Thread: Weigh In

Originally Posted by gugi

yeah you're probably looking into a month before you have any of those razors back to you in shaving condition, so it's not a bad idea to pick something else and start the learning curve.
forget the hones, get a good strop.

I kinda figured on that or longer. And I've got no intention of ruining classic family heirloom razors trying to learn. Something like a whipped dog razor won't ruin my day if it gets chipped or rounded over.

Update and Q:

I've got two family heirloom razors headed my way (supposedly) tomorrow. The first is a Leader Solingen razor that was one of my great grandfather's razors. Thanks dad. It's reportedly in good finish and condition. Comes in the original box.

Number two is thanks to Dad's mom. It is a Crown and Sword in a wooden box, and has a barber's notch (from Dad's description). This was my great grandfather's dad's razor (aka my great great grandfather's razor) which he passed down to my great grandfather, who passed it to my grandfather, and now it's relocating from what was his dresser drawer to me. It's supposedly in good condition, but discolored.

Next I've got a vintage black diamond razor headed my way. I picked it up cheap as a razor to practice honing and stropping on. I won't be upset if I accidently round it over or worse.

To go with that I've got a hone coming to practice on, and a strop for the same.

Still keeping my eyes open for a razor to actually start shaving with. I had my eye on one at whipped dog but it dissappeared on me, so I'm still searching.

I'll snap pics of these as they come in the mail and post them up for everyone to see. I'm really interested to get any info I can on the older razors to know what exactly they are and whether or not I should be using them, or displaying them in a case somewhere.

The Q:
I've seen some strop dressings listed online, particularly Fromm's and wonder what exactly they do for the strops, if they really work, etc. The strop I bought is used and the pictures I was sent look like it's decent, but I wonder if I might be well served to be prepared to do some rehab work.

This is kind of backwards to how I had planned to get into all this, but I didn't know there were vintage razors in the family.

Thanks for all your help.

I don't know about Fromm's dressing specifically but I've been told that you can use neatsfoot oil on strops if you want, or you can also use oil from your hands. I've also heard of people using a little bit of their shaving soap lather because of the oils in the soap. As far as the strop goes, if has nicks in it when it shows up you should be able to sand these out (although I've never done this and am not sure of the procedure). You can also roll the rounded side of a coffee mug over the strop if it has any uneven spots in it.
Congrats on the new razors! Hope to see some pics soon.

The Q:
I've seen some strop dressings listed online, particularly Fromm's and wonder what exactly they do for the strops, if they really work, etc. The strop I bought is used and the pictures I was sent look like it's decent, but I wonder if I might be well served to be prepared to do some rehab work.

I've been using Fromm dressing on an Illinois strop for a few months. It seems to keep the strop pliable. Just a little bit rubbed in, every week or so. A bottle is expensive, but lasts a long time.

Is it better than shaving lather, or neatsfoot oil, or a mixture of castor oil and tallow? I have no idea.

Charles


Charles

If you get a good strop you will virtually never need to 'dress' it. That stuff is good for old dry leather though or perhaps for a brand new tough strop.

Those are both excellent razors and may indeed come shave ready or nearly so if they were well maintained by the original owners. You lucky dog!

Keep at the finer points you are discovering about straight shaving (beard prep, angles etc.) and you'll be getting the shaves you deserve very soon.

Hey, so the family razors just showed up and I snapped a couple pics with them and posted them here:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...tml#post740410

I am incredibly excited.

I hope those work out. I'll second the DE, especially if money is a factor. You can get a dovo DE for around 30-40 and six months worth of blades for 10 bucks, whereas a razor, strop, and hones could run you into several hundred easy, and the DE's do just as good a job.