razor away and moving to a better one.

BTW you need a strop - that's the only thing that keeps the edge going a lot longer than a cartridge/DE blade :)

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Thanks. One of the benefits of being completely new to SE is not having the eye for the things that might bother other people. I'll have to wait and see these in person but if the bevel isn't perfect I doubt it will bother me as long as the shave is good. I look forward to seeing.

As far as the strop is concerned I bought a Fromm 127 and some neatsfoot oil to help break it in.

I also got some red, green, and white rouge however there is some confusion about what to apply it on (linen or leather) and when to actually strop with it as opposed to just the regular leather. I've got reading to do. Lol

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Originally Posted by JTmke

I can add that I have purchased from the seller in picture one. The razor I received quickly, was as described with the exception of shave readiness. It was far from a shave ready razor by my standards. I could see the scratch pattern in the bevel with the naked eye.

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Well that's certainly good news! These being my first SE it will certainly be an adventure figuring out if they are shave ready or not.

What rouges did you get. Not all are good for razor use and different brands have different grits in the same color so you need to know which one it is or you could take your razor from shave ready to needing honing quickly.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

Well that's certainly good news! These being my first SE it will certainly be an adventure figuring out if they are shave ready or not.

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SR not SE
Straight Razor Vs Single Edge

You've done well for your first purchase. As was mentioned in some of the other post you may want to send them out for honing before you give them a try. Some of the others are mentioning hone wear and bevel size. Let me assure you, neither are issues that you need to worry about with those razors. Get them honed, get yourself a strop and enjoy.

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Originally Posted by eddy79

What rouges did you get. Not all are good for razor use and different brands have different grits in the same color so you need to know which one it is or you could take your razor from shave ready to needing honing quickly.

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Thanks. Yeah, after placing my order on Amazon I was around here and people were warning about different rouges. I purchases this small kit. My thinking was simply that it was cheap and small quantities because buying a 1lb brick just didn't make sense to me. After reading on here I realized my might have dodged a bullet by just getting that cheap junk and not spending a ton more on a pound of junk stuff.

To be honest, I'm still not even entirely sure when to use the rouges and on what. The linen, the smooth side leather, the rough side leather, strop with rouge everyday, every week, every month. Straight razor shaving does add a whole new dynamic to shaving. I'm excited.

Liam,

Thanks. Isn't a straight razor also a single edge?

Be Jay,

Thank you. I can certainly live with only having to get them honed if needed. No major issues that I overlooked is a relief.

Theres straight razors, double edge, single edge, feathers, kamisoris, etc...
yes, theres many times of razors apparently

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Originally Posted by llalm

Theres straight razors, double edge, single edge, feathers, kamisoris, etc...
yes, theres many times of razors apparently

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Just to clarify, that's straight razor (SR), double edge safety razor (DE), single edge safety razor (SE)

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

Thanks. Yeah, after placing my order on Amazon I was around here and people were warning about different rouges. I purchases this small kit. My thinking was simply that it was cheap and small quantities because buying a 1lb brick just didn't make sense to me. After reading on here I realized my might have dodged a bullet by just getting that cheap junk and not spending a ton more on a pound of junk stuff.

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I would not be using those rouges on your razor. They will be mixed compounds and will likely be a coarser grit than you want. We use pure products with tightly controlled grit ratings in small micron. You will want a clean unpasted strop for daily use and can use a pasted strop for touching up the razor as it starts to lag. In the library there is a section on hones and pastes you should check out