Your Top 5 (or more) Makers

Evening, everyone.

I have slightly recovered from this month's HAD and am now thinking of increasing my razor collection. Personally I would like to have a couple of great razors rather than many average ones - so am seeking your opinion about what you think are the must haves.

At the moment I have two sheffields, a Solingen and one of China's finest. Because there are so many different brands and I don't have any experience with them I usually just look at English razors on the bay. I can't really afford to just start buying at random - so I'd really appreciate your experience.

Cheers,

Rob

That is easy and tough at the same time. There are so many great razors from the days of yore. The dubl ducks, C-Mons, Fillys, Pumas, FWE, Koeller, Bartmann and Heljestrands come to my mind right off the bat. Of current production I love TI no matter what anyone says. The old Sheffields and most of the vintage Solingens were all good.

Matter of fact I think watching 'ending today' on ebay and looking for really good condition Solingen full hollows that are not named above or Sheffields ..... IOW, not hot items and are at a low price can bring you some great shavers at an affordable price.

One member I know of just got a beautiful Wostenholm for like $17.00 in a 1/2 or maybe it was a 1/4 hollow. Bargains are out there if you keep you ear to the ground and stay away from the collector's items.

Any of these will do: Good Straight Razor Brands - Straight Razor Place Wiki. The rest is usually eye candy. And, as Jimmy quite rightly stated, there are many unknown or unbranded Solingen razors out there. I have one that appears to be the only one in existence, and it is a fabulous razor.

The massive drawback when sticking to the known brand names is that you will most likely pay way too much, especially if you are only beginning to explore razors. Purely from a standpoint of functionality, there is absolutely no justification for a razor that costs more than USD 50 (which is where the really good deals usually start here in the Classifieds). If you have the money to pay for a certain brand name or eye candy, that is great. If not, try to either stick to a known but non-hyped brand (which basically means no W&B, Dubl Duck, Filarmonica, etc for you), or bring some patience.

Regards, and good luck,
Robin

Wade and Butcher's aren't too pricey on eBay unless they are mint or 7/8" +

I've seen several that were just a hone and strop away from being a good shaver, with no apparent pitting or rust and near-mint scales go under $30. Ones with rust but easily fixable can be had in the $20 range.

Ducks in that condition start around $30-40 but I've seen several mints go $100+

Filly's... well they rarely go under $100, but I did grab one in a home-made set of scales for around $21 the other day.


I've shaved with 5 razors ranked in order of quality of shave:

Puma
Morris
Geneva
Chas F Schmidt (this and Geneva are tied 3rd and 4th)
J R Torrey


I've got 4 more I haven't had a chance to shave off of, and One I've only shaved with off of a very rough grit stone (so I'm not ranking it until I get home and can hone it properly). Also, the Filly should arrive next week some time.

I was going to come up with a list when I realized most were Solingen based full hollow razor makers!

I just got a nice Boker for $13!!! It was overshadowed by a massive 1" W&B from the same seller that was going for $125!

Deals are to be had. I'm a believer of that after this win. You just have to be patient, and look for the not so popular brands. It's the maker that counts.

Any vintage Solingens I've come across have shaved well so far (full hollows to 1/4 wedges), but that's only about 15 SR's so far. I got a Soviet SR in the other day off the bay, cleaned it up and rescaled it, honed & polished the edge...fantastic shaver!!! What I love is how EVERY SR shaves & feels differently in some way or another...

My top five are Wostenholm, vintage Boker, Electric, Clauss, and Engels. Ask me next month, and I might have some different favorites! (Thistle Cut, Simmons, Greaves, Torrey, and Holley). Truthfully, I love them all!

Since I still look to acquire nice razors on a limited budget, I refrain from naming brands. The well known and commonly sought after brands need no additional mention.

I agree on Solingen razors being consistently great shavers. Vintage USA brands are razors that IME are very rarely only mediocre. I agree with Robin's sentiment in that I'm MUCH more inclined to scarf up a great deal on a lesser known, rarely if ever mentioned vintage USA or Solingen razor than I ever would be at this point to join the fray on bidding for one of the "hot" brands. My rotation bears this out in that it's normally filled with underdogs and unsung heroes while the Hess 44, Green Lizard, WB Barbers Use chopper, and others sit in storage. Crazy, I know, but I'm sure at least a few of us will know where I'm coming from.

Chris L

In my experience:
1) Luer

2) Greaves

3) Pumacker

4) Crown

5) Wostenholm