I'm going to resist buying any more razors until I master my Dovo "Best Quality" and before I know more about these things.
How soon did you guys start buying up vintage razors?
I'm going to resist buying any more razors until I master my Dovo "Best Quality" and before I know more about these things.
How soon did you guys start buying up vintage razors?
They were all I used and still are the vast majority of my razors.
Too soon and too many. Condition is everything. It is hard to learn how to judge the market or value of a razor and it’s hard to learn how to judge the condition. Then there is the whole repair, restoration rabbit hole. I would suggest not doing what I did. Watch the market and try to learn what to look for before going crazy on eBay. There is a thread called eBay 101that was really active once upon a time. You may want to start there.
I think i waited about a month. Sorry, i was weak.
Started on vintage razors and still only have a couple of modern ones. Should have learned more about vintage razors first so RezDog's advice is spot on for a beginner. There are a lot of pitfalls to look out for when buying vintage razors.
Bob
First razor was a vintage from a flea market over 50 years ago. Don’t know why I picked it up. It was pretty sharp, but not shave ready as I know know what that is now.
I inherited a strop from my dad.
Next one came about 10 years later. A new one. It was shave ready.
Shaved with DEs and cartridge razors mostly for convenience, with a straight once in a while for about 25 years.
Came back to straight razors full time. Got a Thiers-Issard that was professionally honed and got hooked again. Bought some stones and learned to hone them decently well. Still learning from SRP and YOUTUBE.
All of my razors since have been vintage. Restoring, cleaning and honing is a fun hobby. I have repinned and rescaled a few of them using purchased replacement scales and hope to try making my own - motivated by the discussions here on SRP.
This is a fun hobby and there is a tremendous support group here. Unfortunately, they are also incredible enablers of the various acquisition disorders associated with the hobby.:tu
My first vintage was a Torrey, that I found while renovating a old farmhands house. Had rust n pits, but took an edge.
Cleaned it up, honed and used it for nearly 30 years, till I decided I wanted to remove the pits and make it look new again....I destroyed it.! Sanded it so thin, it was like foil.
So I looked into the Web for a place that sells new ones, and found SRD was practically in my back yard. I then met with the owner, ( Don ) and told him of my demise.
He then directed me to this forum, telling me there was all the information I would need for finding and restoring, in there. I joined the forum, educated myself along with help from the members, and have amassed a rotation of over 160 restored vintage blades, in just a few years.
Its great fun, and I'm always looking forward to the next razor.
I'll pass this on some good info there:
beginners-tips-june-2015-
Enjoy!
~Richard
DEZEC, I understand how forums can cause more buying......I used to frequent Parallax Bill's Milsurp Forum plus the forum was at its height during the time C&R imports were at their height. You can guess where most of my spending money went. LOL
Joining a forum dedicated to 1967 to 1972 Chevy trucks has lead to many original parts I really don't need and nearly led to two 1967 Chevy panel trucks I had no place to store out of the elements while my own truck was still up in blocks and in pieces. :thinking:
All my straights are vintage and Sheffield's are my choice as I live there and the local connection has me hooked !
There's a lot of rubbish out there at inflated prices. I quickly learned to hone my own razors as the numbers were far too many to send out to be honed. I restore them now to shave ready, most have still got signs of age on them, patina as you may say.
I enjoy bringing a poor condition razor back to life to do what it was made for. I have little interest in modern razors.
Enjoy your search for an Ivory scaled one, they do look good if you find a nice one :beer1:
782sirbrian,
Thanks man. I have a similar flare for older vehicles and older firearms so I can definitely relate. Not big on patina though.....but I know too much restoration kills value. Better to have an original bluing in bad shape than new bluing in perfect shape.
I started off with two modern Solingen made razors and quickly moved to vintage Solingen razors. Those are my favorite by far.
All of mine are vintage. I started out with plain and inexpensive ones with which I learned to hone, restore and shave. Recently I sold most of them and have bought some vintage but slightly fancier looking ones and I'll keep their number to around 7 as I'm not really a "collector".
I just like a little variety in my choice of straight razors.
gcbryan,
Sounds like good thinking---practice with common, master skill, and then use vintage. If and when I get a nice vintage razor I want it to be something I can shave with. It's not going to be a "medicine cabinet queen." LOL
I spent a lot on new razors in the beginning.
Nower days I would be hard pushed to buy a new razor.
Vintage steel is excellent.
