Thread: Need some help!

Hello gentlemen and possibly ladies.

Ok here's the delimah, my wife is getting her barbers license in March and I'm trying to find her a solid high quality razor for Christmas. Would y'all mind giving me a few suggestions.

Thank you.

For high quality I would go with
Brian Brown - Some cool razors and good design
Dovo Bismark - Looks fancy and good razor
Ralf aust - Looks fancy as well and good razor
Thiers Issard - Another nice razor, they always look real nice as well

These are the high quality razors that look nice that I think you could get her before chrismas.
She might need a strop if she doesn't already have one

ALTHOUGH there are also feather blades which I don't know about but she might be use to using.

Thank you Christian.
I probably should have been more specific. With my question. She is just starting off leasing to use a unguarded razor, so I'm trying to find something that she can learn wityh and still use later when her skill improves. Would the 6/8 ,5/8,7/8, round, square ??

Depends of what you intend her to do with the gift...a barber is not alowed to use straight razors...and seeing how she cant shave...a straight razor would most lightly end up as a fancy decoration somwhere arround the house...so an expensive bad investment.

I would sugest getting her a high quality shavette that she can use on a regular basis...that way you get her something nice, usefull and practical that she can use daily.

In case you are intrested in this option i sugest looking into the Feather artist Dx stainless model and some blade carridges for it.
google it and search for it on youtube.

That's how i see it...

...now if you were a chick asking to buy a present for your man...i'd sugest a Wade and Butcher or something

I would advise you not buying your Wife a traditional straight razor, why? because it comes with too much baggage, can you wife hone and strop and maintain a straight razor I guess not, secondly there are health and safety issues such as HIV Hepatitis, I would buy her a Feather DX now we are talking a usable instrument perfectly suited for her work with quick changeable blades made of stainless steel.

Welcome to SRP

Check out the libary, you cant beat the wealth of knowledge in there.
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Welcome Jonah, I think we can help you out.

The nose style, round, square, Spanish, etc is more a matter of style than anything. For a barber, a square or Spanish might be better because the round point can affect getting into tight areas and can cover up what you're seeing if your trying to snipe just a few hairs say under the nose, next to the ears, etc. But the difference isn't much, barbers have used round points forever.

Width matters a bit more. I like 6/8 to 13/16. Narrower razors are more maneuverable but require rinsing lather off the blade more often. 6/8 and wider razors can usually shave half your face, rinse, then shave the other half. No rinsing lather every few strokes. But 7/8 is not as maneuverable as I'd like, I get a little 'driving a school bus' feel from it. YMMV of course.

A strong candidate would be a 6/8 Spanish point Ralf Aust (Note: do not try to learn to hone with this razor). A 6/8 Boker Silver Steel (round point) or King Kutter (square point) are good razors. The Invisible Edge UK also offers a 'basic black' Thiers-Issard series in plain but sturdy, good quality black plastic scales at about half the price of fancier TIs. I have two of them and this series is an excellent value. If you want fancier scales later, one of our artisans or vendors can lay scales of your choice on you at a much better price than manufacturer's charge.

Hope this helps.

Thank you very much Steve. That was pretty much to the T the I formation I was looking for.

Is she allowed to use a straight razor or shavette only with replaceable blades? Sone states will not allow a straight for health (sanitary) reasons.

Don't think barber's are allowed to use traditional straights, as a matter of fact I can pretty much guarantee it's a US and Canada law that barbers are not allowed to.

And mainly, as Jamie aptly points out, unless she's proficient with honing straight razors, as well as comfortable stropping them, it's just doesn't make sense.

You want to get her something nice, check out a Feather SE system, looks, feels, and acts like a straight razor, but the blades are replaceable, and in line with her requirements not to use the same blade on different customers, at least in practice, many will submerge the shavette in Barbicide....