Thread: What's the Difference?

First post! I've been shaving straight for two and a half months now, lurking on the SRP forums all the while. Thank you all for the great resource!

I've been shaving with a Col. Conk "Best Quality" blade I got secondhand on Craigslist. Before you tell me that it was forged by slave labor in Pakistan, quenched in the blood of orphans, blunted out of spite, and 100% of Col. Conk's proceeds go to Al Qaeda recruitment, don't bother. I've read it already. Based on the opinions I've read about Col. Conk, I would have expected this razor to sneak out of my bathroom cabinet at night and crawl, inchworm-style, down the hall to my bedroom and slit my throat while I sleep. This has not yet happened. In fact, after about two weeks of abysmal irritation, I've been consistently getting smooth, comfortable shaves. I sharpen it once a week (also a Col. Conk hone - I don't actually know what the grit is), and strop 50/100 before each shave. It passes the hanging hair test at six or eight different points on the blade every day. Any small nicks I get are fully attributable to my own inattention.

So if this is a lousy blade, what's the difference? How would a professionally-honed Boker, Double Duck, Wade and Butcher, etc., improve my life? Are they just shinier with pretty scales, or is the shave appreciably different? How?

Mind you, im a newb as well. But if you do put a hone to it every week, I think you'll have to buy a new razor soon anyhow . It seems though that people don't hone quite that much. No idea if its due to the metal in the blade.
Also some things are easier for me to appreciate because of materials, design or story behind a product. So when I imagine myself spending 30 minutes shaving I'm using something someone, somewhere put some thought or work into.

I think this is why the idea of using a pair of roller-skates, a steep hill and a concrete building for shaving appeals more to me than using a zeepk blade, eventhough the blade could without a doubt be a good shaver.

Originally Posted by NeitherMightier

So if this is a lousy blade, what's the difference? How would a professionally-honed Boker, Double Duck, Wade and Butcher, etc., improve my life? Are they just shinier with pretty scales, or is the shave appreciably different? How?

I have no idea, but will really appreciate if you let us know if you ever find out.

A Col. Conk razor has absolute nothing to do with a Zeepk. Col Conk razors run new anywhere between $110 and $180. They are made in Solingen/Germany, I suspect by Dovo(?).

Originally Posted by NeitherMightier

Before you tell me that it was forged by slave labor in Pakistan, quenched in the blood of orphans, blunted out of spite, and 100% of Col. Conk's proceeds go to Al Qaeda recruitment, don't bother. I've read it already. Based on the opinions I've read about Col. Conk, I would have expected this razor to sneak out of my bathroom cabinet at night and crawl, inchworm-style, down the hall to my bedroom and slit my throat while I sleep. This has not yet happened.

Man this is a funny mental picture. I hope it never really happens, but if it does, can I have your razor. I'll try to train it to go after my old employer, and maybe contract it out as a mercenary.

I have a Col Conk best quality I got for 50$ and for some reason it's currently one of my go to razors...Every razor feels different and you just find some you like. Although unless you're rolling the edge due to improper stropping, i don't know if you'll be needing to sharpen once a week, so you may want to try leaving it and see if you get an appreciable decline!

I know when i got my first hone i was so addicted to sharpening that I wanted to continue to sharpen but you have to fight the urge! If it's passing the HHT and shaving smoothly it's likely that you're not going to get much better!

i have a W&B and a couple bokers that i use as well and they shave BBS in two passes as easily as my Col Conk, just feel different!

erik

Even if I'm learning with a better razor than I realized, my question stands: what makes a Col. Conk or any other razor a better tool for shaving than a Zeepk? Before I succumb to the initial symptoms of razor addiction and start trading up, I want to know I'm getting something useful for my money.

Col. Conk straight razors are rebranded Dovos.

Scott

And ZEEPK razors are just rebranded butter knives.

If your Conk is a rebranded Dovo, then it's not a bad razor at all. You shouldn't need to hone it that much, once every two months is plenty. If it's going dull that often you're probably not stropping it right. To answer your original question, a quality razor uses a high carbon content, fine grained steel that's been ground to a very thin edge, then hardened and tempered so it can take and hold a very sharp edge. Quality steel isn't cheap, and neither is the equipment and most importantly the skill needed to put the whole thing together. So what you're paying for when you buy a good razor is quality materials and the labor of a skilled worker, just like anything else of quality. A Zeepk or other cheap razor won't take or hold that fine edge your Conk will, and so won't shave comfortably or closely.