I finally gave in.

Hello all. After years of temptation I finally ordered my first straight razor. I decided on the Boker King Cutter with white scales. I'm not going to ask if it will really be "shave ready" out of the box, because I know that is a very subjective question and is impossible to answer without more information. I'm looking for information regarding the scenario that it isn't shave ready. I didn't see any information regarding honing services on the website. I currently live in Memphis, TN, and I was wondering if there were any recommendations for local services or people that could hone the razor for me. If not, what do you guys recommend? I also ordered the Illinois #827 strop, but didn't order any kind of dressing or compound, because I wasn't sure if it was a necessity. So any advice regarding the razor or strop would be very helpful and appreciated. Any recommendations regarding soap, brushes, bowls, etc would also be greatly appreciated!

http://straightrazorpalace.com/class...wcat.php?cat=4
As to if your razors will actually come shave ready or not will depend entirely on where you purchased it. Some vendors are very diligent and hand hone every razor as part of the service and others do not offer any services above simply supplying the razor. My guess is that if the site does not offer honing services then it is unlikely that they hone their razors.

Welcome to SRP!
There are several vendors that hone new razors before sending them out. Keep that in mind for future purchases. I would say the chances of a factory edge shaving well are about 50/50, but they can almost always be improved. The tuff thing in this situation is that it's your first razor, so you don't know how to judge the quality of the edge. I would say try it and see if it can shave comfortably. If you feel it need some help there are several of us that offer honing in the classifieds section of this site. As far as soaps go, try Prorasso. It's inexpensive, works well and it's my go to soap.

Thanks for the help guys! Very happy to have all the wisdom I can get!

Another thing to consider is finding a member near you to act as a mentor. There is nothing that helps more than an in person hands on learning session or 3.

Bob

Here is a link to find members.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/memberlist.php?do=search

Pm me and ,ll see what I can do for you, my location is Oakland Tn, not far from Memphis, I've helped a few of the locals. Tc

forget the strop dressing,

Thanks for all of the replies guys! I just got home and my razor had arrived. I ordered the Boker King Cutter but they sent me the Boker Arbolito instead. I messaged the company to alert them of the mistake and I'm waiting to hear back from them. While I wait, does anybody have any experience with the Arbolito? A quick google search revealed the Arbolito is approximately double the price of the King Cutter, but I couldn't really find much information why it is so much more. Anybody have some insight?

The price difference is because the Arbolito is hand made.

https://www.boker.de/us/straight-razor/140519.html

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Originally Posted by Iceni

The price difference is because the Arbolito is hand made.

https://www.boker.de/us/straight-razor/140519.html

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I don't think it's any more handmade then their other models. They're all made from stamped blanks. I think they charge more for fancy scales and more attention to detail.

I see. The scales are certainly fancier. According to the certificate it has silver-nickel decorations on the handle. And it has a Spanish point instead of the round point. But I'm assuming the higher price is because of the aesthetics and not because it is a vastly superior razor.

Stamped blank yes.

But they even list it as been manufactured by hand.

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This unique razor is manufactured in more than 120 steps, by hand, in the Boker Manufactory in Solingen, Germany.

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120 steps is more than knocking in a pair of scale pins, and giving it a final buff.

Functionally there will be no difference between the 2, except for grind thickness and point. The steel for both is the same.

Great. Thanks for the info. Well I guess I'll just wait to hear back from the seller before I do anything further with it. So that's pretty annoying.

Yeah I'd be checking your rights as a consumer as well.

Over here in the UK we can demand that the seller pays return postage in these cases. There are also loopholes and scams that can arise from this sort of thing.

Legally the item is still theirs and they owe you the correct item. So you have a duty of care for that razor until a settlement is made, be that them telling you the razor is yours, or wanting it back. A phone call is nice, but a paper trail is better. So email them, and ask for email correspondence from them. That way if they decide to move the goal posts, you have a written account.

The Loophole in the UK is they send you the wrong item, Get you to post it back at your expense, then only refund you the amount you originally paid. If you have written correspondence getting those pennies back out of them is much easier.

If you do have to send it back use a service with insurance, and a guaranteed signature. Again it's covering your own bottom in case they claim it never arrived back to them.

Did they charge you the "double" price for the one you got? That would be the flag for me.

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Originally Posted by Iceni

Yeah I'd be checking your rights as a consumer as well.

Over here in the UK we can demand that the seller pays return postage in these cases. There are also loopholes and scams that can arise from this sort of thing.

Legally the item is still theirs and they owe you the correct item. So you have a duty of care for that razor until a settlement is made, be that them telling you the razor is yours, or wanting it back. A phone call is nice, but a paper trail is better. So email them, and ask for email correspondence from them. That way if they decide to move the goal posts, you have a written account.

The Loophole in the UK is they send you the wrong item, Get you to post it back at your expense, then only refund you the amount you originally paid. If you have written correspondence getting those pennies back out of them is much easier.

If you do have to send it back use a service with insurance, and a guaranteed signature. Again it's covering your own bottom in case they claim it never arrived back to them.

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I had envisioned this same scenario. I ordered it on Amazon so if the seller requests anything of me other than to keep it I will get Amazon involved at that point. I already emailed the seller through Amazon to make them aware of the mistake so a paper trail has already been established from my end.

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Originally Posted by 32t

Did they charge you the "double" price for the one you got? That would be the flag for me.

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Nope no second charge showing up on my statement. I'm not sure Amazon would give the seller liberty to do that. I could be wrong about that though.

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Originally Posted by Iceni

Stamped blank yes.

But they even list it as been manufactured by hand.



120 steps is more than knocking in a pair of scale pins, and giving it a final buff.

Functionally there will be no difference between the 2, except for grind thickness and point. The steel for both is the same.

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It's called marketing friend. I'm not saying none of it's done by hand. I'm saying they are both basically manufactured in the same way. I could list 120 steps to brushing and flossing my teeth. It doesn't mean anything.

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Originally Posted by Vols13

Nope no second charge showing up on my statement. I'm not sure Amazon would give the seller liberty to do that. I could be wrong about that though.

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If they didn't charge you more then I think that the mistake is on their end. Not malicious.

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Originally Posted by Vols13

Hello all. After years of temptation I finally ordered my first straight razor. I decided on the Boker King Cutter with white scales. I'm not going to ask if it will really be "shave ready" out of the box, because I know that is a very subjective question and is impossible to answer without more information. I'm looking for information regarding the scenario that it isn't shave ready. I didn't see any information regarding honing services on the website. I currently live in Memphis, TN, and I was wondering if there were any recommendations for local services or people that could hone the razor for me. If not, what do you guys recommend? I also ordered the Illinois #827 strop, but didn't order any kind of dressing or compound, because I wasn't sure if it was a necessity. So any advice regarding the razor or strop would be very helpful and appreciated. Any recommendations regarding soap, brushes, bowls, etc would also be greatly appreciated!

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Excelent first straight pick, it should provide many BBS shaves