Hey guys, just wanted to say howdy to the community and quietly assert myself into the world of an obviously much older crowd. I'm 23 years old, 24 in February, and I've been shaving with a Gillette Mach3 that I recieved free in the mail from Gillette around my 18th birthday with the instinctual mentality that (because there weren't really any other options) this was as good as it got. Unfortunately for me in the straight razor area, I've got a wee bit too much native amaerican in me, and am currently still unable to manage much better than a pathetic attempt at a mustache that actually stops growing about a 1/4 inch long, and a very sparse growth on my chin with a few random hairs here and there numbering under a half dozen...but I'm here anyhow. Well, I've always had a thing for knives ever since I was very little, and growing up I always had a half dozen "gas station special" pocket knives laying about and only in the last year or so discovered REAL knives when I broke the $100 mark buying my first Benchmade.

I decided I had better find a way to sharpen my knives because I wanted to keep my new toys in good working order. Enter the Spyderco Sharpmaker. Works great, got it cheap, and even I can make a blade sharp with it. Well, watching the instructional video included with it they sharpened a straight razor and my mind went "OOOH...something sharp I don't have yet!" Several weeks of researching later I opted for eBay instead of a new $200 TI



The blade says TWINS with a pair of the Henckels twins flanking it on one side, and the other says JA Henckels Twin Works Solingen Germany. Not an expensive razor, and not a new one, but I liked the look of it and I already love Henckels knives, so I figured why not. Anyone know a date on this and maybe a blade material guess? Wish there was more info on the razor itself.

Since funds are limited, I am using canvas for a strop and my gillette gel in a can until I can afford a badger brush some good soap and a leather strop (probably from ebay again cause I don't have loads of dough to blow). Honed it on the Sharpmaker, stropped it a bit on my canvas, and gave it a whirl. Not very smooth glide, kinda a scratchy unnerving noise, but other than my obvious lack of skill and materials causing some missed hairs and such I managed a rather pleasant shave, sans nicks, sans blood, sans that cakey feeling I've always had after shaving which has apparently been due to the fact that the dead skin on my face has never come off. I'm hooked.

Anyhow, sorry for the lengthy post but I have a seriously irritating tendancy towards the verbose and can't seem to stop myself sometimes. PS I'm hoping to get hold of a digital camera and get some higher res pics of the razor now that it's all cleaned up so keep and eye out.