Looking to Gift a Razor

I have one guy who works under me and he's this 21 year old kid who just works his ass off.
he's very interested in wet shaving and currently shaves with a safety razor. I told him I shave with straights and he showed great interest. I'm thinking of getting him a razor for Christmas but I'm wondering which direction to:

1 New Razor - maybe a Dovo or a thiers issard or even a Ralf Aust

2 Vintage razors - 1 Boker tree and 1 Fox Cutlery from my own collection.
The reason for 2 is one to learn with (Fox it's a 4/6 razor that's pretty easy to learn with and less likely to mess up)

I suppose I would have to get him a strop as well.

Sounds like a great idea. I have fixed up a shaving kit for a friends son. 6/8 Wade and Butcher C Mon strop and ever ready brush. i oiled and use some R I G on the razor and wrapped it in wax paper from the kitchen then put it in a vacuum food saver bag. It may be a while before he uses it. He turned 2 last month. I may not be around when he starts to shave but his mother can tell him about it and steer him to the internet.

That's amazing

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Originally Posted by rhensley

Sounds like a great idea. I have fixed up a shaving kit for a friends son. 6/8 Wade and Butcher C Mon strop and ever ready brush. i oiled and use some R I G on the razor and wrapped it in wax paper from the kitchen then put it in a vacuum food saver bag. It may be a while before he uses it. He turned 2 last month. I may not be around when he starts to shave but his mother can tell him about it and steer him to the internet.

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I would go with the two vintage razors... It's never too soon to learn that one is none, and two are one. Having one nice razor is great, until you need to send it away for honing, or you nick it on the bathroom faucet or perhaps you drop it and it breaks. Things happen and having a second, ready to go razor, eliminates the "I'll go back to what I used to do" thing.

A simple strop and two vintage razors should make for a much appreciated gift.

Regards

Kaptain "Oops..." Zero

If you give your co-worker the two vintage razors and he does not stick with straight shaving you're really not out any money.

I agree, two vintage razors. Especially since you can help guide him with stopping, shaving, and possibly honing.

A new razor is nice, but he'll undoubtedly ding it or wear it incorrectly due to technique, etc. (speaking from experience :)). Sure he can get a free or inexpensive honing, but he'll have to drop back to the DE razor, until it comes back.

With two razors, he can send one out, or try to hone, and will be able to continue with the other.

It either case that you decide on, it's a great gift idea!

Screw it I'm ordering a Ralf Aust and also giving him a vintage so he can learn on.
Got a Chicago strop for him as well. He'll nick the crap out of it I know.
I appreciate all the feedback. Knowing this kid like I do he'll practice on the vintage Fox razor until he's ready. The Fox is a 4/6 and it's easy to learn to shave with.

Thanks,

Dave

That is pretty much the best of both worlds, a shiny new strop and razor plus a good vintage to start.

Lucky kid.... And Dave, if you are looking to adopt.... I'm available, but you'll likely have to adopt the Mrs. too....

Regards

Christian

If the sky was the limit, I would have recommended the Aust and one of your vintage blades. So well played :).

Be sure to teach him how to properly strop.

Does he have a brush and good soap?

Very nice thing you are doing.
Only comment I have is that apparently I need better friends

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Originally Posted by daverojo77

Screw it I'm ordering a Ralf Aust and also giving him a vintage so he can learn on.
Got a Chicago strop for him as well. He'll nick the crap out of it I know.
I appreciate all the feedback. Knowing this kid like I do he'll practice on the vintage Fox razor until he's ready. The Fox is a 4/6 and it's easy to learn to shave with.

Thanks,

Dave

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Dave, of course I know you will steer him to SRP. Tell him to practice stropping with a butter knife until he feels comfortable about using the straight on it so he doesn't cut the strop & ruin the good edge on the straight.
Happy Holidays~Steve

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Originally Posted by entropy1049

If the sky was the limit, I would have recommended the Aust and one of your vintage blades. So well played :).

Be sure to teach him how to properly strop.

Does he have a brush and good soap?

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Yeah he DE shaves currently

Dave, a tip of the hat to you sir.

Nothing else to say....


Regards

Christian... aka Christina when I get sloppy on the keyboard....<groan>

I'm not religious, but if the pope is a member here and gets wind of this daverojo77, I suspect you'll be canonized.

I gave my brother my favorite Greaves and a custom brush to get him interested in straight shaving, hope he's using it because that Greaves was pristine and a great shave!

Another vote here for two vintage razors! That is a nice gift idea, I know he will appreciate it:)

I ordered the ralf aust SRD but even with paying extra for expedited shipping it didn't get here in time for xmas. Hopefully it'll get here Monday.

Bummer..... An unfortunate side effect of the holiday season, and in particular the newfangled E-shopping craze. I work for Canada Post and this year saw a very big reduction in Xmas cards and the like, but the parcel count was waaay up, way more than we are used to dealing with and thus delays became inevitable. Purchasing has become so fast and easy, thanks to the internet, but delivery is still physical and there is only so much time in the day for the delivery people to work. For 11 months of the year, the workload can be handled by X number of employees. During December, it appears we could use X times 3 the number of *trained* employees, to meet our standards and that is just not realistic right now. I know we are looking at ways to meet this seasonal demand, but it will take time to sort out. The change in the way things need to done has to happen faster than what was predicted... and there just isn't time to change the way things are done in such a short period of time.

Not the answer everyone wants to hear in this new age of instant this and instant that, but until Star Trek transporters become reality, I'm afraid seasonal delays will be the norm.

I decided that THIS year, I was going to get ahead of the rush, so I sent my yearly Xmas parcel that I normally wait until the beginning of December to ship, in the first week of November, to my old friend in Norway. The package showed up December 21! That was a full 6+ weeks.... and I know the internal workings of mail shipment... or at least I thought I did. <sigh>

Here's hoping the razor shows up promptly.

Regards

Christian