Just to be clear, I never bought a new one, even in the beginning. Plain vintage ones are much cheaper and just as functional. Later, when you know what you like you can buy vintage "lookers" that are more expensive.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnglesMatter
Buying new ones in the beginning just means you are spending more money than necessary before you know what you like.
After you know what you like you may well learn that you aren't interested in new ones.
They made a lot of cool one in the past. Today, not so much since there is much less of a market for them. Now "nice" newer ones are often just "glitzy" with a lot of gold leaf.
I bought only new ones for seven years. Have bought a few older ones since. I would just add, that if we (people interested in straight razors) don't buy any new ones, we should not be surprised if they stop being produced some time down the line.
Most people buy new things first and then a subset of people go for older things. This is seen with cars, clothes, guns, TV's, you name it.
I love my Dovo "Best Quality" but I wish I could find something with its features but with factory ivory scales.
With the import of Elephant ivory being banned in most western countries you are pretty much SOL on that count. There is always Mammoth ivory as a legal substitute though. It is almost impossible to find new factory razors with one piece solid pearl scales too.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnglesMatter
Bob
BobH,
I find most bans to be both self-defeating in their purpose and highly offensive in their conception.
Does anyone have a 3 inch long, hollow ground, round point razor with ivory scales? Some cool-sounding German Solingen-based company would be nice. I'm looking to buy this.
Good for you but you will still have to deal with it and so do manufacturers. There is little to no likelihood that any currently made Solingen straight razor will have elephant ivory scales. For those type of scales you'll have to go vintage.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnglesMatter
Bob
BobH,
I understand that which is why I am asking here instead of doing an Amazon search.
You likely won't find antique ivory on Amazon! :rolleyes:
Since it is illegal to import and export and illegal in Cali and NY, the noose is tightening.
Ebay has a policy against it and seem to have loosened a bit since tattletale seller competition has gone by the wayside.
Antique ivory is legal to own, but not always to transport.
I consider antique stuff done and done generations ago.
I would never condone killing an elephant for it's tusks, yet back when, they were plentiful and provided raw materials as there was no plastic. It got to be associated with upper-end, even as some plastics were quite good.
Still, some have 'no tolerance' attitudes in our society.
They may well come for the old razors and such someday!
From your description, finding something like these Walker and Hall roundpoints in ivory could still be possible.
Turn of Century Sheffields like this will shave circles around Dovos, IMO.
In fact, some which are 'German Ground' or 'Hamburg Ground' exist.
Attachment 288075Attachment 288076
Bans seldom work well, generally drive up demand and lead to an explosion of wealth and power of criminal groups, such as we saw with the mafia during Prohibition and currently see with criminal gangs and cartels during this War on Drugs.
Licensed hunting with sale of ivory would generate govt. tax revenue (licenses are taxes after all) and would encourage local farmers to see the elephants as a valuable resource instead of a threat to their farms. You'll never explain that to a non hunter though.
I'd be about as likely to give up an ivory razor as I'd be to give up a firearm but I don't live where either is licensed. :chapeau
Thank you so much for both the pics and suggestions! Now I have a place to start. *Those razors are gorgeous to behold!
As to the Elephants, hunters with ethics and obeying the law are not the problem with diminishing herds. The game thieves are. JMO.
I agree fully but for some reason, when a person breaks the law, the standard resolution put forth is to pass more laws, on the belief the guy that broke the previous laws will for some reason, obey the new laws.
Rinse and repeat.
There is always Heljestrand....Mk 32 in ivory (notice the brass inlays on the pivot pin area to protect the scales)Quote:
Originally Posted by AnglesMatter
Attachment 288079
...and of course in Tortoise as well, beautiful pieces of history IMO
Attachment 288080
I've probably bought 40 brand new blades since about 08 but wound up selling them all. I prefer vintage blades, especially wedges, frame backs, and half hollows that I can restore. Buy up a handful of Gold Dollar or other "throwaway" blades to practice reshaping, grinding, re-scaling, and other things to give you some expertise in restoration. Then go into the Bay and buy up a few old blades that look like they aren't cracked or have deep rust on the bevels. Guarantee you'll trash the first few you play with (hence use cheap blades to learn on). Avoid using Dremels except for small touchups and get some buffing machines as well as a small bench press, a grinder, and whatever other machinery and tools you see others here using. It'll trash your budget no matter what you buy but it's well worth it all in terms of satisfaction - or so I've been telling myself.
