Thread: Greetings from a Phoenix shaving newb, software guy and sub-par woodworker

Hi, I'm a new member and I currently reside in Phoenix AZ.

I have historically travelled a lot for work, which meant disposable blades only. However my current client has me doing a lot of work from home, which affords me a bit of time for family - and maybe even using a real blade to shave, which has been of interest to me for a while.

I've been interested in straight blade shaving almost as a byproduct of my interest in woodworking. I have spent a lot of time and energy learning to sharpen hand tools to perform (reasonably) well, and it made me curious to see if I could do better than the ridiculously expensive plastic and itty bitty little blades that I use.

I know how to sharpen, though it's still a journey. I also know from experience that my old-school, old steel chisels (from Witherby, and to a lesser extent, vintage Stanley) get sharper than my (fairly) new Lie-Nielsens, and both completely trounce anything you can buy new from the junk dealerships know as Lowes and Home Depot. I expect that's probably the case with razors too.

But just like woodworking its mostly about the skill, and I have none. I'm hoping I can get help on finding a Witherby-equivalent razor and help using it here.

Thanks in advance for your help and advice!

Acacia

Hi and welcome. All the ad vendors on site should be able to fix you up with a quality new blade. The classifieds are a source for older blades and the seller will usually tell you the properties and condition of the blade and sell it shave ready. Good luck with the search and be sure to check out the library for all your basic razor, prep, equipment, etc info

Welcome to the 'Place'

Thank you!

Thank you. I guess my first order of business will be to determine if I should get a new blade or a vintage one.

I'm leaning toward a vintage, restored one that's been properly sharpened.

As I mentioned in my intro post, my experience is that old tools, in particular old edge tool steel, takes a superior edge to modern equivalents, which have consciously made compromises for durability, rust resistance, etc. at the expense of the keenest possible edge. I see it in edge tools like knives too. Is that true for razors as well?

Acacia

Originally Posted by acacia

Thank you. I guess my first order of business will be to determine if I should get a new blade or a vintage one.

I'm leaning toward a vintage, restored one that's been properly sharpened.

As I mentioned in my intro post, my experience is that old tools, in particular old edge tool steel, takes a superior edge to modern equivalents, which have consciously made compromises for durability, rust resistance, etc. at the expense of the keenest possible edge. I see it in edge tools like knives too. Is that true for razors as well?

Acacia

Vintage is good but new can be also. It really comes down to the individual blade tho some of the older razors are a sweet shave. Wouldn't hurt to have one of each if within your budget otherwise I always tended towards vintage myself.