Thread: Found an old straight razor....now what?

While cleaning out my garage I found an old straight razor. Alls it has on it is Hamburg Ring inscribed in the blade and an engraving of 3 happy looking dudes on the shank. My guess is that it is worthless.

Never the less, It makes me want to learn to shave with a straight razor. I know I have to get it honed, but here is my question... Should I buy a hone and learn to do it myself, or should I get this razor honed and learn to shave with it?

I plan to buy a razor in the future but I just don't know when.

I have been searching the internet and researching the topic, now I want to act. But I need help getting started.

Assuming that everyone is going to tell me to get the razor honed and use it for learning (mind you, it is a bit rusted but I don't think it is enough to kill me) I need to know where and what to buy.

I want to learn to shave before I go to college in september.
Since I will be living in a dorm, I think I will need a paddle strop. Should I get paste and skip buying a separate honing stone?

Also, where can I get a good starter kit with a paddle strop and brush and mug.

I realize this is an investment and I do have money and a job, but I still want to stay away from higher end stuff. I will accept buying used items and shell out an extra dollar if there is a significant quality difference.

Am I missing anything.

Your help will be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance

Actually thats a pretty good razor! I would send it out to be honed and then learn to strop and shave before worrying about honing. You can read all about that stuff while your learning not to cut your nose off.

well welcome to the forum and the path of a true gentleman. if u can upload some pics that would be great but in any case you should get your razor professionally honed (check the classifieds) you will not regret it and it will give u a base feel for what a sharp razor can do. I am in college and i think the paddle and hanging strop are both just as convienant... a pasting strop will help keep ur blade tip top during the school year. i would recommend sending your razor to get honed a few times b4 you start honing yourself but just my opinion. as for another razor go for it (check out straight razor designs and the classifieds). as for brush etc i recommend the Van Der Hagen set to anyone starting its veryyyy basic and is available at walmart, cheap too....maybe pick up a better soap if u want and that should hold you over till you have time to absorb the info on this forum and u will probably wanna buy some more/better stuff. hope this bit helped and Good Luck

Hey a fellow upstate new yorker! Welcome! Where do you go to college?
Anyways, I learned in my dorm room. You actually don't NEED much per se, if you're willing to rough it. As far as beginner kits go, talk to kenrup. Word is he'll fix you up with a good enough strop to learn, and a nice shave ready razor and stuff for nice and cheap. TM also makes good paddle strops. HOWEVER... I, as a fellow college newbie, recommend the hanging strop. It's bigger and easier to use, and you can just tie it to a doorknob or sink fixture or something with string at the dorm. Thats what I did. I also recommend not focusing on honing or pastes or anything at first, because a good stroopping is all you'll need for a few months. You can actually do light touch ups on newspaper I've found. That being said, a few weeks or months in you may want to touch up. You can make a paddle by buy a frat paddle blank (readily availble at your campus store) or just a plank, and glueing balsa to it. Balsa is better for pastes anyway from what I've heard. This form of pasted strop will cost you less than ten bucks. (I am currently working on making myself a full set of strops, hanging leather, hanging cloth, CrOx pasted paddle, diamond pasted paddle) Or... you could get a barber's hone which is what I did. The difference is much of a muchness, and ends up being personal preference.

Long story short- Talk to Kenrup. He's a great guy and is helping me out and cutting me a great deal for a project of mine. I know he makes a killer paddle strop that I would've bought if I had the cash. I personally think you should use a hanging strop, but its up to you. Now I'll let the more senior members chime in.

Originally Posted by chrisxc5

i recommend the Van Der Hagen set to anyone starting its veryyyy basic and is available at walmart, cheap too....maybe pick up a better soap if u want

I agree. I'd say first talk to Kenrup about a beginner set up. However, if that falls through, the VDH set is great value. It gets looked down on but honestly with practice it works fine. I can make literally more than enough lather for like 4 passes with it np.

+1 on learning stuff first. gssixgun just posted a reminder to us all to focus on our technique. Good advice. So stick with a hone job and basic set up. Trust me, eventually you'll want and get other stuff based on what you end up liking disliking.

Thank you for all your help. I am currently contacting kenrup for a hanging strop, brush, and mug starter kit. I will probably look in the phone book for a place that can hone my razor. If I ever get a new razor, I will probally learn to hone on the old one. But I will take everyone's advice and wait a while for that. Thanks again

Oh and khaos, I will be attending the University of Rochester.

Maybe we'll meet sometime. I'm at Cornell, but I'm betting before long there'll be a NY get together. And look in the classifieds under member services for honing. Phone books will have knife honers, who will literally grind and destroy your blade. I can't say for sure, but I bet Kenrup will hone your razor for you as part of your deal if he makes you a deal. He's an outstanding chap. He really helped me.

EDIT:
Also talk to Utopian. He might still be honing for free.

Well, I guess Khaos covered it already. Anyone you find in a phone book will destroy your razor. Do not give your razor to anyone who does not specifically declare that they hone and shave with straight razors. Knife and tool sharpeners cannot translate their skills to straight razors.

I certainly am willing to hone your razor for free, especially if it might help you give straight shaving a try. I've been doing a lot of free honing lately, but I would like to see a picture of it first so that we can determine if you would be wasting the cost of postage. In other words, the razor might be in such poor shape that it's beyond hope. A photo will help to make that assessment.

I'm curious, how the heck did you find a razor in your garage?

Nice find! Congrats!

Cool find, i recently was given an old straight razor by my grandfather. I've been wetshaving with a DE for almost a year but never looked into straight razor shaving. I actually made a thread about it as well.

After some research it seems to be in good enough condition to restore and get it shave ready. I just have to figure out where to send it out to get it honed and whatnot.

My advice would be, if you are new to wetshaving in general take some time to get your lathering technique down first. It can be very overwhelming to tackle everything at once. Also check out the wiki page here, there is tons of info!