Thread: Just a couple of questions

greetings all as you might guess i'm totally new to the straight razor shaving community. So i have a couple of questions for the experienced shavers. As i have yet to purchase my first razor (mainly for financial reasons), i was wondering if anyone know of reputable ebay sellers that aren't asking an arm and a leg for razors. Also i am a welder and steel fabricator and am very interested in the prospect of making my own razor of course i have now clue as to what alloys are most commonly used as well as hardening and tempering temperatures that are most commonly used (of course that would be dependent on the specific material). What would really be brilliant if someone had a work space in the Vancouver Canada area (where a live) and would be willing to guild me in crafting my first razor ( i would of course be more that willing to pay for materials)

cheers
-Omid

Welcome to SRP!

For vintage razors, avoid eBay... Try these places:
Straight Razors - Straight Razor Place Classifieds
Gem Star Customs - Welcome GemStar Customs
Holli4's Straight Razor Page
The Restored Razor - Straight Razor Shaving
Shaving Smart

For questions about metallurgy and razor making, go here: The Forge - Straight Razor Place Forums

Welcome to SRP there are a couple places to get an inexpensive razor that is shave ready. The first is the classifieds here on SRP, and the other is [URL="whippeddog.com"[/URL]. You can get a great razor at both and at whippeddog you can pick up a strop as well. You can get a brush and soap from any Shoppers Drug Mart near you. Good luck and feel free to ask questions the guys on this site are great.

welcome to srp.

unfortunately the problem with ebay is that you have to outbid everybody else and if a seller has built good reputation there are many people trying to get a 'good deal' on their auctions.
you really don't want to gamble buying a razor you aren't sure that is well honed - make a mistake and then you'll have to spend another $20-$30 to send it for honing to a reputable person, and wait a couple more weeks until it comes.

alternatively you can visit the classifieds section of this site where members list razors for sale at a fixed price that they consider good.
the advantage is that you know exactly who the member selling the razor is and you can do some research on the forum to decide whether you'd trust them to provide your first razor.

the same goes with the vendors advertising on this forum.

it will be far cheaper to buy a razor than make your own. the selection of steel is easy, a tool steel like 1096 or O1 is good, and you can research on the proper way to heat treat it. But then comes the grinding, the HT, the honing, scaling.... If you're willing to spend the time and effort for that you're far better off getting a good old razor without much hone wear and deep pitting and cleaning it up - will be cheaper, faster, much higher workmanship than you can achieve, and probably will shave better too.

Hello and welcome to SRP from a fellow Canadian