Thread: Hi all & what do you think??

Hi everyone,

My name is Zak, I'm 38 and from London, I like long walks in the park, reading poetry in the rain and pictures of kittens clogging my every Google search...... (you can decide which of those statements are true)

So, this is a quick hello and to get some honest feedback on what I think is a lovely blade, but I am after some more informed evaluations of my recent purchase. I have purchased this now, mainly because the seller has good reviews, uses traditional methods and I really liked the look of the blade. Probably not the best reasons to buy a straight razor, but hey, you should see my wife, she looks great, can cook a mean chicken Fajita, but what a ball breaker......

Vintage Straight Razors

I've bought the 11/16 Friedr Baurmann 25 Half Hollow Razor (second razor down after the beautiful Spanish one). Plus, will I be able to shave with this when it arrives i.e. is it a true shave ready blade or will it need honing?

Anyway, any feedback on the blade (or wife) would be really appreciated.

Thanks,

Zak.

Welcome Zak, nice looking razor! But where are the pictures of your wife?

The razor should be shave ready.

can you explain the 11/16 element, I know that's blade width/length , but everyone else seems to be 4/6 or 5/8 etc. etc., mine seems huge in comparison (that's how I pulled my wife.......)

There's plenty of pictures of her, if only I could see through the pictures of food and kittens that are throughout my phonebook...

Yes that can be a little confusing. But 11/16 should be the exact measured width of the blade. Some razors that are described as 5/8 may occasionally be slightly wider and really be 11/16.

That's great, thank you.

So all in all, you don't think I've made a poor choice or bought a bad quality brand or from a bad seller?

(basically I just need a hug and to be told everything will be all ok).

Looks like you made a good choice from a vendor who knows what he's doing.

I would advise you not to strop the razor before your first shave so that you can get a feel of how a shave ready edge is. Sometimes beginners can ruin such an edge if they do not strop correctly. Practice with a butter knife on your strop first and watch good examples of stropping such as the video below.

Think of the spine of the razor being stuck on the strop and always flip the blade on the spine. Basically, spine is always leading. As simple as it sounds, dulling the edge because of a flip in the wrong direction is a frequent error with beginners.

Acquiring good stropping technique will keep your edge shave ready longer. Enjoy!

Welcome to the forum, the razor looks fine. You do need to be a bit careful with celluloid as it can off-gas over time which can corrode the steel, though if this is your daily shaver and it is kept in the air it should be fine.
I don't mean to alarm you, it is just something to look out for, if you want more info look up "cel rot". It may also be prudent to store seperate to other razors just in case.

Can't add anymore except that blade size can vary a bit depending on how you do the measuring. You can measure from the edge to where the spine contacts the hone or to the top of the spine. That could easily make the difference between 11/16 and 5/8. No biggie really. Hope you enjoy your new razor and it looks like you did everything right .

Bob

Zak,

I know Joe Edson and have bought several vintage razors from him. Joe is a good man and does good work. The razors were all shave ready. You made a fine choice with your razor.

Welcome to Straight Razor Place.

Guys thank you all so much for the reassurance and the advice. My next step is to buy a strop (my razor doesn't arrive for a couple of weeks), and to start watching some technique videos on stropping and on shaving. Just so I don't look like I've chased a badger down its set......

Thanks everyone.

Z.