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I have been shaving with a pocket knife since I was in college an couldn't afford to keep buying cartridges but lately I have been thinking it is time to upgrade to a straight razor.I was looking on the classifieds here and a Wm Elliot that I like and was wondering is that a fairly decent make?
Welcome to SRP. William Elliot was in business from 1880 to 1918 according to the Goins book. Looking at the photos it looks to be in good condition and a decent deal. Check out my sig below to avoid nicks and cuts and follow the link to the SRP Wiki beginner's guide. :gl:
Barring chipped or cracked blades, I have yet to EVER have a bad shave from a vintage model...even the ones who neglected to stamp their names on the razors. Having said that, I can blindly say that you're likely going to get a great shave off of it...go for it. Things were just made better back then, and I don't mean just razors. If you've ever had an opportunity to look at clothing back in the late 1800's, it was a far cry from the cheap, thin, poorly stitched junk you can buy today. Things back then were meant to last many many years, not months.
Shaving with a pocket knife? I've tried that on what I thought was a VERY sharp knife, but it was excruciating! I couldn't see myself doing that on a regular basis.
Looks like you're starting with the straight for the same reason I did...it wasn't that I didn't get good shaves from my M3, it was the crazy prices they were charging...I mean, really, $3 for something that cost $0.10 to make?
Thanks for the information and the link very usefull information.
First time I shaved with a knife was more of a joke. I grew up on a farm an went to a nerd type school lots of hillbilly jokes so I shaved with my hunting knife a couple times. It wasn't particularly painful but it wasn't particulary comfortable. Then I ran out of blades for my razor and had a almost fatal case of sticker shock.
Anyway to get a completely comfortable shave I had to make major changes to the grind.