Blue Wonder - IS it real, Are they good?

I'm looking at buying a blue wonder that some one got from an estate sale.

I was hoping some one could give me a little info on this guy, Age, quality, apparent condition. ect.

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Any info would be much appreciated.

Well it looks to be in good condition. It is a vintage blade from a reputable area. If you buy it send it out for honing and shazzam you are ready to shave. It looks like no hone wear and original finish square point about 6/8. Nothing else I can add, but I'll bet someone more knowledgeable will be around.

There is info here http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ue-wonder.html . The one you have is vintage and like new from the photos. It has a blued tang and spine that does not look like it is even faded. I'd go further and guess that may even be the factory edge. To me it is a quality piece in prime condition only judging by a few photos though.

Bob

Very cool, thanks for the info.

Ill give it a shot. i was going to grab a coticule and a golden dollar razor to practice with, although i have a lot of experience honing knifes, Ive never honed a straight razor before.

They are exceptional shavers, and that is in near mint condition... PLEASE do not mess up that razor learning to hone that would be a Cardinal Sin :(

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Originally Posted by Daekkon

Very cool, thanks for the info.

Ill give it a shot. i was going to grab a coticule and a golden dollar razor to practice with, although i have a lot of experience honing knifes, Ive never honed a straight razor before.

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Please forget that you have a lot of experience honing knives, it is "not" the same as honing straights. Approach honing a straight as if you have never honed a knife and are learning a completely new art. There have been a few guys with knife honing experience join the site and have posted latter that honing a straight was more difficult than they anticipated with their prior knife hone expertise.

Step away from that Blue Diamond with hones until you have gained enough skill not to take a chance on damaging the beautiful razor. A vintage razor in that condition and of that quality is definitely not a practice honing razor candidate. By all means practice on a cheap razor or two and I don't mean a Gold Dollar. The Gold Dollar is on the sites avoid list for a reason.

Bob

Very nice looking in wonderful condition. The Blue Wonder trademark belongs to Ewald Plumacher of Solingen Germany. As far as dating your razor the earliest entry that i found was 1928, and also found an advertisement from 1950. Nevertheless enjoy this gem!
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I have honed a few of these over the years and every one was an outstanding shaver. As already stated, the one you pictured looks to be in great shape. Get it before someone else does........

:tu

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Originally Posted by BobH

Please forget that you have a lot of experience honing knives, it is "not" the same as honing straights.

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I started honing razors quite recently after years of honing knives and tools, and I agree in part with that - it is indeed not the same, but I don't think there's any need to forget it. I do think having the experience can be a help, as long as you know it's going to be different and are able to switch off your knife-honing muscle memory - for me the switch-off happens naturally anyway, because I'm just not holding the razor the same way.

From my experience, I already knew a fair bit about steel, bevels, angles, burrs, wire edges, stone progressions etc, and that definitely helped me - even if not that much in practice, it did mean I knew what everyone was talking about.

I actually found razor-honing in some ways easier than knife-honing, because you have the gift of the spine to get exactly the right angle, and my results so far have been very positive.

And in one case my knife-honing experience was more directly helpful, after I got a razor that had quite a big chip in the edge. I honed it out freehand with the spine off the stone, the way I do with knives, and then set a new bevel the usual razor way - that saved a fair bit of time over doing it flat on the spine or fannying around with tape. (I know it will also have changed the bevel angle a little, but just doing it once and then going back to normal spine-flat honing will only make a very small difference.)

Alan

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Originally Posted by Oscroft

I started honing razors quite recently after years of honing knives and tools, and I agree in part with that - it is indeed not the same, but I don't think there's any need to forget it. I do think having the experience can be a help, as long as you know it's going to be different and are able to switch off your knife-honing muscle memory - for me the switch-off happens naturally anyway, because I'm just not holding the razor the same way.

From my experience, I already knew a fair bit about steel, bevels, angles, burrs, wire edges, stone progressions etc, and that definitely helped me - even if not that much in practice, it did mean I knew what everyone was talking about.

I actually found razor-honing in some ways easier than knife-honing, because you have the gift of the spine to get exactly the right angle, and my results so far have been very positive.

And in one case my knife-honing experience was more directly helpful, after I got a razor that had quite a big chip in the edge. I honed it out freehand with the spine off the stone, the way I do with knives, and then set a new bevel the usual razor way - that saved a fair bit of time over doing it flat on the spine or fannying around with tape. (I know it will also have changed the bevel angle a little, but just doing it once and then going back to normal spine-flat honing will only make a very small difference.)

Alan

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I totally agree with what you said. The problem lies when people can't check at the door a certain assumption that having previous experience in a related skill brings. In other words, don't get too cocky it may hinder more than help.

Bob