Thread: Razors to keep your eyes out for.

Much easier to stay away from the crappy ones as there an endless amount of quality brands. Just stay away from the Pakistan blades and the razor shaped knives on eBay and you'll be fine. If you are not familiar with condition and how they look in pictures, assuming your shopping eBay, you would be far better served educating yourself on how to tell the difference between a dud and a stud.

Probably can't go wrong with anything from this fellow:

Straight Razors / Shave Ready
When I first started I had a difficult time with the quarter hollow grinds, and I still avoid them just out of habit now.

Have fun!

Originally Posted by onimaru55

It depends on your view. Most new razors are rarely honed correctly into the toe &/or heel or like the new TI's have some weird double bevel. Some don't operate without fouling scales & some blades protrude from the bottom of the scales. A preflight check is not a bad idea.

It is a great idea. Unfortunately, I would like to add, because it really should not be required. But I, too, would not buy a Dovo online from any source but the two I trust any more. Nor a TI. Nor a Hart. I have seen too many that were defective, or at least actually not ready for shaving to an extent that actually required honing (ie resetting the bevel and taking it from there).

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Of course does it not mean they won't shave but they are certainly not optimised & will often not be easily maintained by the owner.

Optimisation? Yes, absolutely! Most of us prefer a certain way in which a razor is supposed to shave. Some love the edges off high grit hones and diamond sprays/pastes. I do not. I even "palm strop at the wrong angle" SE blades prior to their first use to dull them a bit.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Maybe. "A brand new razor should be assessed by a competent honer before use" would be more semantically correct ?

Yes. And no. Here is why... Imagine you run a moderately successful online store. You will, for argument's sake, sell a thousand razors per month. That is not much, by the way. Now here is the kicker:

1. Sharpness tests: Everyone agrees that they can be used to assess the shave readiness of a razor, but only to a certain degree. Which means they are useless if you promise that the razor is guaranteed to shave. Either that, or they actually work, but that is not what is considered common wisdom here. Personally, I find that a razor that passes the hanging hair test along the entire edge will shave, but that is allegedly a YMMV thing.
2. Refining the edge: If you actually go down the 8/12/16/diamond route, this will take you what? Ten minutes per razor? That would be 167 hours, or twenty working days. That is an FTE (US$ 1210.75 at minimum wage plus employer's contribution). At a markup of approx US$1.5 per razor, it would be economically sound, but I do not think that is what is actually happening.
3. Resetting the bevel and building up the edge from scratch: 30 minutes. You do the maths...
4. As an aside, with regular beard growth, you can maybe test shave with five razors per day. Ten if you have ancestors from the Mediterranean.

If I had to wager a guess, I would say that the HHT actually works, and the vast majority of razors need only a few swipes on a mild abrasive (chromium or ferric oxide) in order to sell them as actually shave ready.

So... I fully agree that inspection by an experienced user is a splendid idea. It would be nice if it were not required, but I fully agree that these days, it actually is. However, not every razor requires honing prior to its first use.

This may sound like nitpicking, but for me, it has to do with expectation management. I feel that we cannot tell beginners that they should not start shaving and honing at the same time, yet we also tell them that they will need to buy hones very quickly. I think that is wrong. A proper blade will not require anything but a mild abrasive for many months in terms of maintenance. Shaving is not rocket science. Let us keep it that way

Originally Posted by RobinK

Quote Originally Posted by onimaru55 View Post
Maybe. "A brand new razor should be assessed by a competent honer before use" would be more semantically correct ?

Yes. And no. Here is why... Imagine you run a moderately successful online store. You will, for argument's sake, sell a thousand razors per month. That is not much, by the way. Imagine they were all pre-honed by one man Now here is the kicker:

1. Sharpness tests: Everyone agrees that they can be used to assess the shave readiness of a razor, but only to a certain degree. Which means they are useless if you promise that the razor is guaranteed to shave. Either that, or they actually work, but that is not what is considered common wisdom here. Personally, I find that a razor that passes the hanging hair test along the entire edge will shave, but that is allegedly a YMMV thing.
   You can't rely on "personally" when you hone for others. You even have to have an "optimised" HHT or "AHT". That works for a majority. Those that have the sensitive skin / tough beard combo may need further optimisation for their case as opposed to edge optimisation.
2. Refining the edge: If you actually go down the 8/12/16/diamond route, this will take you what? Ten minutes per razor? I am slow . Don't ask me That would be 167 hours, or twenty working days. That is an FTE (US$ 1210.75 at minimum wage plus employer's contribution). At a markup of approx US$1.5 per razor, it would be economically sound, but I do not think that is what is actually happening. Agreed ! & that is exactly why a factory edge needs work.
3. Resetting the bevel and building up the edge from scratch: 30 minutes. Don't forget the shavetest & re honing as needed.You do the maths... I have & it's all in favour of the owner
4. As an aside, with regular beard growth, you can maybe test shave with five razors per day. Ten if you have ancestors from the Mediterranean. I have done 9 shavetests in the past but my roots are Northeren Italian not Southern

If I had to wager a guess, I would say that the HHT actually works, and the vast majority of razors need only a few swipes on a mild abrasive (chromium or ferric oxide) in order to sell them as actually shave ready.

So... I fully agree that inspection by an experienced user is a splendid idea. It would be nice if it were not required, but I fully agree that these days, it actually is. Unfortunately true. Gone are the days when time & money allowed for detailed work. However, not every razor requires honing prior to its first use. It's just that with a stone you can actually make the small corrections to an "almost" shave ready razor that an abrasive paste can't . Talking those Dovos & TI's etc again.

This may sound like nitpicking, but for me, it has to do with expectation management. I feel that we cannot tell beginners that they should not start shaving and honing at the same time, yet we also tell them that they will need to buy hones very quickly. I think that is wrong. A proper blade will not require anything but a mild abrasive for many months in terms of maintenance. Shaving is not rocket science. Let us keep it that way Indeed & it is usually not advised to take on honing whilst learning to shave for beginners but for the DIY types & those that have some sharpening experience in other fields the information is availble here for them too.

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