Bonjour-Hi from Montreal - need restoration advice

I am interested in old razors and restoration...

Several years back I was showing my sons the razors that my grandfather had used. These include a Torrey Razor Co. No. 332 and several Rolls Razors. He apparently favoured the Rolls, as he had worn one out and kept it for parts, while using a second one up until his death in 1975.

My eldest son - who had just started to shave regularly - expressed an interest in trying the straight razor. It was too dull and a bit damaged from years of my dad using it to trim wood veneer etc.

So for Christmas that year - much to his mother’s horror - I bought him one of those straight razors with the disposable blades to try out. It has been three years and he is still using the straight razor and will not use the six or seven bladed Gilette razor with the air-bag thing or whatever that my wife subsequently got him.

He is 21 now and for this Christmas I wanted to recondition his great-grandfather's razor and get him the stuff he needs to keep it in good order.

I need to find a trustworthy Montreal area sharpening service and some advice on what to buy strop-wise to get him started in the right direction.

I thought I would be able to get some good help from members here.

Thanks,

Welcome to SRP from a fellow Canadian - albeit a diehard Maple Leafs fan, but we all have our crosses to bear.

There is a very strong wet shaving community in Montreal. You can contact them via the Canadian Wet-Shavers group on Facebook. They should be able to put you in touch with the right person.

Maybe get up some pictures, need to see what damage was done cutting laminate

Welcome to the forum

Greetings fellow Montrealer. Post some pics of the razor. If it was used to trim wood veneer I fear the edge may need some serious work.

I will let our brothers to the north help you out here but will say Welcome to SRP. We can get things squared away or hook you up with the right person to get you going.

Do you know what Shavette he is using? That is what a straightrazor with a disposala le blade is called. Most of them are not very forgiving so if he has mastered that then a real straight will not be too much of a chalenge.
One other thing, having his grandfathers razor would be a great thing to use on ocations. Getting him a real custom straight of his own to use daily would be best, so the family razor can last for generations. Just something to think about.

Welcome to SRP. I'm sure there are members near that can help you as long as the blades are not too damaged. Having an heirloom is a great thing to have but it is a good idea to have some others to use also. Maybe consider checking.out some used ones for sale. There are many members who's sell refurbished ones for a very affordable price

Hi Skarabeast, welcome to SRP. I'm a former Montrealer, I now live close to Sherbrooke. There's only one professional "honemeister" that I know of in the Montreal area, but personally I'm not a big fan of his work. There are several guys who restore for fun and are pretty good, but are not pros. If you want a serious, high-quality restore you should send it to someone in this forum (like Gssixgun). Even including the shipping fees to the US the difference in price will be negligible, so since the quality will be way higher it's well worth it.

Hi and welcome aboard. Hopefully the heirloom razor hasn't been too damaged by misuse. I would also vote for another razor for daily shaving. We all make mistakes eventually so wouldn't want it to be an heirloom.

Welcome to the forum. An heirloom razor is typically not a good choice as a first restore. I would send it to someone. There are a few guys around that do restoration work, both in Canada and the US. Your son will also need a strop and to learn to strop properly. Perhaps it would be an idea to get him a non heirloom razor and a strop, when he gets good at handling that, then give him your grandfathers straight razor.

Hello and welcome to SRP.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do with the razor.
Enjoy your time here on the forum.

Pete <:-}

I know somewhere in that are up north and under the snow there is a place that sells razors and strops. But also on line so no need to visit the store. I just dont know the names of them.

From memory is Phil at Classic Edge. Does honing as well

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Originally Posted by Gasman

I know somewhere in that are up north and under the snow there is a place that sells razors and strops. But also on line so no need to visit the store. I just dont know the names of them.

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Fendrihan and Top of the Chain are in the Toronto area.

Thanks for the rapid replies … I will try to answer everyone’s points here.

The Shavette I bought him was made by Sanguine… I guess I liked the name.

As many of you have suggested, he probably should have a daily razor of his own… I will steer him towards this forum to get some ideas of what type he would like for a subsequent Christmas - gives us something more to buy for him other than Rugby gear. Excellent idea to buy refurbished ones - could try-out different styles... especially if the old razor is beyond hope.

