Thread: Help for a beginner with a ton of unknown equipment

Hello everyone!

I have been interested in learning to shave with a straight edge for awhile, but have put it off due to the high startup costs (razor, strop, etc.). Last week I inherited a whole bunch of straight shaving gear. My grandfather was a barber from 1927 to 1995 (he didn't retire until he was 87!) and I now have a stop, quite a few razors and two hones of his. I was hoping for some information about them because I would like to use them.

The stop has two straps, one is smooth leather and the second is coarser leather with a diagonal grade to it (it has two different colors to the leather, dark and light, going diagonally down the strap like pinstripes). I am not sure what the coarser leather would be used for?

The hones I am also unfamiliar with. One is dark brown and very smooth. It is about 4" by 2" with chips on the ends. The second is jet black, about 2" by 6", very smooth (more so than the brown one) and has "Raven" printed at one end with a small bird next to the word. I assume these are hones- but is there any way to determine what type? Do I need honing oil to use them?

I also have 12 razors. I don't know anything about them, but they all appear to be of the wedge type. There's a Dovo, a bunch of Hess razors and a few double duck razors. They are all dull and some have small rust spots. Whats the best way to remove the rust? If I can figure out the hones I would like to sharpen some and use them. Well anyways, thanks for any info you can provide and if I can borrow a digital camera I'll try to post some pictures of the razors.

Welcome and congratulations on the really good tools that you now have!

The names of the razors are all quite good. Hess is very good quality and Hess Hair Milk Company is based out of St. Paul, Minnesota and is currently located on Rice Stree just a couple miles from my home. They no longer have razors made for them and will not be doing so anymore. The Dubl Duck brand is very well regarded. If any of them are the Wonderedge model then you have a true gem, one of the most valuable razors on the market today. There is also the Dwarf, Special No. 1, Satinedge, Satinwedge, and Goldedge. Dovo is still producing straight razors in Germany and makes a quality product. You have a verg good stable of razors.

The strop - The diagonal side, rough side is used before the fine finish side typically only when the razor needs a touch up sharpening but some people would use it more often then that.
Go to www.classicshaving.com and read some of the articles there to help you learn how to use the strop. Pressure , speed, direction and strop conditioning are areas to pay attention to.

Hones - there has to be a gazillion different classic razor hones out there. Most people use water or shaving lather on a classic barber hone, not oil. If you have used oil on it then just soak the stone in some soapy water for awhile and scrub off the oil. It will be just fine.
Read as many of the articles as you can find on this site, the Yahoo straightrazorplace group site and on classicshaving.com about when and how to use the hones. They are very different from sharpening a knife.

Since your grandfather obviously knew what he was doing The razors should not need much work to bring them back into a shave ready state. To remove the rust a lot of us use MAAS, a metal polish, It seems to be the most effective. Any number of other metal polishes will also work, just not as fast.

If you need someone to hone the razors for you so you can start shaving then let us know.

Best of luck and keep us posted on how this all goes for you,

Welcome and congratulations on the really good tools that you now have!

The names of the razors are all quite good. Hess is very good quality and Hess Hair Milk Company is based out of St. Paul, Minnesota and is currently located on Rice Stree just a couple miles from my home. They no longer have razors made for them and will not be doing so anymore. The Dubl Duck brand is very well regarded. If any of them are the Wonderedge model then you have a true gem, one of the most valuable razors on the market today. There is also the Dwarf, Special No. 1, Satinedge, Satinwedge, and Goldedge. Dovo is still producing straight razors in Germany and makes a quality product. You have a verg good stable of razors.

The strop - The diagonal side, rough side is used before the fine finish side typically only when the razor needs a touch up sharpening but some people would use it more often then that.
Go to www.classicshaving.com and read some of the articles there to help you learn how to use the strop. Pressure , speed, direction and strop conditioning are areas to pay attention to.

Hones - there has to be a gazillion different classic razor hones out there. Most people use water or shaving lather on a classic barber hone, not oil. If you have used oil on it then just soak the stone in some soapy water for awhile and scrub off the oil. It will be just fine.
Read as many of the articles as you can find on this site, the Yahoo straightrazorplace group site and on classicshaving.com about when and how to use the hones. They are very different from sharpening a knife.

Since your grandfather obviously knew what he was doing The razors should not need much work to bring them back into a shave ready state. To remove the rust a lot of us use MAAS, a metal polish, It seems to be the most effective. Any number of other metal polishes will also work, just not as fast.

If you need someone to hone the razors for you so you can start shaving then let us know.

Best of luck and keep us posted on how this all goes for you,

Thank you for your reply. Glad I didn't use oil on the hone. Also, unfortunately, the dubl ducks are a golden and a satin edge, no wonderwedge. Thanks again.

Thanks you for your reply. Glad I didn't use oil on the hone. Also, unfortunately, the dubl ducks are a golden and a satin edge, no wonderwedge. Thanks again.

Thank you for your reply. Glad I didn''t use oil on the hone. Also, unfortunately, the dubl ducks are a golden and a satin edge, no wonderwedge. Thanks again.

Originally Posted by bob03

unfortunately, the dubl ducks are a golden and a satin edge, no wonderwedge. Thanks again.

Hey bob,
Not unfortunate... they're still Dubl Ducks. Highly regarded and good shavers.
Parry

Originally Posted by bob03

unfortunately, the dubl ducks are a golden and a satin edge, no wonderwedge. Thanks again.

Hey bob,
Not unfortunate... they're still Dubl Ducks. Highly regarded and good shavers.
Parry

Originally Posted by bob03

Thank you for your reply. Glad I didn't use oil on the hone. Also, unfortunately, the dubl ducks are a golden and a satin edge, no wonderwedge. Thanks again.

That's like say, "Darn it's only a Corvette and a Jaguar, not a Ferrari."

Originally Posted by bob03

Thank you for your reply. Glad I didn't use oil on the hone. Also, unfortunately, the dubl ducks are a golden and a satin edge, no wonderwedge. Thanks again.

That's like say, "Darn it's only a Corvette and a Jaguar, not a Ferrari."