Went poking around antique/jewelry/thrift stores today.

Only found one straight razor. I was pretty disappointed. I only found one razor after about 6 stores. The one I did find wasn't too bad, a Wade & Butchers. I googled it and seems like it maybe is good steel. I'm pretty sure it was a near wedge, i didn't measure but it looks about 6 or 7 8ths to me. Some small nicks in the blad, and the heal was a little curved out, but the spine looked good, no significant rust. Scales were busted up by the wedge on one side. They had it marked $75, I got them down to $55 but that still seemed a tad hight for something I don't even have the skills or equipment to restore myself.

Oh well, I had fun hunting at least. Here's some photos. Found these other things that looked like combs with scales. Not sure what they're called, very weird.

http://getfile9.posterous.com/getfil...scaled1000.jpg
http://getfile7.posterous.com/getfil...scaled1000.jpg
http://getfile5.posterous.com/getfil...scaled1000.jpg
http://getfile0.posterous.com/getfil...scaled1000.jpg

The blade itself looks really good and will need very little work

To clarify, I did NOT buy the razor. Wanted to, but didn't for reasons stated above and also because I don't have that kinda wiggle room in our budget right now, we just had our house's a/c serviced.

I may go see if it's still there in a couple months, offer them $40 perhaps. I'm not so sure I would want to be trying to learn on a near wedge anyway.

Go back and buy it... Please for the love of razors everywhere do so. And as for restoration, all you need is a a ball peen hammer and som pliers to get yourself a new set of scales on, and replacement scales can be very cheap. I wouldn't pass it up, instead I'd offer them some money down to hold it for you till a later, more wiggle free time

Oh and a file.. I use my issued gerber for restoration work

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nonstickron

Found these other things that looked like combs with scales. Not sure what they're called, very weird.

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Sounds like a hair razor. The blade itself is disposable. A hair stylist would hold a lock of hair and "comb" it with a buffing motion from the scalp to the end of the lock to give their client a "layered" look. I used to get my hair done that way back in the early 70s -- when I had hair! :boohoo:

Get the darn thing.

Get it eh? Is it that nice of a find? I really don't have the cash right now. Hmm..

I just asked SWMBO (who also does our bills) and she said "NO, not right now. I doubt it's going anywhere." :tameshigiri:

Those W&B's with that style lettering are pretty rare and very nice shavers, point out the broken scales, no box and that it's not shave ready and offer $35

I think you did well to stay within your budget. Most of my razors came from local shops and I would not have paid more than $25 for it and I do razor restorations and honing.

Hunting for razors in antique shops and flea markets requires a lot of patients and will power to leave the over priced razors behind. The inventory in these shops usually turns over quickly. Some times none of them have any razors and other times they all have razors. Some vendors price the razors dirt cheap and others want a fortune for junk. Be patient, stay within your budget and hit the shops often. A lot of the shops in my area rent space to antique numerous vendors. In shops like this you will see prices vary greatly. If the shop that had the razor mentioned above is a one vendor shop I would cross it off my list. If it has many vendors I might hunt it for a while to see what shows up. Usually you can spot a price trend in the shops by noting what other items are listed for. If the vendor dropped the price of the razor by 1/3 that person was probably the vendor for that razor. You may find that all of their razors are priced high. Good luck hunting.

While that is a good find I think you where right in passing at that price. $75 may be ok for a hardcore collecter that wants that kind of detail. The etcheing could be damaged in the restoration and it would be a shame to loose it if you payed extra for it.

Under $40 and I would be all over it... in a heartbeat lol Heck I came across one like it for $20 and I don't think I pulled off my cool as a cucumber act getting it to the regester :p

"cool as a cucumber" hahaha I pictured someone running all gangly and wobbly kneed up to the register with a stupid grin on their face telling everyone it's feels like Christmas..... Well, that's what I did! :p

The shop in question is an antique store where everything is labeled with an inventory code. The clerk called the owner and told them the inventory code and told them what it was and asked what the best price they would do on it was. I actually asked him if they had any straights when i went in and he'd told me no, but i poked around and found one anyway. And yes dropping the price by $20 made me think I could probably counter offer lower if it's still there when I go back.

I was looking for a steal, found overpriced interesting steel instead. I satisfied my curiosity about my area, which is a pretty small town, so I really didn't expect to find much.

I was wondering about polishing over that etching. I imagine it would be quick to buff away to nothing. I did some research on here about shaving with wedges, sounds like a great shave but a pain to get/keep sharp.

I bought the same razor from a well known US razor supplier - it was in worse condition and I paid a lot more. Value is a very subjective issue and I wanted a large WB. I would not worry about cleaning up the etching, keep it as it is - mine has some water marks but I prefer that than losing it which is probably what would happen if it is over-polished.

I've visited many, many antique stores here in Chicago. Let me tell you that finding a decent razor in the wild is a very hard thing to do. One piece in six shops that could easily be made shave ready is par for the course. When you also find one with a well known, highly sought after manufacturer the odds were against you even more.

Start recycling cans and bottles, deliver newspapers in the AM, mow your neighbors lawn, sell your personal belongings, and see if you can get them down to $35-40! good luck!

One other thought - check out the classifieds right now and see what a decent WB is offered at ($300). You will see other examples in the archives.