Thread: Which ones to choose?

SO I am heading out tomorrow to grab up a few old razors. I have the cash to get just a few, and wanted to know what you guys thought that I should choose. One of them is an "Electric Cutlery Co." and one is an "Artist" by Levering Razor Co. I believe there is an old Dovo Bismarck lurking about as well. I also have a lead on seven identical George Wostenholm razors that are priced very well. (Not that I would be getting seven of them, but I would like to grad a few. I hear that they are good blades, and similar to Landers Frary and Clark.) Would it be wise to grab the ECC and LRC razors and one of the GW's, or just get a few of the Wosties instead? Is sampling different razors part of the whole charm of shaving with a straight? Did I just answer my own question?

The great thing about vintage razors is that, depending on condition, they all tend to be good. Sampling different ones is part of the fun though. Are the Wolstenholms part of a seven day set, if so, keeping them together would be a good idea, if you can. Good luck on your hunt.

If the razor look good and you stick to the
Good Straight Razor Brands - Straight Razor Place Wiki
and avoid
Brands of Straight Razors to avoid - Straight Razor Place Wiki
you should be doing OK.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by Otto

If the razor look good and you stick to the
Good Straight Razor Brands - Straight Razor Place Wiki
and avoid
Brands of Straight Razors to avoid - Straight Razor Place Wiki
you should be doing OK.

Good luck.

I have both of these lists saved on my Blackberry. Is that a warning sign of a problem?

The razors are not part of a set that I know of, they are all stamped with N50 perpendicular to the Wos. logo if I remember correctly and all are in the same condition and wear patterns. One has a round point, but all the others are square. The blades are the same length, though, as I held the round one to the spine of one of the squares. We will see. Once I have them in my hands this morning I will be able to make the call. But for now I just need some coffee...

So I picked up the Friedman & Lauterjung "Electric Cutlery Co.", The "Artist" Levering Razor Co., and one of the "Celebrated I.XL" Wostenholms. Talked the guy down to about half of what he wanted, and think that I came out pretty well... I will have to get some photos up sometime today and put them in the "recent scores" section. Glad that I got the other two razors instead of three of the Wosties, as they both feel great in the hand and are in very good shape. Now it's time to clean them up!

Congrats. Not entirely sure of this, but I believe Lauterjung had another more common famous trademark. Might've been Puma? I'm not sure. Word on the street is all three of those should shape up to fine shavers.

Originally Posted by khaos

Congrats. Not entirely sure of this, but I believe Lauterjung had another more common famous trademark. Might've been Puma? I'm not sure. Word on the street is all three of those should shape up to fine shavers.

That is what I have run across as well. It seems that Friedman & Lauterjung was a combo of Friedman handling the importing and movement and Lauterjung handled production. I think that you are correct about Puma being the eventual replacement of the Lauterjung name.

Now I have NINE razors, an old slick strop, and NO hone. I think that I am good on buying blades for now. I need to focus on other areas of the process. I mean, it would be nice to have them all in rotation...

lol I prefer buying razors- a few hones is all I need. I don't have HAD. A couple strops is all I need- I have SAD but not badly. BUT RAZORS! Oh boy! Thats the beauty- you can get a razor and hone it and run it over the strop and boom. See- hones can be used fro a lot of razors, but once a razor is sharp its sharp. So I need more razors to work on. LOL.

Originally Posted by khaos

lol I prefer buying razors- a few hones is all I need. I don't have HAD. A couple strops is all I need- I have SAD but not badly. BUT RAZORS! Oh boy! Thats the beauty- you can get a razor and hone it and run it over the strop and boom. See- hones can be used fro a lot of razors, but once a razor is sharp its sharp. So I need more razors to work on. LOL.

I get it, but staring at these dull razors is driving me nuts. Maybe that is why I keep getting more? To have a new dull one to look at? I would like to find just a barber's hone for now, as I think that I can get away with that and a strop. I am not really interested in getting all of these Norton combo blah blah blah setups as of right now. I think that I would be better off doing more research and doing that later. And we are about 14 week into a pregnancy. So I am not too sure that SWMBO would allow it.

I have a Freidmann & Lauterjung that on the front side has the "Electric" motif along with the stylized letters EL to the left or blade side. Black horn scales in about C- condition but I like them. Pictures to follow. Wondering when they used horn scales??

Slawman