Thread: Opinions on Razors

Welcome mate!

As several people pointed out, I think you should invest into professional honing, ie sending the blade out for someone who has equipment(expensive) and experience (extensive). I've been sharpening pointy things for a long time and honing razors still baffle me.

Also you should pay attention to beard preparation and the quality of your lather. These are also factor to a good shave.

Thanks for your quick replies everyone- I'll see if I can get a couple of pictures up- I'm sure that will help. Plus, who doesn't like showing off their vintage goods? =)

Sorry if the pictures are a little rough. Don't have a very good camera, and as I've found, razors are tough to take good pictures of. If more pictures would be helpful, just let me know.

+1 on the advice from the others, if your not experienced with honing i would recommend having one of the members here bring them to "shave ready"status, its important because during your SR shaving journey if you didnt have a truly shave ready blade from the start it's going to lead to questions about your technique,stropping,and maybe your own abilities to set a bevel on your blade that you wont be able to answerer because you didn't truly get the feel of a real "shave ready" razor.. Just my opinion.

shiny razors are very elusive when photographing. i get my best pictures on macro mode w/ natural light and no flash. both of those look like very good condition. definitely send them out. its so exciting when they come back!!!

Originally Posted by MantyBlue

Sorry if the pictures are a little rough. Don't have a very good camera, and as I've found, razors are tough to take good pictures of.

Yes, they can be tricky. Incidentally, we have these two articles that might help: Photographing Razors - Straight Razor Place Wiki and Lightbox Instructional - Straight Razor Place Wiki.

Definitely send them out to get honed. It will take some time and some money, but you won't rip your face up this way. Just cut it instead.

The patience is the hard part. I have a straight on the way that was PIFed to me, and sadly I have to wait while I makes a pit stop along the way to be honed by a pro.

I think you really lucked out on that Mappin & Webb . Those scales look like they're REAL ivory ! Thanks for the pics

No, both razors have plastic scales, but the Mappin and Webb is very nice- very fortunate to have found that one.

I actually found one more razor for the collection (a pearlduck by dubl duck), a koken horsehide strop and a strong set badger bristle brush at the same antique mall. Had to do some serious browsing, but I was surprised to see so many straight razors. I could easily put together a seven day collection, but I would like to get a good edge on my first couple razors before I go and do that. Between all those goodies and two books I found, I only spent 38 dollars- which beats any ebay deals I've seen.

The razor will probably be in need of restoration- the edge of the razor is covered in surface rust =(. I'm hoping once it's cleaned up that I can use it to shave with though- I really love the way the scales look on this one, but I'm not sure how bad the rust is. I'll put more photos up so you guys can take a look at everything.

And is it possible to clean a razor up with a dremel tool, some fine abrasive bits and a light touch without ruining it?