I am including some photos of the blade. My dad didn't really put it to hard use … He also had razor knives and exactos for his veneer or balsa wood models. I think he just enjoyed using it… also gave him the excuse to tell me about the time that his Dad took the strop to him and his brother for some heinous crime - apparently they never required a second stropping !... or so the story went.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gasman

I know somewhere in that are up north and under the snow there is a place that sells razors and strops. But also on line so no need to visit the store. I just dont know the names of them.

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Good thing for this online thing ... no need to fire up the dog team ;)

The razor looks like it's in pretty good shape, it should be a pretty quick and easy to get it back into shaving condition (in the right hands).

For strops, the main places in Canada have already been mentioned. I usually recommend beginners to get a paddle or board strop because it removes a lot of variables and so is easy to learn on. They're also cheap ($35 at Classic Edge), so when (not if) they get nicked by someone just learning to strop, it's not a huge loss. Once your son is more comfortable with stropping, assuming he chooses to follow the straight razor path, then you or he can invest in a better hanging strop.

There are also cheap but decent quality hanging strops if he wants to plunge in headfirst. Fendrihan carries a Ruitertassen, for example, that's decent. Just be sure to get 2.5" or 3" in width - a lot of the cheap hanging strops are narrower than this, which makes them harder to use for a beginner. The narrower the strop, the more on point the X-stroke needs to be. With a 3" wide strop, an X-stroke usually isn't even necessary (although it still helps).

If you are looking at picking up a second, vintage straight razor so that the heirloom one doesn't get destroyed, I recommend buying one through the Buy/Sell/Trade part of this forum because the razor will come shave ready (if listed as such) - as opposed to buying something off of eBay. If you'd prefer to buy locally, there's a guy on the South Shore that sometimes sells restored razors that are shave ready - he lists his stuff on Kijiji. He the guy I mentioned earlier in this thread - he does good restoration work, but I'm not a fan of his honing. Badgister, who also lives in Montreal and who posted earlier in this thread, often has razors for sale through this forum, but his tend to be collectors items and maybe not ideal for beginners - but of course it depends on your price range. DZEC mentioned the Canadian Wet Shavers Facebook group, there are often razors for sale there for good prices that don't require international shipping.

If you (or your son) join the Canadian Wet Shavers Facebook group, you post those photos of the razor and ask if anyone might be willing to take on a restoration. As previously mentioned, it doesn’t look like any seriously difficult repair is needed.

If you want a guaranteed first-rate restore, contact gssixgun on this forum. He is based in the U.S., so crossing borders with a sharp thing is something to contemplate.

Crossing the border, via mail at least, is not such a big deal. I have sent razors to Canada a few times and they seem to get there with no problems to speak of.
That razor looks to be without serious damage as has been mentioned. Also Torrey is a well respected maker. It is American steel of good quality, rather on the hard side which means more work to hone but it also holds an edge well. Also it is a round point which makes it less prone to biting like a square, Spanish or spike point would be. Single shoulder makes is less complicated to hone yourself if that time ever comes. Wait on that one for a while though. You can definitely revive it and pass it down for more generations with the proper care. Keep it dry and stored well and it should be a cherished piece of family history for a long time. A straight razor can last hundreds of years if treated well.
I'm happy for you. I have my father's razor which I believe belonged to my grandfather among other heirlooms and I cherish them deeply.

So we had a good Christmas - my son is thrilled to get hold of a proper razor and I expect his great-grandfather would be pleased as well.

Many thanks to Badgister for restoring the razor to shave ready back in August.

As per the advice of joelkerr , I bought him a board strop to learn with and a hanging strop for later.

I made him a kit with a badger brush, a mug, and a puck of Williams. He is the fourth generation ( that I know ) to use Williams but he is a Biochemist so I expect he will be open to experimenting with other soaps - the three preceding generations were (and are) engineers and I think we appreciated the form and functionality of the Williams puck.

Thanks for the input from all, here's wishing a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a better new year to everyone.

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Originally Posted by eddy79

From memory is Phil at Classic Edge. Does honing as well

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I bought my first razor from Classic edge and Phil made it shave ready for me, he's very good.

He's in Ontario