Thread: Finding vintage razors

Its hit or miss. I can go a year with not finding a nice razor. Then bam! Its like finding a treasure chest. Sure I see many razors. Mostly not worth the effort. Flea markets and antique stores.

Depends of your culture, but besides ebay, classified, and antique shops, the best way in my humble opinion is garage sales/flea markets.

French people are particularly fond of this kind of sales, to the point that we have several websites listing the closest antiques markets, flea markets and garage sales.
But so do you

Savannah Garage Sales, Yard Sales & Estate Sales by Map | Savannah, GA | gsalr.com

Like said above :
- It's about persistance : while finding razors in such sales can be possible, finding a good one is another thing... Therefore you have to go hunting often
- It's about knowledge : you have to know beforehand how to correctly identify a good razor, in terms of brand, origin, and condition
- It's about skills : once bought, you have to thoroughly sterilize the razor, then bring it back to life
- It's not cheap : between hones, medical sterilizers, and other tools you may need, it costs a fortune

But well, on a French forum we are several doing that and have a dedicated section for the sole purpose of "flea markets". It's all good fun, and once in a time, a rare find

I have never had a problem finding razors in my area of East Central Illinois. "St. Joseph" near Champaign Urbana. We have several antique shops that about always have them & there is a great monthly indoor Flea Market"Gordyville USA" that I can always find a couple of good blades at.
I have several vendors that know what I am looking for in both knives & razors. I have even found a few good blades at garage sales.

Dave"Slawman"Huffman

Between local flea markets and ebay, there's a lot of reasonably priced vintage razors if you are patient. I kept scoring vintage Sheffield razors for silly low prices in the past years but seem to have exhausted the local supply.

The latest Sheffield razor I bought, I should receive it early next week:





It will require a clean-up but I expect to shave with it within the next two weeks.

They're like grapes for me. They tend to come in bunches that are few and far between.

I found a bunch in an antique mall a few weeks back. Looked at 60 razors ranging in price from $25 to $75 each.

I wouldn't have given $25 for the whole pile as they were all either worn out, poorly honed, rusted, cracked, or snaggle toothed.

There were two nice pairs of scales and a few decent sets but that was about all I saw.

I left that bunch for the next guy to ponder.

I have been having pretty good luck on Ebay.I just got a new Dovo of 62.00..

I just don't like buyinga razor off of E-bay. My eye sight ain't all that great so when I go out to sales or flea markets waht ever venue I always carry 2 things.1. A x7 loup & my Dollar Tree +325 reading glasses.Really I never leave home whith out either. Can't get up close & personal with out them.
I picked up a J. Schneider & Co.straight Made in Germany called "The Peoria" Schneider was a barber supply in Peoria. Didn't look like anything special. Anyway brought it home, ran it over my Koken horse hide strop & found the best shave I have EVER had. Local Antique shop. At another shop here in town I have found several straights & hones & strops. I see no need to spend big bucks on a new factory or custom razor. I like the older ones better.

Slawman

One thing to understand is that the prices paid so long ago (even one year) are not often to be found. The prices are going up because many antique dealers look at the 'bay and price accordingly. That said, If the item sits on the shelf for a long time, a regular customer of the store can usually make a reasonable offer and get it for a bit above the dealer's cost. A new antique vender in a mall may have razors priced very low. A dealer retiring can also be a good source of a deal as they are getting rid of their stock.
I am in an area of very few razor buyers. So the dealers are moving to sell on the 'bay.
Some malls have such high booth / showcase rent the sellers are being squeezed to death to make the rent. Small towns are usually a bit cheaper and sellers are a bit more ready to bargain.

I will close by saying; buy your first razor from the classifieds or a well known seller.
~Richard

I will say I can find good razors around here in the $20.00 to $40.00 range around me all the time. That said I have been involved with knives & knife making since the early 80'sso I have an idea what to look for. Honing a straight is a whole different animal from sharpening & honing a knife. I find it all very interesting.
Slawman