New razor, evaluate my buy.

Well, I am being a beard-model in a hairdresser, and the die and shave and cut my beard for practise.
The hairdresser uses a straight razor to shave me, and I found it very easy on my skin, so I decided to buy one.
I found a really expensive and fine one, in a shop near where I live.

It was 1600 danish kroner, about 320 US dollars. Things are more expensive here because of taxes.

Attachment 13447

Attachment 13448

Can anyone tell me if this razor is a fine brand?

Should I oil the blade or something?
I have bought hones and strops, and I have that part kind of down, for a newbie anyway.

Since my buy I have bought more razors from ebay, mosty old one, to practise honing on, and because i like them.

I also bought a brand new dovo.

What is the finest brand of razor there is on the market?

The TI's are a fine brand of razor. I like the light color scales on that one.
There is much debate about the finest brand of razor on the market. I once heard someone say that the best razor is the one that you enjoy shaving with the most.

I think what you have to determine first is what is the size, grind, and shape of razor that you enjoy the most. For example, although I have an assortment of razors, the kind I enjoy most are 6/8 or larger, 1/4 hollow to wedge grind, and spanish point (french point is a close second). Once you know where your preferences lie, you can get very nice razors from a production run or even get a little crazy and get a custom razor from one of the custom makers out there. In your part of the world, Maestro Livi makes some very nice custom razors. In the US, there are a number of fine razor makers that are booked many months in advance. I know because I have had a custom on order for four or five months... I've lost track.

Oh, one more thing. I would definitely recommend oiling your blades between uses. I use Camelia oil; I figure if it is good enough for Japanese swords, it is good enough for my razors.

Thiers Issard makes excellent razors . It may need a little honing on an 8k and/or finer grit hone in order to get a nice shaving edge . I don't know how much the shipping , and taxes would cost , but classicshaving.com has the same razor as yours , except that the scales are plastic instead of wood , for less than half of what you paid for yours :hmmm: .

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The_Pastor

What is the finest brand of razor there is on the market?

---

I would say the finest brand on the market is one of the custom razor makers - they all have different styles so pick the one you like best and then you can order a razor to your own specifications.

But doing so now would be rather premature - you should probably stop buying razors and start using the ones you have :)

Ok thx alot guys. :)

What does the numbers mean: "6/8, 1/4" and so on? Spanish point?

Can I use any kind of oil? I like Olive oil for my cooking :o, can I use that?

Man I just love all this sh*t, its so cool! :y

6/8 means the width of you blade is six eights of an inch wide . As for oil , I don't use it on my blades . When I finish using a razor , I rinse it off with hot tap water , dry it thorughly with cotton balls , and let it sit open and air dry for at least a few hours . If you do use oil , make sure you get all the oil off of the blade before you hone or strop it .

6/8 means the width of the blade is 6/8th of an inch (-2.54 cm)
1/4 usually means a quarter hollow, which is the grind of the blade. The thinnest blades are called full hollow, Heribert Wacker calls them 1/1 hollow. The bulkiest blades are called wedges.

The point is the shape of the toe. A Spanish point is pretty much a straight angle.

Look here: grinds
and here: points

Oblique point is also called French point, a spike point also Spanish point IIRC.

I think Kees meant to say spike=square, not spanish. If you want to see a spanish point and a custom made razor this post may be a good example.
I don't see a reason why wouldn't olive oil work as a protection - the only thing i could see as a potential drawback is staining a light absorbing material for scales, which you shouldn't have anyways.

I would steer clear of Olive oil, as it has a tendency to gum up. Better would be either mineral oil (same thing baby oil is made from, but without the fragrance) or a light sewing machine oil.
I've also used WD40 with good effect.

Enjoy your razor, Thiers-Issard are well thought of around these parts.


John P.

I'm not clear why olive oil would "gum up." I am in favor of natural oils such as olive oil instead of mineral oil as it is better for the skin and in my experience does just fine for protecting the razor. I use olive oil dissolved in isopropanol to dip all of my razors in after shaving.

I guess I disagree on another matter in that I also do not wipe it off prior to stropping as I consider it to be a means of conditioning the leather. I wouldn't want it on my canvas strop though so my normal routine is 5 passes on the leather (to remove the oil), 15-20 passes on the canvas, and then 30-50 on the leather.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gugi

I think Kees meant to say spike=square, not spanish. If you want to see a spanish point and a custom made razor this post may be a good example.
I don't see a reason why wouldn't olive oil work as a protection - the only thing i could see as a potential drawback is staining a light absorbing material for scales, which you shouldn't have anyways.

---

I am always confused by all the synonyms, thanks for correcting me.

Thx for the answers guys. :)

Now that we are talking about stropping, I have another question:

What is the rough canvas for? (if it is canvas - its a white rough kind of "rope" surface) Should it be pasted?

I have this very fine strop that I am really happy with:

Attachment 13498

You first strop on the canvas then on the leather. Jury is still out on the usefulness of the canvas. Some do not use it. I find it very helpful and always take the razor to the linen before I take it to the leather.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Utopian

I'm not clear why olive oil would "gum up." I am in favor of natural oils such as olive oil instead of mineral oil as it is better for the skin and in my experience does just fine for protecting the razor. I use olive oil dissolved in isopropanol to dip all of my razors in after shaving.

.

---

Then I perhaps stand corrected! I have had olive oil gum up on me during my earlier days of this, but I was using it straight, so who knows.
Still, I think machine oil or even other thinner more viscous oils work better, but if you are diluting them, it might just work....I've not even remotely considered this idea in the past...


John P.