Thread: First razor

Hello this is my first time posting here. I've been reading up on straight razors for a few months now, everything from honing to what brushes work best. I broke down and bought a cheap starters kit because I don't have the money for anything else. I plan on just adding more expensive bits and pieces as I go along.
The first thing I would like to buy is a nice Razor obviously. The kit I got comes with a junk one but I have a spare $50 to drop on a good one. I was hoping to get some advice on what to buy. I know I want a full hollow Square tip but beyond that I have no idea. (I need the square tip because I have a goatee. )

I actually just put a bid on a Geo.Wostenholm, pipe. No guarantee I'll win it but it looked like a good deal to me. Geo.Wostenholm Antique Straight Razor,Pipe - eBay (item 130286329252 end time Feb-13-09 17:30:22 PST)

any advice would be appreciated.

I wish I could give you some advice, but I just started myself! I just picked up a nice Alwin on there last week.

Good luck!

looks like it's gonna need some work before you use it. plus, if any of that pitting is near the edge, it might affect the honing (learned the hard way). if you want to pick it up to learn how to restore and hone, go for it. . just remember, ebay is evil and you'll have to restrain yourself.

Originally Posted by kljr

just remember, ebay is evil and you'll have to restrain yourself.

Roger that!

Welcome aboard, you really can't go wrong with a wostenholm. I have several and they are all good shavers. Just do yourself a favor and spend 20 bucks and have a honemeister make it shavable for you so you can start off on the right foot.

Hi and welcome!

Wostenholms have a great reputation so it's hard to go wrong with them. Do keep in mind that any razor of ebay most likely will need to be honed before it's shave ready, so if you got $50 to drop on a good one I would look closely at the classifieds here to pick up a starter razor, as it would be an easier way to get a shave ready razor with in your limits, than going through ebay and either do the clean up and honing your self or sending it out to get honed and/or cleaned.

BTW, the Wostenholm you linked to is stamped medium hollow ground, which is much a heavier grind than the full hollow you where/are looking for.

Originally Posted by BrewingEconomist

The first thing I would like to buy is a nice Razor obviously. The kit I got comes with a junk one but I have a spare $50 to drop on a good one. I was hoping to get some advice on what to buy. I know I want a full hollow Square tip but beyond that I have no idea. (I need the square tip because I have a goatee. )

I actually just put a bid on a Geo.Wostenholm, pipe. No guarantee I'll win it but it looked like a good deal to me. Geo.Wostenholm Antique Straight Razor,Pipe - eBay (item 130286329252 end time Feb-13-09 17:30:22 PST)

any advice would be appreciated.

Actually you'll be better off going to the classifieds. There are several razors there that fit your budget - these are much better deal than what you'll get on ebay.
However I'm not sure what good our advice will do you if you've already bought the strop and placed the bid on the razor...
The strops in these zee-pk kits seem to be junk too, or so I hear from people who've seen them.