Thread: Anyone heard of this company?

Originally Posted by mainaman

The scales need work design wise.
I can't get the point of the notch on the stabilizers, it probably will need special attention to dry so it does not rust with time.

That was the first thing i thought about the blade design.

Also, that notch could possibly dig into the strop if your attention wandered. I would suggest eliminating that aspect of the design.

Dave

Originally Posted by Utopian

I'm always willing to try something new in the realm of straight razors, but the way the leather on the "Deluxe Strop" looks makes me think they don't know much about straight razors.

Looks like hide from the upper belly area but I could be wrong. It is "rough" looking for a strop.

Dave

Originally Posted by portlandrazorco

Hi guys,
Glad to see that you have all found our website! Yes, pretty red faced here on the silly spelling mistakes and other small things that were pointed out, but we have no excuse other than, yes, we are a very new company.
I just moved to Portland, OR about 2 months ago with hopes of getting a new company off the ground once I arrived. I caught the straight razor bug a little over 3 years ago and though my time with straight shaving has been short compared to many of you, it has become a true passion of mine. I have been a craftsman all of my life and about a year ago I finally got tired of buying vintage razors and restoring them, so I started learning all that I could about straight razor making and manufacturing.

As with anything, I am continually learning, but am confident that I am consistently making quality razors now. So basically in the last two months I've taken everything I've learned about straight razor shaving and manufacturing and thrown everything I have into starting a company that I truly believe in. Moving thousands of miles from home, tooling up, finding a place to work, and getting a product line and website going have certainly led to silly "Hyrda" spelling mistakes (honestly, I have no idea how none of us have caught that yet). However, I know there are many obstacles to overcome when starting new businesses, and I am determined to produce the quality products that I know I am capable of.

The website is live now as of two weeks ago, but I mostly have it up so that I can test the functionality of the site and start gathering valuable market feedback, which I definitely am receiving, so I am glad. The good news is, as a small start up business, I am ready to continually improve the product based on customer feedback and evaluation. I have started, owned, and operated multiple other American manufacturing businesses in the past, but I've never been more passionate about the actual product I am manufacturing until now. Everything about the current product line has obviously come from my brain, my design aesthetic, and from what feels good and works for me when I am shaving.

The designs are certainly a departure from the classic straight razor shape, but I thought, there are already plenty of companies who make great "classic" designed straight razors. Thought maybe I'd give a shot to see if something a little different could help spark some new interest in straight razor shaving. As far as the shop goes, yes, I am working out of a community workshop called ADX right now. We rent about 200sqft and I only have great things to say about my time at ADX so far. They have been gracious enough to allow me to do all of the razor manufacturing processes there. We cut blanks, grind, heat treat, hone, make scales, assemble and package all under one roof.

Anyway, I am getting wordy as I tend to do. I am also very new to the idea of internet forums but I've been using straightrazorplace as a guest for some time now and am excited to be a new member in this community. With a little luck and a lot of help from the community here, I know I can make my dreams of having an American-made straight razor manufacturing company a reality. If you can bear with me through these inevitable start up growing pains, I know we can all make it happen. Thanks again for the feedback, I look forward to more, and hopefully I've answered some of the questions that you have!
Best,
Scott

A belated welcome to SRP Scott. Since you are eager to learn new things, if you are writing a long post, every so often hit the enter key and it will drop the cursor down so there is a break in the text to paragraphs. Makes it much easier for the reader to follow long messages. See the quoted text above as an example of what I am talking about.

On the razor front, I personally like razors that have a slight 'smile' to the spine, and a corresponding smile to the edge. I know little or nothing about the manufacture of razors, but if grinding that profile isn't a major hassle, I think it would add a nice option to your product line. Best of luck with your venture !

Originally Posted by edhewitt

I am confused by the names, obviously they are mythical creatures, well except gustave, can anyone explain the connection?

A remote possibility ........ Gustave Doré - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gustave Doré Art Images

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

A belated welcome to SRP Scott. Since you are eager to learn new things, if you are writing a long post, every so often hit the enter key and it will drop the cursor down so there is a break in the text to paragraphs. Makes it much easier for the reader to follow long messages. See the quoted text above as an example of what I am talking about.

On the razor front, I personally like razors that have a slight 'smile' to the spine, and a corresponding smile to the edge. I know little or nothing about the manufacture of razors, but if grinding that profile isn't a major hassle, I think it would add a nice option to your product line. Best of luck with your venture !

