Thread: Which razor do I keep.

Hi,

I am in the very fortunate position of having aquired all of my old (92 years) deceased barbers straight razors - 13 in all.

They are a mixture going back to the 30s (or before) and include a Bismark, Puma, Fisher, Wilkinson, Kropp, Mauber, Reich, Dispatch, ERN, Veldawerk, Idelthal plus a Durham Duplex and an unnamed one.

Now I have never used one before but can see the benefit in having one so I have decided to keep one back for moi.

But Which one?

They are in various conditions of sharp to very sharp and I have stropped a few to brighten up the cutting edge and tried them all on my (dry) neck with a mixture of results, which is probably based on their sharpness as opposed to the quality.

How does ANYONE choose a razor?

Would EBAY be the best place for the rest of them?

Thanks for your help in anticipation.

Originally Posted by rizla01

Hi,

I am in the very fortunate position of having aquired all of my old (92 years) deceased barbers straight razors - 13 in all.

They are a mixture going back to the 30s (or before) and include a Bismark, Puma, Fisher, Wilkinson, Kropp, Mauber, Reich, Dispatch, ERN, Veldawerk, Idelthal plus a Durham Duplex and an unnamed one.

Now I have never used one before but can see the benefit in having one so I have decided to keep one back for moi.

But Which one?

They are in various conditions of sharp to very sharp and I have stropped a few to brighten up the cutting edge and tried them all on my (dry) neck with a mixture of results, which is probably based on their sharpness as opposed to the quality.

How does ANYONE choose a razor?

Would EBAY be the best place for the rest of them?

Thanks for your help in anticipation.

rizla,

Why keep just one, pour vous?

IMHO the Bismark and the Puma would top my list for keepers. They are well known and respected razor brands. In fact, there are photos of razors such as those posted in SRP's "SOTD" forum on a fairly regular basis.

As for where to dispose of the other sr8 razors in your cache. If you are really set on disposing of them, why not sell them on the SRP "Classifieds?"

BTW...It would be nice if you could post some photos of the str8 razors in your possession here at SRP. They might help the members give you the best feedback to your question(s).

Take care...

Welcome to SRP. The Bismarck and the Puma would be the brands that I would lean to depending on condition. You can't sell them here on SRP until you have something like 50 posts.

Ebay would probably be your best bet if selling them is what you want to do. Take good photos of the blades and scales (handles) and in your descriptions give the measurement from the top of the spine to the cutting edge of the blade. Mention whether there are any visible chips or cracks in the blade or the scales and you'll have better results in your auctions.

If you're inclined to start shaving with the best method devised by man go to the SRP Wiki beginner's guide here. If your deceased barber friend was a honemeister you may have a shave ready razor or more in the mix.

I wouldn't be asking which one to keep. I would be asking which one to sell. The answer I would come back with is none of them.

Also a load of boxes that don't appear to belong to ANY of these razors.

Originally Posted by ndw76

I wouldn't be asking which one to keep. I would be asking which one to sell. The answer I would come back with is none of them.

Must say that they are a good start to a collection and I would hate to get rid, but then I am also a bit of a hoarder and I'm told ('er indoors) that I should get out of that habit.

What sort of money would i expect f they were to sell and are they something that can only increase in value and if so, relatively, by how much?

I realise the last Q is very difficult to say.

Re the pics. sorry if I appear to have broken the forum. As you can see I haven't attempted to clean them at all and there is no pitting on any of the blade edges.

Originally Posted by rizla01

What sort of money would i expect f they were to sell and are they something that can only increase in value and if so, relatively, by how much?

The policy on SRP is not to give $ estimates. If you go to ebay and do a search for Puma razor and then look at the column on the left you'll see a menu selection of 'completed items'. You can get an idea from that. The one you posted the photo of is nice but has hone wear and maybe a bit of chipping in the center of the edge .... or corrosion. Condition is a big thing. Nice photo though.

Actually, the mark on the Puma disappeared after I sharpened it.

I expect all of the razors to have been repeatedly honed over the years but I cannot tell which are more honed than the others.
Are any of the examples shown VERY rare or just nice?

Thanks for all the replies so far BTW.

Rizla
ALl those razors are nice, and would make great shavers.
You could sell them, but you wouldn't make big bucks, IMO. They are nice razors, but the ones which sell for hundreds and hundreds of dollars are, if not NOS, very well preserved. It really boils down to tool vs collectible...

I think the most fruitful thing would be to keep them for yourself, and enjoy having a nice rotation of superlative shavers...if in the future you decided to let one go, you could always do it through the classifieds here or pass it on as a shave-ready razor to another beginner.

would love to see some photos of the Kropp

I've got one of those Puma FF's in 6/8. Whenever I think of selling it, I shave with it & always decide to keep it