Thread: Razors to keep your eyes out for.

I'm relatively new to looking for straight razors and and I was curious about various brands to keep my eyes out for.

I'm not expert on brands, but I would say any vintage razor that is in good condition or a condition that you know can be restored by some of the craftsmen here. I gave you a broad answer because many members collect & you never know what brand they may be looking for.

Make sure you are familiar with this thread, as it helps to educate you in the hunt.
Purchasing straight razors - Straight Razor Place Library

I think John nailed it on vintage blades. It's condition condition condition, and after that it is all about what you find appealing. There biggest differences is in the different grinds. The different grinds shave quite a bit differently, but the different brands don't really vary a great deal within the same grind. Truly we don't need that many razors. We could shave for a few months with each grind, pick our fav and have two of those and have a satisfactory rotation.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Purchasing straight razors - Straight Razor Place Library

That page is a stub, and has quite a few quality issues. The Wikipedia Manual of Style would probably be useful to clean it up.

Two examples:

There are also the Chinese-made Gold Dollar and the razors currently made by Giesen & Forsthoff, which are of a somewhat lower quality, but usually can be made to shave.

The guys who make the current G&F "razors" produce equally remarkable quality for at least three other "manufacturers" (ie recently resurrected brand names). That said, their razors actually shave, and not too badly. Still a disgrace to the Solingen heritage. However, their quality issues are mostly cosmetic. Which is a lot more than can be said about at least 50% of all Gold Dollar razors. After all, Gold Dollar razors are considered an unfit topic for discussion here (see FAQ).

A brand new razor will still have to be honed.

That claim is provably false, and should be removed. Granted, some (depending on your personal preference maybe even: most) razors need a touch up (with a pasted strop or similar) after purchase. But if you buy a razor that needs honing out of the box, send it back as defective.

Originally Posted by RezDog

There biggest differences is in the different grinds.

Amen to that. Funnily enough, the overwhelming majority of razors in the market are full hollow grinds. And for very good reasons. That grind is the result of two hundred of more years of experimentation or engineering. It is, for all intents and purposes, the best design ever made. Bit like evolution: dinosaurs didn't quite cut it, now mammals rule the earth, despite the fact that some remote relatives of the dinosaurs are still around.

But to answer the original question: Straight razors to look out for are any that are very popular. One needs to know them in order to avoid them. A Filarmonica is a glorified, generic Solingen blade; a Dubl Duck is a glorified Dovo; a Heljestrand is a glorified SSA, and so on*. Do your research before buying any brand that is hyped, or you will lose a lot of money.

That said, if you find a Chronik (actually that Chronik, and that Chronik only), by all means buy it. Mines of Moria, single pass BBS that lasts days if not weeks, and so on.

* Yes, I know, there are rumours about a handful or so of each of these brands that maybe, possibly might have been made elsewhere. I consider them rumours, and quantités négligeables in any event.

Originally Posted by RobinK

That page is a stub, and has quite a few quality issues. The Wikipedia Manual of Style would probably be useful to clean it up.

Two examples:


The guys who make the current G&F "razors" produce equally remarkable quality for at least three other "manufacturers" (ie recently resurrected brand names). That said, their razors actually shave, and not too badly. Still a disgrace to the Solingen heritage. However, their quality issues are mostly cosmetic. Which is a lot more than can be said about at least 50% of all Gold Dollar razors. After all, Gold Dollar razors are considered an unfit topic for discussion here (see FAQ).


That claim is provably false, and should be removed. Granted, some (depending on your personal preference maybe even: most) razors need a touch up (with a pasted strop or similar) after purchase. But if you buy a razor that needs honing out of the box, send it back as defective.


Amen to that. Funnily enough, the overwhelming majority of razors in the market are full hollow grinds. And for very good reasons. That grind is the result of two hundred of more years of experimentation or engineering. It is, for all intents and purposes, the best design ever made. Bit like evolution: dinosaurs didn't quite cut it, now mammals rule the earth, despite the fact that some remote relatives of the dinosaurs are still around.

But to answer the original question: Straight razors to look out for are any that are very popular. One needs to know them in order to avoid them. A Filarmonica is a glorified, generic Solingen blade; a Dubl Duck is a glorified Dovo; a Heljestrand is a glorified SSA, and so on*. Do your research before buying any brand that is hyped, or you will lose a lot of money.

That said, if you find a Chronik (actually that Chronik, and that Chronik only), by all means buy it. Mines of Moria, single pass BBS that lasts days if not weeks, and so on.

* Yes, I know, there are rumours about a handful or so of each of these brands that maybe, possibly might have been made elsewhere. I consider them rumours, and quantités négligeables in any event.

Well Robin, I'll put it on my list of Wiki jobs to be done,,, Thank you for your input.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Well Robin, I'll put it on my list of Wiki jobs to be done,,, Thank you for your input.

The Wiki is in need of a major overhaul. Someone has messed up almost all footnotes and references since I left. That will be a lot of work.

Originally Posted by RobinK

The Wiki is in need of a major overhaul. Someone has messed up almost all footnotes and references since I left. That will be a lot of work.

I'm well aware of your work in the Wiki.
But as you know, its a volunteer job,,, a job that will constantly need attention, because its always evolving. We (all members of SRP) are doing our best, to raise it's standards.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

I'm well aware of your work in the Wiki.
But as you know, its a volunteer job,,, a job that will constantly need attention, because its always evolving. We (all members of SRP) are doing our best, to raise it's standards.

Stuff happens and work does get in the way of our hobbies, interests etcetera. I, and I am sure many of us here on this forum, appreciate all the people here that volunteer their time and effort. We do not thank them often enough I am sure!


Thanks to all you volunteers out there!


Mike

The one that appeals to you.

Originally Posted by RobinK

A brand new razor will still have to be honed.

That claim is provably false, and should be removed. Granted, some (depending on your personal preference maybe even: most) razors need a touch up (with a pasted strop or similar) after purchase. But if you buy a razor that needs honing out of the box, send it back as defective.

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.

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.

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