Thread: First Razor!

Hello All,

Well after months of researching, debating, and reading all sorts of stuff, I finally took the plunge and bought myself a straight razor and the necessary accessories as an early graduation present. After a lot of thought, I decided to go vintage for several reasons. I figured since this will be a large learning curve any ways, I might as well get something truly unique that has some great history behind it. For me, it adds a lot more appeal to the whole process, and makes it all that much more interesting. Here is the razor I settled on, I will put up some pics when I get a chance:

Henry Sears & Sons, St. Paul, Minn. "queen". c. 1897-1959. 5/8" square point blade, hammered and engraved tang, front tang marking reads: "Hand Forged", rear tang marking reads: "Henry Sears & Sons" over "1865" over "Prussia" and the pattern number "553" on the right. It also has a neat multicolored celluloid handle.

I actually bought the razor from a knowledgeable straight razor vendor, who assures me that it is in excellent condition, and the pictures I have seen reaffirm this.

I will keep everyone posted on how learning goes!

Welcome to the forums and congrats on the razor. Throw your questions out there as you think of them and we will try to answer them. As far as your new vintage razor , I will just ask if it will be delivered to you "shave-ready"? It is very important that your razor be honed by someone who knows what they're doing so you can have a bench-mark moving forward...

I actually contacted to seller to see if they could do it before shipping, and have not heard back yet. If not, I know someone here that can do it, but I would prefer not to have to go out of the way.

not to insult the seller, but some "razor experts" are experts in name only. One guy who says he wrote books on straight razors couldn't tell if the razors he was selling had been shortened, or if tangs had been broken off on a few of his auctions. He also had a really hard time answering questions about possible problems with razors other than just saying whether or not the scales were cracked. My point in saying all of this is either to suggest that you just go ahead and plan on sending the razor to an SRP honemeister (or find out for sure who this guy is and if he has honed razors before).

Just a thought

Congrats! Unfortunately, you have taken the first steps towards...RAD.

Congrats, Can you tell us who the seller is, I may know him, and may be able to give you info on it...

While the vendor you bought from may actually be knowledgeable, there are a lot of people who start flipping razors without having the slightest clue what they are doing. Just because they tell a good story and pretend to know what they are doing, their BS does not translate into a decent shave ready razor.

Skeptical anyone? haha j/k ya man be careful with supposed experts, also too be careful of blade warp I have bought blades and a few are warped and not straight which makes for a fun time honing it. I bought my first straight from The Invisible Edge and it was a great purchase... came shave ready and in perfect conditon...I'm no expert but I'd say for 60 bucks you cant go wrong there.

cheers
D

haha, everyone is always an expert, right? Well, I bought the razor from Vintage Blades, LLC. So far, dealing with Jim has been a pleasure, and I have read nothing but good things about him here. The razor is not shave ready, but he has sent it off to get honed before he ships it to me. After my las shave with my Mach 73 or how ever many blades it has, my face can't wait until I learn how to get a true, proper shave.