Thread: Purchased 7 St8 Razors! :) Info please

The only W&B I saw over at the antique places by my house had a big chip about a 1/2" into the blade and about a 1/4" wide. They wanted $60 for a worthless blade. Definatley send a few of those out.

So, being who I am I always do everything right the first time or so I think im doing it right. When I don't know I search and find the right guy with the knowledge. In this case I went straight to Lynn's house! I didn't realize how close he was until he sent me a shipping address. I said wait why pay that when I can drive down there and say hello myself and just "do it right the first time".

First I would like to thank Lynn Abrams for the tremendous hospitality. He was warm to welcome me and and was outright with any knowledge and answered any questions I had and even filled in the questions I didn't know to ask!

Here is how the day went.

First looked over the seven razors I brought down there and evaluated which could be a potentially good shaver. Picked out the ones that had the least pit marks. Informed me what to look for when looking for razors and what to spend if I found a decent restoration project. Then we decided on what to do. We took my Torrrey razor which has some wear on the spine but was certainly better than some of the others I had. Even the wade and butcher which looked reground "terrible shape". He then went down the whole process of removing the bad and then buffing and explainging what he was doing the whole way as if I was going to be doing this myself "hope to one day as a tinkerer that I am".
That process took about 2-3 hours.

The next was to repin one of them just to show me how it was done etc and types of woods, and other materials used in restoring scales. Very informative!

The next part we went upstairs and began the process of honing the edges on the razors. Oh did I mention that we have two razors. One of which he pulled out of his stock and cleaned up to take home with me! We went over all the different types of stones, hones, etc and even the hush hush stuff. LOL just kidding not really anything a secret when we talked and always answered the questions I had. We spent another 1.5 to two hours working on the edges etc.

Once that was over we went looked at soaps, creams, smelly stuff, brushes, you name it he had it and really just poured out the knowledge. I was very impressed how passionate he is with his hobby. I say hobby because from what I would see its his passion in life and with that would never be a day of work in his life doing what he loves. You can truly see how happy he is doing what he loves. He barks at himself when he knows it can be better and never stops until its perfect! "Period"

We then got down to the nervous shaking I anticipated all day. The first time I ever used a straight razor in my hands for what it was intended. (not chopping lumber with daddy's straight razor) lol jk but was good imagery and bet some of you cringed at the thought.... Well I learned how to use a good soap, a brush and how to lather the right way. The use of a hot towl the right way. I finished my first shave in about 40 minutes. Lets just say short strokes and really took my time. It was a very close shave. I get red and razor burn from Gillette razors and store bought and this we closer than i ever have shaved "with the grain" and it feels as close as using a Gillette against the grain "usually bleeding at that point" Then the cleanup and a sense of accomplishment and a profound feeling of im one of those guys that uses a straight razor! I went to work and told everyone about my vacation and everyone said I was crazy and eyes got all wide and jaws dropped to hear me say Im a proud straight razor shaving fella now.


Lynn - Thank you so very much and was one of the most memerable days in my young 30 years on the earth. I am proud to have experienced this with one of the worlds best straight razor experts.


Clinton Tull.

Here are two more razors i picked up at the flea market today. They had @ 60 or so of them there but were really bad shape most of them and sellers didnt have a clue. One was even selling the box with no razor for 35$. Like what the??? Some people i tell ya.
Anyhow here are the two i got today.
Any info on these would be appreciated.
Dont list prices if you do PM me.

Anyone have any ideas on the W one?