Thread: Pickin the right old razor.

Hi
I would like to have an idea of which old razors are better.
I have two. one old stainless that is positively soft metal and another that impressed me right off as being a harder metal to hone and it seems to keep a good edge through the whole shave and then just a strop on leather.
The only issue seems to be rust mild .
If you have looked at rusted metal under magnification pitting. the snail tracks are interesting. The better razor has one small section the has some pitting right in the honed edge. Still a good shave.

I want a list of the better razors with out going through the buying and honing and trying a bunch of razors.

If you are talking vintage I like George Wostenholm, Frederick Reynolds, Wade & Butcher as first choice. Then Boker, ERN, Puma. Actually any vintage 5/8's or larger.

By the way where in Florida are you?

Hi
Polk City, midway between Tampa and Orlando.

The best place that I can think of to find a good shave-ready vintage razor is in the classified section on this web site. That would be my first go-to spot to look. If I hadn't already blown this months shave budget on brushes, there's one of them I'd be buying right now.

I figure that any razor that is over 100 years old and still in good shape is a darn good razor.

Depends what you call old. If you are meaning anything that is not being produced now, Dovo, RA etc. there are too many to list. More importantly you need to look at the condition of the razor, heavy hone wear, chips in the edge, broken scales.
The old Sheffield wedges can be a PITA to get shaving but once there they are great. There are good German razors on eBay available for peanuts all the time. I have picked up a few and they shave as good as any Puma or Dubl duck.
American razors are a good option too. Burrell, Geneva, Shumate. All top razors in my opinion. Hope this helps.

I thought if you were near me I might be able to help. Maybe someone is near you that can offer guidance. Good luck.
Leonard

I also agree, if its lasted a hundred+ years, its probably a decent razor. if your looking for "high end" razors... the only real difference is the scale material. most any razor made in the age in which that was the only way to shave, is going to be a quality razor.

You have some good advice on this thread..
personnaly, after making some mistakes with vintage razors i bought, i'd stick to buying a slightly more expensive razor from someone who knows what they're doing than a razor one would buy blindly from ebay...
Just remember that when going vintage, a shave-ready sure-thing would cost about the same as a new nice razor...

Hi
I like doing things for myself, learning to hone
Right now the best shave/ the longest lasting sharp edge is my rusted old Magnetic that I bought without much thought.
During the hone I could see the blade was very hard compared to my Wald ERN.
I can make the ERN very sharp passing the hanging hair test easily, but the edge does not last through a shave.
My magnetic could easily do another shave without stropping I think.