Thread: Hello All, new here and need info thanks

My names edward from wa state

I decided to switch from the 3-4 dollar cartridge to a straight razor....
did some research online and found this site, what a help
did a little looking and found a couple of razors and grabbed them up (got some tips from this site on what to get)
but they are not shave ready

one is a wade and butcher sheffield england with black plastic? handle with a felt button up sleeve with lots of holes
says (B in a circle curves facing edge) (SPECIAL with a arrow thru) and a iron cross on blade and on the tang there is the b arrow and iron cross 9/16" wide blade with a square point, half hollow grind and double stabilizer shoulder close to sharp but needs very lite hone or heavy stropping?

the second one is a Bradrei (in a ribbon) solingen on other side says (21)
(BLAZSEK) (BUDAPEST) with a gold swirl (marble looking) colored plastic handle and rounded toe 5/8" wide blade with round point, half hollow grind and double stabilizer shoulder, back of shoulder is checked the underside is straight notches ground for non slip (this one needs some more work on the edge and cleanup a bit of corrosion on the point area and just off the edge

I have seen lots of W and B blades but none of the bradrei (except the tennis ones)

I found a little info about the Bradrei and from what i could discover,
In a Dovo 100 Years Cutlery Craftsmanship 1906-2006 anniversary booklet says
"On 18th Jan 1939, obviously dissatisfied, Carl Dorp withdraws the business management from his son and makes a deal to sell the company to the trained straight razor grinder and manufacturer Fritz Bracht sole owner of the company Fritz Bracht Cutlery Products in Wald near Solingen. Fritz Bracht had already spent 20 years visiting retailers in Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria and Switzerland, selling the straight razors of his own brand (Bradrei)." so figure the blade made approx 1919-1939

I am a relatively new knife maker and i use a 1x30 belt sander with a used 800-1000 grit belt and a leather strop belt to sharpen all of my knives but i dont think that this is such a good idea with a razor.....

if someone can give me more info about the razors (dates and manufacture info and perhaps value)
also some suggestions for touching up the edges would be appreciated
i don't have any honing stones but can make leather strop or strop boards to use... problem is i am not sure exactly how the edge should be

ps just moments ago just won another ebay wade and butcher.... boy this is going to get expensive!

thanks all
edward
edgreywolf@gmail(dot)com

There are some great honemeisters here that can hone and strop your razors if you wish to shave with them.

You won't get any appraisels for value here though. Price tag is not important, how they shave is the only meter you will find here.

I guess i didn"t explain myself too well

I got these for users and any others i get will be users also....
Don't know if i will collect them also or not yet... but its looking like maybe i will
I was originally going to offer these for trade if someone really wanted one to add to their collection if i had a hard to find blade..... but i chickened out and started to think about possibly collecting them for myself
Value was just curiosity and whether or not i should keep them in their current parts and just restore them or go ahead and rehandle etc.

this is all new to me and any info i get will be much appreciated.... been reading alot on this site and sometimes it makes my brain hurt

thanks to all that help us new to the blade
Edward

First off, knife sharpening and razor honing are as different as night and day...literally. Your knife grinder could very easily ruin the temper on a razor & I would highly recommend your not putting a razor to your belts unless you are planning on re-heat treating. I would recommend spending some time in the wiki and learn some on honing...and it does take hones for razors. Most knife stones are just too rough a grit for anything other than bevel setting on a razor. Again, please don't put your razors (look like good finds by the way) to your 1x30 grinder.

Welcome to SRP Edward. The blades in your pics are pretty well worn. Not to say they won't shave but the stabiliser will get in the way & make honing a nightmare.
You can likely compensate with a bit of judicious grinding. This link may help :
http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...ing-heels.html