Thread: New to SRP!

Hey everyone, my name is Chris and I'm a close shave addict.

Seriously though, I've been talking about straight razor shaving since before Christmas and my wife recently made me put my money where my mouth was, so to speak, with a Wade & Butcher she purchased off of eBay. I was hoping someone could give me a little more insight into the razor, maybe approximately when it was made? The scale/handle seems to be made out of plastic so I don't anticipate that it's very old - I couldn't find anything that looked quite like it in the SRPs DB...

Thanks!

Welcome to SRP. That is, as the blade etching states, a Special. Not sure of the age but probably post 1920s ? The pin at the pivot makes me think it has been rescaled but it looks to be in good shape. If it wasn't advertised as 'shave ready' you should send it out for honing. Even if it was said to be 'shave ready' it may or may not be. The member services in the SRP classifieds here has members who provide honing for a nominal fee. Check out the SRP Wiki, linked in my sig line below, for more info on successful shaving and maintenance of a straight razor. Ask any questions you may have and members will be glad to help out.

Thanks, I've been all over the wiki for about two weeks as a guest, it's awesome. The razor wasn't sold "shave ready" (in fact, it arrived with observable blunting) but it wasn't expensive. I've been sharpening all kinds of stuff since cub scouts so I watched all of the honing videos and gave it a shot myself - this is easily the wickedest edge I've ever put on anything, but I do plan on sending it out for honing if for nothing else than an expert's opinion on the current condition, maybe have them sharpen it so that I can feel the difference on my face. Right now, it doesn't feel like it's catching/pulling hair, it just falls through it without any kind of pressure.

Stropping sort of reminds of of using a steele.. just much, much less aggressive. At any rate, thanks to the videos and extremely well written articles, I've shaved with this razor twice now. I'm shocked at how easy it fell though 6 day stubble (i resisted shaving a long time, watching videos and reading articles haha) and though I didn't have the guts to ATG my neck area, I did on my cheeks and sideburns and wow, baby smooth even the day after.

Funny addition; I missed a spot near the corner of my mouth and noticed a few hours later. Rather than re-lather and shave it, I just grabbed my quattro (now in the garbage) and ATG'd with it. The only spot on my face that hurt afterward was that single tiny spot where I stupidly used the quattro.

So looking more carefully at it, I notice a plastic spacer down at the other pin that doesn't match the scale color, so it must have been rescaled.. I guess that's what threw me looking through the DB, I was sort of focused on the scale color. I noticed a lot of the W&B blades in the DB had a notch up near the point of the blade, is that what a barber's notch is?

Thanks again.

Glad to hear of your success in honing it and shaving with it. The wedge at the bottom pin is frequently a different color than the scales. Yes on the U shaped end on the points of some razors referred to as a barber's notch A.K.A. as a notch point or open point in some old literature. The purpose of the notch is and has been a subject of debate. No definitive result AFAIK.

Originally Posted by chully71

but I do plan on sending it out for honing if for nothing else than an expert's opinion on the current condition, maybe have them sharpen it so that I can feel the difference on my face.

That's a novel idea. At the moment, you have nothing to compare your edge with. Once it comes back from having been honed, you'll have a benchmark should you choose to continue down the honing path. Grats on the shave and keep at it!

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Yes on the U shaped end on the points of some razors referred to as a barber's notch A.K.A. as a notch point or open point in some old literature. The purpose of the notch is and has been a subject of debate. No definitive result AFAIK.

Im sorry, I dont understand at all what you are talking about here?

Welcome to srp. I'm thinking that if you're happy with the way your razor shaves I don't see much need to send it out unless you really want to.
The original scales on these razors have the logo stamped and iirc the shape is slightly different. But you don't shave with the scales, so it's a matter of aesthetics.

Originally Posted by The_Pastor

Im sorry, I dont understand at all what you are talking about here?

The point of the razor is notched at the end. Some people call it a barber's notch A.K.A. (also known as) a notch point or open point. All different terms for that style of point on a razor chully71's asked about the U shaped cut out on some of his old W&Bs in the third post at the bottom of his text. Seems that in recent years people have taken to calling it a barber's notch but back years ago, according to old catalogs, they referred to them as notch or open points. Hope that clears it up.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

The point of the razor is notched at the end. Some people call it a barber's notch A.K.A. (also known as) a notch point or open point. All different terms for that style of point on a razor chully71's asked about the U shaped cut out on some of his old W&Bs in the third post at the bottom of his text. Seems that in recent years people have taken to calling it a barber's notch but back years ago, according to old catalogs, they referred to them as notch or open points. Hope that clears it up.

I still dont quite follow, sorry. Are you just talking about, that this razor is a round point?

They are talking about "barbers notches" on other razors, not the one pictured.