Thread: Gracie straight razors?

Grüß euch, I am a newbie here and to the whole straight razor system. I wanted to give it a try though, namely for all of the reasons you might find for the switch in general. I was going to buy a new blade, but my German girlfriend said her family might have one and, sure enough, they do. It is estimated to come out of the 60s or so, and its from Gracie (with the thing above the e, I dont know how to do it, I speak German not Spanish )

I have little to no information about it and the best I found online was an Ebay auction. (Forgive my ignorance of the official part names) The one side of the blade says "Deutsche Arbeit" in a stepped form with two flowery sort of things next to Deutsche on the right and Arbeit on the left. On the small part of the blade it says "54 10/16 GRACIE D.R.G.M.". On the other side of the small part it says "GRAH & Co, Solingen Wald" and, since I got in D-Land, that means its a real German blade.

My questions are: is it good quality? For any particular reason other than those crafty Germans made it? Would it be a good start blade, or since it is somewhat old, should I get a new blade and just sort of admire this one? Im planning on taking it to a professional (der immer verlässliche Messerschleifer) to get a good beginning hone on it, and then going from there.

Any other personal tips someone might have for a newbie who found a (somewhat) older straight razor and wants to start up?

Brett,
Congrats... you have stumbled upon a jewel if it is in good condition. Gracie's are both exceptional, and rare... every bit as good of a shaver as a duck or puma, yet significantly less common.

Hehe, I'm sure if it's 'German Made' it's gonna be good. Thinks Auto's :P

Sounds like it could be a good one to me. Just make sure that the professional really knows how to hone. I would hate to take my favourite razor to a shop only to have them sharpen it on a grindstone.

Well Im certainly excited at the responses I got It is in very good condition, still rather sharp, and has only a few places with a tiny bit of rust (hasnt been cared for in God knows how long). How do I go about cleaning it without damaging it? I read online that some of the good old #0000 steel wool and some rubbing alcohol, then some light mineral oil. Is that good advice? Also, what should I look for in a mineral oil? I want to be extremely careful when I take care of this razor.

But that brings me to my original point again. Im so used to putting antiques to the side and letting them collect dust, that picking one up and using it seems so foreign to me. Is it perfectly OK to do that with straight razors, or will I just be destroying the possible value of something? I am a beginner, but straight razor shaving is something I will research and plan on before I dive into, so I dont make any bad mistakes.

Originally Posted by nickyspaghetti

Sounds like it could be a good one to me. Just make sure that the professional really knows how to hone. I would hate to take my favourite razor to a shop only to have them sharpen it on a grindstone.

Thats another good point. We went today to a market, since sometimes sharpening professionals have tents there. We are looking for someone who has been in the trade for decades. We are also looking for a barber shop, but unfortunately they arent quite as common as in the States.

I don't think one of those sharpening guys is going to be capable of doing the job. Several of our members here have tried them and have had universally disastrous results (as in "destroyed"). You're much better off getting one of the honemeisters on this forum to sharpen it for you.

The problem is that Im overseas. If there are any european honemeisters it would work, but otherwise unfortunately not. The only reason I wanted to get it sharpened was to make sure there werent any imperfections in the blade for when I hone myself and strop it. Should I keep to my first inclination or would I be ok very carefully honing it with the recommended wet stone myself?

brett- kees is in the netherlands and i think he does honing. look him up in the member search and shoot him a pm. btw- great score on the razor.

cheers,
ryan

I do honing and I'm in the Netherlands. Bruno also does it for people every now and then.

Maybe your best bet is to leave that razor aside, and get one from the board here, I think there are couple in the Buy/Sell/Trade at around 40$...

When you get more experienced, enough to know what are you doing with the hone and the strop, you can try out your gem. When new with straights, accidents like dropping your razor, or a meeting with the faucet, or a sink are not uncommon...


Nenad