Thread: 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.