Thread: New or Vintage?

As many of you know... ive been battling with myself... (and even a member or two lol sorry) about what kind of razor to buy as my first.. considering i have made more room in my finances for this purchase... ive re shopped the new razor market, and have discovered a number of things that would fit into my budget, and are quite nice looking...

well, i wouldnt say a number... but a few... to start, the dovo bismarck... very nice looking razor, especially the round point (if only they made a spike point with the same spine) but one of my biggest concerns with that razor, is the face of the gold plating... some members here have stated that i wouldnt have to worry about "taking off a plating" with honing a razor... well... this is the exception to the rule... wont honing kill the plating on this razor?

the other is the micarta scaled dovo, with the "damascus-esque" type blade... really nice looking blade, but same problem as the bismarck... and, temporarily out of stock lol

last... is the blue steel model..... VERY nice looking black finish... but, how long will that finish last with a few hones? my guess is not much... but maybe someone here can beg to differ?

now all this aside... the biggest question is... should i go with one of these? or keep my heart set on a vintage masterpiece? given the fact that looks are important to me, its going to be hard finding a really high polish, nice looking razor thats vintage in my price range... but, quality first..

I thought you had settled on the 8/8 W&B in the B/S/T forum...

too many people jumping to conclusions... all i said was PM Sent... lol i did send a PM, and i explained myself to him... told him what i want to do... he said hes in no rush and really doesnt care if it sells or not, so... i figured id do some thinking on it... for me, it is a lot of money... and as ive stated before im prepared to spend it... just want to make sure im not cheating myself out of other options that could save me money and still get me what i want

plus ive got a week or so before i can pay for it anyways... (wasnt like that a while ago... bank screwed up my acct in .01 seconds flat... now its going to take a week for them to fix it... go figure..)

I've noticed some people prefer gold inlays and my impression is that with careful honing (taping the spine) the inlay can be preserved for a long time. I think lazer etching is even more durable than gold plating. I'd assume if the blade is not allowed to rust it'll be there forever.

When I was wondering about my brush purchase a member of B&B likened it to catch-22 - you want one perfect object, but you can't tell what is the perfect object unless you try them all.

I've just embraced the fact that I won't stick to one just as mostly everybody here. I like the term 'rotation'

good luck on your quest

ahhh, usually a reply of "PM sent" marks the item with your intent to buy. That is probably why people thought what they did.
That is what led me to the conclusion at least.
When there isn't explicit intent on buying the item, it is usually better to post with "PM sent for info" or some such. That way no one jumps to any conclusions about the item being sold or not.


Anyway, good luck on your razor purchase.

well as the future comes barreling toward me.. i know i will get at least one or two more... but initially id like to get something im going to be satisfied with.... i would assume a common RAD trigger is someone who buys a razor as a good deal to start with and ends up with "oh this razor is sh**! gotta buy a new one and hope its better" lol you know? its kinda like a newbie buying a bulk pack of american personna blades, and now that hes figured out its junk hes going to dig around and buy the next step up... not too much more money... but more... and those arent good enough... so he buys the next... and so forth... i like to start at the top, and work my way down... "top" being the best i can feasibly afford... but unlike DE blades, str8s share many common, as well as unique traits... its not just "too smooth/dull vs too agressive/sharp"... theres much more to take into consideration, and the fact that just about any razor can be honed to the "perfect edge" makes it almost impossible to make razor searching a matter of quality...

in short... str8 edge brands/models are wide spread... in the end the only thing that matters is steel, balance, ability to take an edge, and overall physical condition... which still leaves you with about a million choices... and thats my problem.

Like Randy said, the most important thing for your first razor is that it is "shave ready". Everything else is just icing on the cake. FWIW I personally would definately take the W&B over any of the razors that you mentioned in this post; however, an 8/8 blade is very big for a first razor. IMO 5/8-6/8 would be much easier to learn on; however, the bigger razors are very cool. If you want your first razor to be something very special then I would get the W&B then a mcuh cheaper smaller razor (like a wapienica) to practice shaving with. Just my .02

To address your original question, honing alone will not remove the gold wash. Polishing the blade surface (MAAS, sandpaper, etc) will do so, however.

The part of the blade with the goldwash won't come into contact with the hone normally.

New or old, any of the razors recommended by members of this board could provide you with a close, comfortable shave. Any minor deficiencies in the shaving capabilities of any of these razors will be dwarfed by the the deficiencies in your stropping, shaving, and honing skills for some time to come. Moreover, there is no ultimate razor for everyone. The only way to figure out what razor you like best is to try a few different ones after you have the basics down well enough to appreciate the differences.

So stop wringing your hands and buy your first razor!