Thread: Newb in search of advice

I’d like to start by introducing myself. I am Hawkmoon101 (Brad), I am almost 23, and I am a newbie. I’m going to start with a little background of how I came to be here.

My grandfather recently gave me his old straight razors. I’ve always had a minor interest in them from watching a lot of old movies. But since receiving this gift, my interest has become more of a fascination. I’ve purchases a starter wet shave kit (brush, soap, etc.) and have learned to build what I would consider a fairly good lather (much better than anything I’ve experienced with regular consumer products).


So here is a link to my album containing the 4 razors and hone my grandfather gave me.

Straight Razor Place Forums - hawkmoon101's Album: My Grandfathers gift


I’ve been reading these forums for a week or two now, and have become very interested in both restoration and honing and would like to continue that pursuit. However, I would also like to start shaving ASAP. So I was thinking… that I would send 2 of these razors to be professionally restored and honed. This would then leave me the other 2 to do myself.


I am curious about other people’s opinions about this idea and which 2 razors I should have done professionally.


Thank you, in advance, for your time, consideration, and for sharing your knowledge.
Hawkmoon101

Welcome!

I think your idea sounds very good. Having several of your razors honed professionally will allow you to have a basis in which to guage your progress on honing while also giving you a great shave! One in particular that I saw that you may consider is the Otto Deutch(sp), very nice blade and worthy of a good professional hone. Many individuals on this site offer honing services and are quite good at what they do, some are even doing this for free to establish their reputation!

If you are interested in honing, you may check out the wiki regarding a good setup and technique.

Enjoy

Joe

Welcome to SRP! Always glad to see someone else from OH.

If I could make a suggestion, I would send two of the razors off for restoration, or at least honing. My recommendation would be Lynn Abrams. Not only is he just up the road (I-71 that is) in Medina, he is recognized as the Honemeister's Honemeister. He is also a really great guy and dedicated to spreading the word regarding straight razor shaving. After you shave with a professionally honed blade you will have a proper frame of reference for your own work.

Which brings me to the other two razors.....I would set those aside for a little while. For a few bucks you can pick up a couple of resto candidates to practice on before restoring your Grandfather's razors. No point buggering one that you really can't replace. If you pick a couple of decent razors to restore you can't really lose. If they come out well, you got a couple of good razors out of the exercise. If not, at least you didn't waste one of the ones your Grandfather gave you.

Again, welcome. Hope to see you around the forums.

Welcome!

Is your grandfather still alive? If so, step one is to ask him the story about the razors. Finding out more about them will probably help you find out more about him. Also, ask him where he put the strop because you will need one.

Those are four nice razors. The Joseph Allen is the bottom of the barrel only because it appears to have a frown (excessive honing in the center of the blade). The missing end of the scale is functionally inconsequential. Also, the frown can be eliminated. The other three look to be in excellent condition and are great razors with great steel. Since the Otto Deutsch is the most rare, I'd hold off on that one till you get more experience. Personally, I'd start with the Torrey and the Henckels.

Consider this though, sometimes beginners ding their razors against the sink or drop them on the floor. How upset would you be if you broke one of these? The answer to that will determine if you are willing to learn on one of these or something else.

I'm not in the pantheon of professional, but I have been honing a lot of razors for free lately. I'll hone one of yours for free but I'd have to charge for the other because I'm limiting the free honings to one per person. You can send one or two. Either is fine with me. I could also lap the hone for you for free.

+1 with what Bill said, I would be sure to send the Otto Duetsch first, its just too good to let sit around. Practice on some ebay specials before you go all out with grampas stuff, you really wouldnt want to muff that up. God bless gramps, what a gift!

Originally Posted by Utopian

Is your grandfather still alive? If so, step one is to ask him the story about the razors. Finding out more about them will probably help you find out more about him.

That may very well be the best advice I've seen on here in a while.

There have been a lot of discussions over the last couple of months about heirloom razors, and the fact that almost all of us are shaving with razors that have a lot of history behind them. I'd feel really blessed if I had something like that from a grandfather. However, I don't have any such thing, or any living grandfathers.

yes you have a great little colection there, a couple of them dont seem to need much "restoration", rather just a good pro-honing.
from what ive been readin lately that otto is a great shaver and highly sought after. i would definitly save that one and practice honing etc on the others.

you should take utopian up on his free honing deal for sure! i did
put that otto to some use quick!

welcome to srp

if you're not too far away from lynn, your best option is to see if you can visit him for a lesson.
of course your grandfather may be able to help you too, but i'd say lynn is a safer choice for picking up the right info.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Welcome!

Is your grandfather still alive? If so, step one is to ask him the story about the razors. Finding out more about them will probably help you find out more about him. Also, ask him where he put the strop because you will need one.

He is still alive, and turned 94 this year. They, him and my grandmother, are moving into an assisted living appartment this week, and have been downsizing. They are trying to find a home for everything that doesn't need to go. Anyway, back on topic. The Otto was given to him by his father as a graduation present. That is why he has kept it in such good condition. The others he is not too sure about, picked them up here and there when he needed/wanted a new one.

Also, to clarify, the razor with the yellow scales is not a German Henckel you may be thinking of, it is a "Henkel" from "Fremont. O. U.S.A" I have updated the pic with this info. I have been unable to find any reference to this manufacture outside of cutlery, but I'm not sure if there is a connection.

Edit: Oh and I also picked up an Illinois strop around the same time I ordered the shaving kit.
Edit: My pictures really do not do them justice. The Joseph Allen has tarnish and pitting in many areas while the JR Torrey has pitting all along the spine. After reading up on the wiki about restoring blades, I did my best to hand sand the rust off the spine (I wish I had taken a pic before doing that). There is also some minor tarnishing on the Otto Deutsch and Henkel.