Thread: Whipped Dog Sight unseen Razor and poor mans strop set

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

On the other hand,buying razors TODAY,hoping you can re-coup your envestment,is a slim and none prospect.99% of the time you will lose money.

I wasn't suggesting really top end stuff, but you have to weigh up whether you would loose more than the $40 or so the sight unseens cost, if you were to resell a razor that you paid $100ish for.
I think a sight unseen would probably need to be given away if you didn't like it.
As I said I bought 2 $50ish razors from members of this site after the initial eBay disaster razor that I bought.
Not that there is anything wrong with my razors, I am very happy with them, I don't think I would recoup my investment on them, considering that to sell them I would really need to get them professionally honed to sell on as starter razors, or sell them for $10 or so on ebay.

One thing I dont get about it all is $28 or $41 is for a honed razor. The guy has to hone it. What's the guys time worth and he has to pack it and deal with complaints and returns etc. What can we expect for this amount of money? Free oil changes and tire rotation? I think its a bargain and I will say I bought one early on and it shaved great. Its ugly as sin but so what.

My first razor was from Whipped Dog. It's a Lakeside Cutlery "Mandarin" that was in great shape. A tad under 5/8 with light patina. After an intense bout of RAD, I forgot about it for a while.

Once I realized my fondness for vintage American steel, I revisited my Whipped Dog, and now it's one of my go-to shavers! And you can't beat the poor man's strop. I'm very happy I learned on it before upgrading.

Bottom line, I don't think you can go wrong dealing with Larry. He's a good guy.

Originally Posted by Will0369

Hello all, just wondering if anyone has purchased a sight unseen razor from whipped dog. Would it be a good first razor, and would I benefit from getting the poor mans strop set?

I've honed a couple of WD's & rejected a couple that couldn't be rehoned for a fair price. Maybe I've seen some worse case scenarios but at $28 a razor you may still be in the world of disposables unless you learn to hone for yourself.
Just bear in mind there can be hidden costs in anything 2nd hand.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

I've honed a couple of WD's & rejected a couple that couldn't be rehoned for a fair price. Maybe I've seen some worse case scenarios but at $28 a razor you may still be in the world of disposables unless you learn to hone for yourself.
Just bear in mind there can be hidden costs in anything 2nd hand.

Thanks for the objective post. It clarifies some of my questions.

Just a couple of things to add....

1) I have sold some razors TO whipped dog when I was in need of some quick cash and didn't have time to restore or hone. While none were pristine, for the most part they were all capable of being turned into good shavers.

2) they come shave ready. As pointed out, Larry has to hone them. Most of the guys offering honing services in the classifieds are charging 15 or 20 dollars. That means Larry is selling the dogs for a whopping 8 bucks. I would buy used razors all day long for 8 bucks.

3) Some of the best shaves I have EVER had, came at the edge of razors that were (very) well worn, and showed the effects of 100 years of use. I think a person is MORE likely to drop straight shaving if they get lousy results from a shiny new "factory shave ready" Dovo, then they are from not wanting to look at their "ugly wife" An O-Lan will never betray you or let you down!

But the true question is..does he hone all those razors himself? And when you think about it, for $8 as Oz pointed out, at times you're just buying a disposable that can't be honed again. In the beginning aren't we all getting into this hobby to save money on shaving and not give into the throw aways?

I've bought several things from Larry and been very pleased with every purchase (in fact, I just ordered one of his silvertip brushes and am anxiously awaiting its arrival ). I have one of his sight-unseen razors, and while it isn't my prettiest shaver, it is still one of my best. I highly recommend this as a way to get into str8 shaving; why not start with one of these to see if you like it? Then, you can upgrade once you know what you're doing.

I also highly recommend his poor man's strop kit; the strop is narrow (meaning that you will need to use an X pattern), but it works and you won't feel bad if you cut it up. Also, the balsa with CrOx works great for touch-ups; it has already saved me some time and money on honing. YMMV, but my experience with whipped dog has been great!

[QUOTE=Catrentshaving;1201675 as Oz pointed out, at times you're just buying a disposable that can't be honed again. In the beginning aren't we all getting into this hobby to save money on shaving and not give into the throw aways?[/QUOTE]

How often would a razor need to be honed again? Barring accidents with the faucet or...., with proper care and touchups with paste/barbers hones I think even the most worn razor would last long enough to get your moneys worth out of it. Especially if they end up like me, with RAD so I end up rotating razors. I have had my whipped dog for a year now with only stropping. I am guessing it will last many more years before I have to hone it seriously. A touch up on my pasted paddle will keep it going for a long time.

A razor that cant be honed again is such nonsense.

I have honed and shaved with razors that were half of their original width.