Thread: New to Straight Shaving

Hello Everyone!!

I have wanted to buy a straight razor for a while now and finally bought one for 5 bucks while wandering around a flea market last weekend. It is a simple Clauss with cheap black plastic scales. There is a little bit of surface rust near the spine of the blade and on the tang but not much. Also, there are a lot of black spots along the length of the blade (concentrated near the spine as well). You can see all that in the pic. I did not do much research prior to my purchase but as soon as I got home I began research and have found that there is much more to straight razors and using them to shave than I thought. I have a few questions if yous dont mind taking the time to answer them.


1) Should I have just walked away from this razor?
2) I am interested in attempting to restore the razor. Where can I find the 1/16 rod and the washers for pinning it when I am done? I am in Ontario, Canada.
3) Is it possible to make new scales? Or at least spiff up the boring ones that I have now?
4) Where can I find honing stones and strops?

Thank you for your time. I look forward to learning as much as I can about these razors.

Great. Thank you Maxi. I am continuing to research and will definitely be paying my local hobby shops a visit.

I do not have one, but it is my understanding that Clauss made very nice razors. For $5 I think you got a deal!

There's a big Wiki on this site. Lots of information about hones, restoration, and so on.

As Maxi says, if the edge is fairly clean (free of deep pits and chips), you'll be able to hone it back to life. It was a good deal for $5, probably. Even if you send it out for honing, it will have been a good deal.

You'll find that buying hones can be more expensive than buying razors. It's possible to use wet-or-dry sandpaper, on a flat surface, for the coarse work, and micro-abrasive sheets for the fine work. There's a Wiki article about it. But you'll need the same skills with sandpaper as you will with stones.

Charles

OK. Cheaper is definitely better while I am just starting out.

If your in the GTA get it to phil or Maxi for that first hone. As you have never shaved with a straight, trying to hone it yourself you are going to be adding another variable to the learning experience. If after you get it honed and you want to learn to do it yourself you will at least have the base line of knowing what a sharp razor felt like before you screw it up yourself. Yeah I said it,