Greetings from Canada.

Hello everyone,

With a face still virgin to the straight blade I am definitely new to the art, however based on all I have come across the straight razor has more than piqued my interest. After lurking around for quite sometime and doing some preliminary research I finally purchased a razor that I knew I would regret not buying. I am still in the process of assembling the rest of my shaving set but I must say this community has already proven to be an valuable source of information and experience. I'm glad to be joining the forums and look forward to sharing my future experiences and learning from yours.

STS

Welcome to the clan!!! Just curious, what is this razor you speak of? I'd love to see a pic of it. Also, what part of Canada you from, eh?

Welcome! We're glad to have you here. :)

If and when you need help, just ask!

Good luck

It's a near mint (NOS?) Boker King Cutter, made in Solingen sometime between 1924-1935 for the Canadian market. Still has the original box and the guarantee from the Montreal office. It's en route at the moment so I haven't had a chance to handle it yet, figured I'd settle in here while I wait in anticipation. I've read only good things about the vintage Bokers and the condition of this one seemed too good to pass on. It'll most likely need some honing but I'll get to that once I have it in hand.

I'm from the Toronto area btw, thanks for the warm welcome!

Attachment 129165

Excellent choice - King Cutters are fine blades!

Looks nice, although square tips make me nervous.
classicedge.ca is in stony creek if you want somewhere semi-local to send your razor for a honing. They used to be in oakvile, I believe, but they just moved. Either way I give them all my business unless I want something that they don't have :p

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Originally Posted by StraightToSamsara

It's a near mint (NOS?) Boker King Cutter, made in Solingen sometime between 1924-1935 for the Canadian market. Still has the original box and the guarantee from the Montreal office. It's en route at the moment so I haven't had a chance to handle it yet, figured I'd settle in here while I wait in anticipation. I've read only good things about the vintage Bokers and the condition of this one seemed too good to pass on. It'll most likely need some honing but I'll get to that once I have it in hand.

I'm from the Toronto area btw, thanks for the warm welcome!

Attachment 129165

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:dropjaw:
I don't know who sold you this, but you should probably send me that. Just to make sure it will be ok for you to use. If its any good, I'll let you know. :p:p:p

That's an awesome razor my friend. I'm jealous. :rock:

Welcome! That is a fine specimen you've got there. Nice to see a Montreal connection with that blade :)
Go Habs Go!

Welcome to the Forum :) That's a fine razor you have there and once honed up should serve you well. Enjoy.

Thanks for all the replies and reassurance.

I've read quite a bit on the subject recently but I have no actual experience in honing straight razors. Ultimately I'd like to be able to do it all myself but I understand some patience and progression is in order. Right now all I have is a natural Arkansas translucent whetstone which I've used in the past to keep other blades sharp. I know the grit on the translucent is capable of producing a fine finish on an edge, from what I've read it may not be the most efficient option for honing straight razors but it is still suitable for the job. From experience I know the translucent is really slow on the grind and its effectiveness would depend on the current state of the edge. That being said should I attempt to hone the razor with the translucent whetstone and proper technique or would it be advised to seek honing done by a professional?

I would eventually like to get some more stones of varying grit but the translucent is all I have to work with right now. I found this promising video of a meister using a translucent Arkansas in the last stage of honing before he takes the razor to strop. Seems to pass the hair test no problem, makes me want to try it for myself.
:idea:

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXkjXfuNbpg

It's a really good idea to learn to shave with a professionally-honed razor, and hold off on the honing until you're OK at shaving and stropping.

Without knowing what a really shave-ready edge is like, you won't know what you're aiming at when you start to hone. Sharpness is a very broad church, and it would be a pity for someone to put up with poor shaves because they've never experienced a great edge. When I started to hone, I quickly got to a stage where my edges would scrape off the whiskers, but if I hadn't had a pro-honed blade I might have thought that was the best shaving experience possibe, and believe me it wasn't. :)

Welcome to SRP. Very nice Boker. I just skimmed the thread so I don't know if its been honed up by a pro, but if it is not get it sent out and honed up right.
Keep a eye out for our Toronto Area Meets. We get together about every 6months.

Colin

To add to the advice of having it professionally honed, get a junk razor to practise honing on until you mastered it. It's a shame if you would ruin your only blade on your first honing attempt.

Yeah, I agree with not honing it yourself. There is a difference between sharp and smooth and you need a professionally honed (by a razor guy, not a knife guy) razor to give you that reference of shave ready. My neighbour swears up and down that he can get a "surgical edge" on his knives, meanwhile, I quietly chuckle inside at his blasphemy :p