Thread: razor shopping

am going to go shopping for a second razor. got my first one new from classicshaving.com. now i want a second one and i'm going to shop around the antique stores. so i need advice on what to look for and avoid with old, dusty razors. i'm going to take the list-of-brands-to-avoid, but what else should i watch out for?

Originally Posted by brettzilla

am going to go shopping for a second razor. got my first one new from classicshaving.com. now i want a second one and i'm going to shop around the antique stores. so i need advice on what to look for and avoid with old, dusty razors. i'm going to take the list-of-brands-to-avoid, but what else should i watch out for?

"Dusty" is OK; however, rusty sux! I am pretty sure that was a type O. God knows I never do such things. :-) <LOL>

I look for a full bladed ,i.e. little or no hone wear, no cracks or chips in the blade, no cracks in the scales. If you're in a hands on situation see that the scales fit the blade properly and that they aren't warped badly. If it is ebay ask questions if the pics don't tell you what you need to know. That is what I look for. Some fellows can take a razor that has rust, chips and even bum scales and have it looking like new in short order.

1) watch the edges. You can overcome almost anything but a bad edge. Spotting, pitting, even some rust can be cleaned up enough to be useful.

2) avoid excessive wear on the spine. Early on, you tend to remove more metal when trying to bring these blades back to life. You may as well start with as much as possible.

avoid razors that look like this:



3) Keep in mind, there will always be another day to look. Don't buy something just to buy it. Buy it because you LIKE it.

You're unlikely to find anything from the "razors to avoid" list in an antique shop. Vintage razors all started out good, it's just the treatment they've had since then that will rule them out. Follow the advice already given & you'll be fine.

Anything that looks like this is probably not a good idea:

Vntg Barber Straight Razor No Case I A Qualitat ?Scinte - eBay (item 370249167209 end time Aug-29-09 20:28:24 PDT)

Seriously, avoid the ones the Wiki says are bad, and Pyment makes some great points. As you get better at restorations your ability to see good and bad razors will improve dramatically.

WOW !!!

"The Razor Feels very Sharp"
Bwhahahahahaha

thats all really good advice, thanx!

am going out this week to explore my options. haven't really looked yet so i don't know whats available. kind of exciting!

Finding vintage blades can be fun, I look for deep pits and curves in the blade. A little surface rust is not bad, as long as it is not near the cutting surface. I have purchase a ton of ebay blades 50 percent success rate on them half are complete junk, every once in a while a diamond in the rough shows up.

My advice go to the classified, or buy a NOS from a vendor here. You may want to try a razor complete different from what you have, bigger or small blade, different point, different material SS or Carbon. This is the time to see what you really like

Crom