Thread: Ok To Be Old

Hello guys,

This is my first post and like the rest I have a question. I am from the south and I like "Old Fashoned" things. I thought shaving with a atraight razor would be cool so I went to ebay and bought a Joseph Allen & son NON XLL. I cleaned it and sharpened it on a 4000/m 8000 water stone and went to work. The razor works great and so does the styptic. I have bought several razors and followed this same process. Does the cleaning and using the razors devalue my two dollar razors. Is this a taboo thing to do to actually restore and shave with these razors? It took about a month to get the courage to actually use one. There is no hair left on my arms!!!!

Most of us here at SRP 'restore' razors. Some, like Vlad, Bill, and Larry, have raised restoration to an art form. My personal take on it, razors are a tool; a really cool, very sharp, potentially dangerous, but useful tool. It would be a waste to have them sitting on a shelf, covered in rust, collecting dust. Devalue your $2 e-bay special? Hardly, you've created a working piece of art/history.
FWIW,
Ed

By the way, welcome to SRP, it's good to have you with us.

pmays,

Welcome to the forum. I will echo forestry professor.
Restore away and enjoy them or sell them to newbies
on this forum.

Terry

pmays

I love "old fashioned", "vintage", "antique", "original",etc.

I have the love of the past in most everything that I do. I use bamboo flyrods for fishing. I use vintage double barreled shotguns for hunting. I use planes and chisels for my woodworking, not power tools (this is how I make my living). And amongst many other things in my life I shave with a straight razor. I was truly born a century too late.

The one thing that I am a true believer of is that the maker of the things that we use made them to use. I have many items that are in the collectable category, but I use them because I apprieciate them and because the people that made these things, made these things to use, not to collect.

If you can "rescue" or restore a razor for your use, then do so. You are giving true honor to the maker.

In short dont let the razor die, rescue it!

Ed you flatter me by putting me in the same company as Bill. I am just starting out and maybe one day achieve stature but I appreciate the praise nevertheless.

I personally feel that there is nothing wrong with restoring a razor but I am biased because I am visual and prefer clean blades, I also enjoy doing the restoration work. I think that some collectors want unmodified history although I don't see how removing the crud or rust of time is modifying an antique, unless it is done improperly.

I only have one razor in my shaving rotation that does not shine. It's a 7/8 W&B and I will clean it up eventually but for now I still love the contrast of the gleaming honed edge against the backdrop of light grey patina. If on the other hand if it had minor rust or pits it would be shining by now.

Same goes for shaving. Some want unused razors but a razor is a working instrument not a painting just to be looked at. It is designed to be used and if done properly, will last generations. So using it properly, in my non-collector opinion does not devalue a razor. On the other hand I think that collecting razors that cannot be used for shaving is like collecting faded paintings that don't have much left to view.

I would not worry about loosing value on a $2 razor. Worst case scenario is you are out $2 .

These guys said it all. But I still feel the need to chime in If I made a tool today and 100 years from now, 6 feet under and given the choice, I'd much rather have some guy polish it up and use it than it sit in some other guys collection and gather dust. Original intent, as it were. That being said, there are some out there who, for some reason that escapes me, think "collectibles" should not be messed with. Classic cars should be restored and then trailered around the country from show to show. Bullsh*t. An old coin is more valuable in it's horrid state than gleaming, because of the infinitesimal amount of metal that had to be removed to make it gleam. Big friggin deal, I say. There might be a point with razors, say a mint condition 1788 Sheffield two razor set in a fitted case with fluted pearl handles that would be wiser kept untouched, purely for investment purposes. Then again that's a few light years away from a $2 razor. For most of them, go for it. Even at the higher end of the spectrum, with proper care, you will not devalue them much, if at all. Welcome to the SRP, by the way. Glad to have you here.

Jeff

Originally Posted by pmays

Hello guys,

This is my first post and like the rest I have a question. I am from the south and I like "Old Fashoned" things. I thought shaving with a atraight razor would be cool so I went to ebay and bought a Joseph Allen & son NON XLL. I cleaned it and sharpened it on a 4000/m 8000 water stone and went to work. The razor works great and so does the styptic. I have bought several razors and followed this same process. Does the cleaning and using the razors devalue my two dollar razors. Is this a taboo thing to do to actually restore and shave with these razors? It took about a month to get the courage to actually use one. There is no hair left on my arms!!!!

Use them, restore them... I think of them as I do any tool they are best when they are in use not sitting on a shelf.

If you had a vintage Ferrari wasting away in the garage, that would be a damn pity and Enzo would roll over in his grave. Like a well-made razor, they're made to be used the way they were desinged to be used! Would you leave Cindy Crawford home all the time or would you explore the world with her? Check that, maybe I would just leave her home..................with me and enough provisions never to have to leave the house!! I would need a good supply of shaving soap and aftershave too.

-Rob

Originally Posted by pmays

Does the cleaning and using the razors devalue my two dollar razors.

It could devaluate it for a collector if you had a real colector's item. But you turned a piece of junk into a useful razor. Now, more guys would buy it because they don't need to restore it. So, you probably increased the market and its value.

Let's put this one to bed. You can Either let a razor stay like this;


OR

You can let an artist like Bill Ellis turn it into this;

Any questions?

X