Thread: Buying my first straight razor--question about damascus steel and HRC Cutlery

Hi,

first of all, welcome to the forum.
I agree with what has been said, I wouldn't go near a blade like this. I have 2 new Dovo razors, not too expensive but great shavers.

To be honest, I think you already knew this..

Originally Posted by DrElkaholic

I am suspicious that their product looks too good to be true at about $70, but they have excellent reviews and sound legit.

Too good to be true, is all the reason you need to stay away from something.


Greetings
Yves

JMO, but doesn't it just look like a pocket knife shaped like an exotic razor? Everywhere I look in its construction I see folding knife. I'd stay away!

+3 on the SRP classifieds for getting a good, shave ready razor at a very reasonable price. The point of this whole SR thing is to enjoy the shave... Starting with a quality razor is a must.


Ooooh. Speaking of the SRP classifieds... brb

It seems to me that there are two shaving stores in Arizona, one in phoenix and the other in tucson. You may want to check one of those out. What you do wind up buying should be shave ready. By shave ready, what I mean is it should be hand honed and stropped, ready to shave with straight out of the box. There are also a number of reputable internet stores to check with. This site is actually part of the business of Straight Razor Designs, which has a very good reputation but is not the only show in town. If you would like to further discuss this you can PM me or reply in this post. Any good internet vendor will have done business with multiple people on this site and if you ask all those with positive experience will chime in.

That razor is garbage. And while it may make a suitable paperweight for your desk that will be the extent of it's usefulness. Trash.

These "blades" are not made is the U.S. they are "finished in the U.S." according to the solicitation on ebad.

As Neil Miller gets to say "Rubbish"

Thanks so much for the feedback, guys. I will steer clear of this, and similar blades. I will keep an eye on the classifieds here and do some more research. Razor Emporium is 10 minutes from my house here in Phoenix, so I may end up buying a razor from them or having them hone one for me if I find one in great shape otherwise. They just don't have anything under $110, and I was trying to stay a little less expensive for my first one. Do any of you have experience with them? Razors - Straight Razors - Razor Emporium

Again, thank you!

i believe razor emporium has really really bad reputation for their services for replating, but i think their products shouldn't be too bad. i managed to pick up a HMW brush from them last year

I wouldn't mind having the 5/8 Törnblom with green scales but I am partial to Swedish razors. Never bought anything off them so cannot comment on their qualities as vendors.

I know nothing about them, but for my taste, there are better choices, both in new, shave ready and vintage straights to be had.

FWIW, their prices on vintage Gillette DE razors seem high to me.

Damascus Steel 15N20 & 1095 Hand-Forged

I would be very suspicious of anything advertised as Damascus Steel. The original method of forging Damascus Steel was lost to history in the 1700s. Various attempts have been made over the years to reverse engineer this process (by examining antique blades) but to date none have reproduced it completely. It;s probably just cheep steel with a wavy pattern etched on it.