Thread: Hi from Virginia

My shill detector just went off....

Why, because i'm a junior member? Give me a break, and thanks for the insult. I'm just saying for $20 bucks, it was a good buy. I've bought worse disposables for that much. I never said it was the best razor i've ever shaved with, etc., i just mentioned that it was a good shave, and that it was worth the 20 bucks.

Lets see what Glen has to say about the razor. Frankly, what I have seen does not inspire confidence. The vendor does not seem to know the difference between high carbon steel and pattern welded Damascus. If he did then he would not say that a single razor had both steels in the razors description. Perhaps the best question to ask him is what steel is used for the high carbon steel models and what steels are used for the Damascus models.
If he does not know then it is time to avoid this vendor.

This is some great info to know. Thanks for putting out there.

Originally Posted by roughkype

Hello Jinxt, and welcome. There can be good stuff in antique stores, but sometimes it needs a really close look. Review the razors section on our Wiki, and it sounds like you've now seen our razors to avoid list.

The main issue I watch for (besides obvious things like closes centered, no big chips, scales aren't rotting) is micropitting along the edge. Take along a good magnifier (mine's a 10x Baush & Lomb Hastings triplet) and inspect the edge for tiny pits. They're usually in clusters, and make the metal look like Swiss cheese. If they're along the actual edge or even close to the bevel, ditch that blade. Sometimes you can hone them out, but it's a bad risk. They extend into the metal like a tiny cave network.

You may see areas of pitting where the blade touches the scales. Here it's more a cosmetic problem that a little sanding can fix. Rust on the blade isn't a big crisis, unless it's bad along the edge and/or flakes off in red chunks. Again, you can sand it.

Celluloid rot can be a dramatic condition to find. You'll see a very localized rusting on the blade that matches a deterioration of the scale's inner surface. The celluloid scale is breaking down and releasing either acetic or nitric acid vapor, depending on how it was made. You can rescue these blades, as long as the damage isn't at an edge. First thing to do, though, is get the scales off and throw them away. They're like bad apples; cell rot in one scale can trigger it in other scales stored nearby. For an exciting kick, take the scales out to your sidewalk and light them on fire. Wear sunglasses; it's one bright flame!

Old horn scales can get worm tracks in them, too. I've got one blade that had some worm-associated rust on it, but a little worm slime doesn't do much damage.

I hope you make some lucky finds. If you see something you like, you can post pics here and folks can tell you if it's a good blade or not. Include any stamps on the tang in your pics. We cannot counsel you on price/value; that's one of the big rules here. You can also just type the razor name into the search box up in the right corner and see if it's been discussed here. That's how I made my own first well-informed antique razor purchase--though it was not my first ever antique razor purchase

Good luck and best wishes.

Sounds like you started a business based on nothing more than marketing. Yes, straight shaving is a growing market, and plenty of people capitalize on the ignorance of people by selling junk, so the key is to first concentrate in what is the core i.e. figure out what is a good product that will actually do the work.

It doesn't look like you have done that so far, hopefully you will in the near future. I would suggest you put your own skin in the game and learn how to use straight razors yourself, then you'll save yourself the embarrassment of selling your customers the equivalent of a butter knife or a saw and telling them they can get great shaves with those.

Buzzwords and trying to impress with terminology e.g. your honing procedure work only so far - it's the end result that matters.

Finally, I would highly recommend reconsidering your domain name. There is nothing vintage about your razors, so I consider it misleading advertising. Even if your products become good, it leaves plenty of bad taste in my mouth to stay a mile away.
I suspect it is just another marketing trick, probably capitalizing on somebody else's highly successful business, but in this community cheap tricks like this usually backfire doing a great damage. Integrity is important and you need to demonstrate substance, not just the abilities of used cars salesman.

Originally Posted by VSR

Hi Guys its Luke from VintageStraightRazor.

I have been told by Jinxt and a couple of others that bought razors from us they would be reviewing them. I actually sent Jinxt a few others to review these will not be worthy of shaving yet either. I had an "expert" that was doing a "novice" job it turns out on the sharpening. I have spent a ton of capital these last few months on all the equipment for our US production facility. Happy to announce that the first quarter of 2012 we will be producing our own razors here in Idaho USA!

So to make a long story short we are getting the quality control taken care of on the sharpening and now have 3 well trained techs on sharpening. We start with Shun 1000 grit wet stones. Then to a Norton 4000, next the Norton 8000 back to the 4000 and then again on the 8000. We then strop. I have been contacted by some of the very nice courteous people here on this site that have offered to review the quality of the product and help provide feedback for improvement.

@randydance062449 - I apologize if we have an error on the site. Our high carbon razors are not Damascus steel and should not be labeled as such. I will head over to the site and fix this issue.

I realize we are not perfect yet however we are willing to do what it takes to correct our errors and improve where needed. Thanks for the hospitality and constructive criticism.


Regards,
Luke

Originally Posted by synapse

Why, because i'm a junior member? Give me a break, and thanks for the insult. I'm just saying for $20 bucks, it was a good buy. I've bought worse disposables for that much. I never said it was the best razor i've ever shaved with, etc., i just mentioned that it was a good shave, and that it was worth the 20 bucks.

I can't speak to the razors from featherrazor but knowing that they're capitalizing on the good name of Feather sketches me out. Also they are selling this kit: Feather Razor | Straight Razor | Premium Shave Set | FeatherRazor.com for $20. I can pick it up at my local Rite Aid for $11.99.

Hey guys. I recently purchased one of the GB Buckingham and Sons razors from the same site as Jinxt. Once mine comes in, I'll let you know what I think. This will be my first straight razor but I'll take some pics and post them here for others to view. Hopefully mine will come a bit sharper since the honing process is supposedly improved.

Alright, my razor came today so I thought I'd send some pics! I was actually quite impressed based on what I read from this thread. Below are the pics that I took. As you can see, no smiles, frowns, or dings on the blade. The handle is fairly nice considering it is an introductory razor. Hopefully I'll get the time to try out how it shaves in the next week or so. Gotta build up the courage to putting a straight edge to my face. My styptic pen will probably get a workout on my first shave attempt...

Uhm, that blade have a nasty frown, you really can't see it???
And it needs to be honed, what ever shave ready state it may have come in, you ruined it by placing it against your table like that.

You're right, I didn't see that frown in there when I was looking through my camera. Looking at the pic now, I can see it. I wasn't planning on shaving with it straight from the box, so I wasn't extremely concerned about resting the edge on the table. That was the only solid and completely flat surface I had at the moment. I've got a barber's hone and strop that I was (and am) going to use on it before attempting any shaving. I'll certainly need the honing and stropping practice anyways :-)