Thread: Acquisition of the day

Hello gents...
Today, I was a bit cranky in the morning when my mother woke me up to go with her to the flea market, but still, I got up, drank a cup of tea and went with her...
There was this guy from which my parents buy old stuff, and when he saw us he reached in his pocket and took this beauty out:







Sorry for the bad pics, I took them with mobile phone...

Any way, the blade is 7/8" wide, round tip, 6/16 hollow ground, on the shank stands: ARTUR KEMPER, SOLINGEN-WALD, and it has beautiful engraving all over the blade saying: SOLINGEN, PRIMA, HANDARBEIT... It looks like NOS, it was never used and it has no hone wear... And scales are brown celluloid...

The price was 150 kn or 26$...

I will post some more detailed pictures in the evening...

Very nice find at a very nice price. ENJOY IT!!

great looking razor, almost looks brand new.

That's a great price for a razor in that condition. Not sure what the average salary is in Croatia though! When you gonna hone her up?

Average salary is around 5000 kn or 880 $ per month here in Croatia...
I'll hone her tomorrow, along with the test shave...
This one is certainly bigger and heavier than mine other razors (5/8" and 11/16" full hollow), but I hope I'll manage it...

That makes it a bit more of an investment then. I thought straight shaving was expensive here! It irritates the hell out of me that stuff made in germany costs more in £ than it does even in $. I don't mean after you convert. It's like a £150 razor can be $100 for example!

It's not that big investment... I mean, I have a state scholarship of 700 kn (120$) a month and I put every month some of it a side to buy some shaving gear... I mainly look for cheap eBay razors, between 15 and 20$ with shipping, to restore, hone and shave with them... And I spend additional 10$ for sandpaper and polishing pads for my Dremel and other stuff... Not counting the time spent on razor and my tennis elbow after sanding the razor...
This one I just have to hone and it's ready to go...
Straight razors are very hard to find here in Croatia, it looks like they have been turned into a myth...
I often get laughed at with standard stupid question: "Haven't you heard of Mach3?" when I say that I shave with str8...

In the 80's and 90's it was a common tool for castrating suckling pigs...
That's why it's hard to find one that hasn't been used for that purpose...

I seem to remember that Jockeys on here nearly did that to himself while shaving his "rooster"
You must really clean them up when you find them then?!

Yes, I do... I dip the blade first in boiling water, then rinse it with alcohol, then I dip it into the rust removing compound (phosphoric acid and methanol), then I sand it (400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000), then I polish it, then I rinse it with alcohol again and then I hone it...
Same progression with every razor, regardless where it was bought...