Thread: New help picking my first straight razor.

This is my first post so , Hi

I've had my eye on getting a Boker king cutter 5/8 but I'm open to getting a vintage.
I'm clueless on what vintage to get or where to go.
My budget is 130 euros including shipping ( thats what I'd be paying for the Broker) I would love it if it was over hundred years old and from sheffield + well made. Was looking at this one (Don't know if its good for a begginer though), http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Early-JOSEPH-...item1c4a6f83f3

Any help and suggestion would be much appreciated
It needs to be shave ready and easy to maintain an edge as I am a complete virgin (although, I have been using a safety razor for about a year now)
Also, I have already bought a strop.

Or, should I just go ahead with the Boker.
Thanks,

Welcome to the forum. Boker is a well known and well regarded maker so it would be hard to go wrong there for a brand new razor. You could also consider Ralf Aust, Revisor and Thiers Issard for brand new razor makers. You should buy from a vendor that is known to supply shave ready razors. The are quite a few EU members that I am sure will chime in as to who these vendors might be in the EU. If you can afford it, I think new is a good way to go for your first razor.

Straight razors are easy to maintain if you everything right from stropping to shaving and do not drop or ding the blade on something. Unfortunately stropping properly and having good shaving technique is generally not a strong point for a beginner, it wasn't for me. That being the case beginners generally have to send out straights for honing more frequently in the beginning than more experienced shavers do. Just saying that so you know going in what to reasonable expect.

I hope you make a purchase you are happy with. I am sure you will get many more suggestions too.

Bob

Hope you do not mind an opinion from a newb. Just from what have been reading and looking at on here the last couple of days, the bevel on that blade does not look very even. Sure it would be a nice razor but you might want to factor in a honing from one of the experts on this forum. Is always possible that the pics are not great or that a newb is utterly wrong. Might be best waiting for the classifieds on here to be back up and running, is what i would have done if I had discovered this forum sooner. Also am sure some of the aforementioned more experienced members will be posting replies soon. All the best getting started.

That is kind of a funky bevel...I once had a (new) TI that looked like that; never could quite warm up to that blade. My advice to anyone starting off with a straight is to get a new one, professionally honed, made by a quality manufacturer. "Vintage"=OLD.
Kind of like your automobile. Most people (like me nearly 50 years ago) do not have the wherewithall to buy a nice, shiny, brand new car right from the get go (mine was a $300 Ford Fairlane) and with anything like that comes the possibility/probability of some sort if issues.

Buy the Boker..those old, vintage blades will be around once you figure things out.

Is the quality of steel not better in the vintage razors? Particularly sheffield.
Again just from reading up, not enough personal experience to say for sure myself.

Originally Posted by Phoenix51

That is kind of a funky bevel...I once had a (new) TI that looked like that; never could quite warm up to that blade. My advice to anyone starting off with a straight is to get a new one, professionally honed, made by a quality manufacturer. "Vintage"=OLD.
Kind of like your automobile. Most people (like me nearly 50 years ago) do not have the wherewithall to buy a nice, shiny, brand new car right from the get go (mine was a $300 Ford Fairlane) and with anything like that comes the possibility/probability of some sort if issues.

Buy the Boker..those old, vintage blades will be around once you figure things out.

Thanks Phoenix51,
I'd be getting the Boker from the Invisible edge in the UK, Introduction to razors

Would I still need to get it sent out to be honed?

There is a vendor that is a member here that lives in the UK. He is mostly a strop maker but does restores and honing, perhaps a we chin wag with him via PM might be a plan. I'm sure he would have a recommendation or two that is a little closer to home.

Welcome to the Forum Nuke! I've only been here a few months myself but I've been made very welcome. Lots of great advice and help to be had.

I have a couple of vintage Bokers, one of which is a King Cutter. Fantastic razor. It's definitely my favourite. I'm gonna be spoiling myself to a new King Cutter in the new Year from The Invisible Edge. Less that £100. I've also got my beady eye on a couple of razors from Revisor. My RAD is biting!

I also have several other cheaper razors I got from EBay. Some good, some not so good. That's the gamble.

Anyway, I don't think it matters where you get your first razor from, you'll end up getting more.

Complete newbie here. For my first razor, I bit the bullet and bought new from SRD. I also got a modestly priced Sheffield from a forum marketplace to use as a spare. However, I had the seller mail it to an SRP veteran for honing just to make sure if there were any problems, it would be me rather than the razors.

Originally Posted by Nuke

Thanks Phoenix51,
I'd be getting the Boker from the Invisible edge in the UK, Introduction to razors

Would I still need to get it sent out to be honed?

From the site description it is already honed and stropped before being sent out