I second that, i couldnt find an "off the shelf" smiling razor, so i have got the process of having something made underway. To be fair smiling wasnt the only criteria but it was a big one. The other thing that as far as i am aware is not readily available is wedge ground razors, personally not my cup of tea, but popular.

Originally Posted by edhewitt

I am confused by the names, obviously they are mythical creatures, well except gustave, can anyone explain the connection?

The Kraken was a sea monster in the form of a giant squid, reputedly able to grasp a ship and pull it under the waves.

Leviathan is also a sea monster, from the bible. Later on it was used as another name for a whale.

The siren was another fabled creature, from greek mythology this time. They dwelt on rocks in the sea, singing beautiful refrains to sailors to lure them into the rocks, and ship-wreck.

So far all these mythical creatures have the sea in common, and the destruction of mankind.

The Hyrdra is a deviation. Still a creature of fable, it has only a tenuous link to water, dwelling in a murky swamp until Hercules slew it. In common with the other creatures mentioned, its object was the destruction of man.

In contrast to the others, Gustave is a big croc that lives along the Nile. So the common denominator is water and the destruction of man, as the gustave is a man-eater. He is an actual creature, not a thing of myth and fable. A croc gone wrong, if you like, he is supposed to have killed 300 or so people.

Can't think of the link between razors and mythical blood-thirsty crestures. Portland, Oregon does have some sightings of sea and lake monsters, though, allegedly...

Regards,
Neil

Wellcome Scott
Very nice write up on your new Company,are many long time members and vendors in your local (or within a state away)
Send out some samples of your product,a critique is always a good thing for a startup,good luck, wish you well.

Thanks for all the feedback that is coming in guys.
As far as the notch near the stabilizers, those are definitely just put in as a visual aesthetic, but I can definitely see the concern for extra attention required for keeping it dry. I haven't nicked a strop with the notch yet but I really wouldn't want to be the reason for ruining a strop. I would love to do some more research now about if that notch really has any advantage to being there looks-wise. I happen to like the look, but if there is going to be more possibly hazardous disadvantages compared to advantages, then I can easily eliminate it.
As far as the scales go, I have already reworked the shape a bit because I came to the same conclusions you guys are. I haven't updated the product photos yet, but I too felt the scales were too bulky. I also added a few new materials like acrylic. I'll get photos up asap of the reworked scales.
As for the tang area, I've also been thinning that area down a bit and have not taken any photos of that yet. Many things I need to do and so little time!
To answer questions of the names, they are simply for fun. I like sea creatures and I thought it'd be fun to give the razors a personality so to speak. I know the names have nothing to do with the razor's function, really just for fun. The Gustave is actually named after Gustave the killer nile crocodile. It is somewhat in line with the, "things that might try to kill you while in or near water" theme. Gustave (crocodile) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
As for the strop, I have also been reworking that. I agree the first run of leather I got was not the smoothest I've seen. I noticed this, used that leather for making prototypes and then promptly bought a higher grade leather from the same tannery. It is plain ole vegtable tanned cowhide, it's nothing special like english bridle or latigo, but I've been getting good results with the strops I've made. I would love it if when one of the local guys has time to stop by the shop, he takes a closer look at the strop in person and let me know what he thinks. I can say for sure that upon taking a closer look at the strop photos, I do believe that the way the photo was taken and how it was edited makes it look a little rougher than it really does in person, I'll try to get some better photos up of the strops I've been working on in the last couple weeks.
For sending out samples, I am certainly not against the idea, but I'll be honest. I do not know the best way of deciding who to send samples to and how best to receive feedback on those samples yet. If I do send out samples, I want to make sure it's going to be as helpful as it can be for generating useful user feedback. I hate to favor the locals, but I would probably be most into the idea of sending a sample to someone who I could meet in person and talk face to face to hear their thoughts. Let me think some more about how to deal with this idea and of course feel free to message me if you have any ideas.
So do most of you guys feel I should eliminate the notch?
I am really glad this conversation has started and I really want to hear more. Unfortunately for the next three days I am going to be stuck in the woods on a backpacking excursion for my best friend's bachelor party. This is going to make it impossible for me to check back on SRP until monday morning, so please know I am not ignoring you this weekend, I'm just probably out in the woods digging a hole to crap in Alright I really gotta get going, it's going to be a looong drive to hubolt, ca from here!

Cheers neil, i actually realised the water link with the others but as i say gustave had me stumped

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Portland, Oregon does have some sightings of sea and lake monsters, though, allegedly...Regards,Neil

We do? Nobody tells me anything.