Thread: Razors I saw today

So after spending a few hours on the internet reading up on razors I hit the antique malls today. I was pleasantly surprised to actually find quite a good selection out there! I made notes, although now that I look at them they are woefully incomplete. I would be interested in your feedback with regard to which of these razors might A) make a good starter blade, and B) make a good blade to collect or resell.

In spite of my lack of detail, most of these blades were in decent shape, minor wear, no major pitting that I could see, very minor nicks (or none at all).

[EDIT: I did not purchase any of these razors today, FYI)]

Torrey - "No. 900" on the blade itself
Geneva Cutlery - $20
Electric Cutlery - $25
Keen Cutter - $45
Ohio Cutlery - $18
Shumate - $36
the Saturday blade from a 7-day set (unsure of brand) - $30
E.M. Davis - $35
DublDuck - $50
Palm - Kirchner - $40
W.B. - Ivory (?) - labeled as 1890's - $60

Pics or it did not happen.

Aside from "we don't do apprasials" (and that is essentially what asking "Should I buy this blade for this price") it is impossible to say anything about a razor without seeing pictures or at least having a good description.

Originally Posted by mainaman

Pics or it did not happen.

I didn't even take good notes - why would you think I took pics? LOL For some reason I felt like taking pictures would alert the sellers and they would mark them all up on me. I guess that kinda sounds crazy now that I think about it. But yeah, no pics.

Welcome to SRP!
Never heard of the Ohio Cutlery one. Still, if you had these all honed up by an expert, you might not be able to tell the difference in shaving ability. On the other hand, as you probably know, the ducks have a following. I would probably go with the one that had the least hone wear, the least pitting, tight pins, and the most uniform bevel. Make sure it closes centered in the scales. A 5/8 to 6/8 blade would be a good bet too.

Originally Posted by matt321

Welcome to SRP!
Never heard of the Ohio Cutlery one. Still, if you had these all honed up by an expert, you might not be able to tell the difference in shaving ability. On the other hand, as you probably know, the ducks have a following. I would probably go with the one that had the least hone wear, the least pitting, tight pins, and the most uniform bevel. Make sure it closes centered in the scales. A 5/8 to 6/8 blade would be a good bet too.

I couldn't find much on Ohio Cutlery either. I was Googling everything on my iPhone while walking around.

Now I gotta go do more reading so I can figure out what these numbers mean....

Originally Posted by dixonge

I didn't even take good notes - why would you think I took pics? LOL For some reason I felt like taking pictures would alert the sellers and they would mark them all up on me. I guess that kinda sounds crazy now that I think about it. But yeah, no pics.

Without pics there is no way to tell if the razors are in good condition.

One of my best shavers came from an antique place. It is an unfamiliar brand but shaves like a champ!

Oh also, look carefully for chips and cracks in the blade.

The 5/8 - 6/8 thing refers to the blade width.

There was a Ohio cutlery Co. in Massilon, Ohio from 1919 to 1925 they weren't in business for very long. I like collecting razors from companies that have not been in business for very long, I would think it would be more collectible since there was not a long production on the razors from them. Just about any dubl duck model is going to be a good shaver and collectible. Torrey razors were in business from 1880 to 1963 they made some pretty good razors and a lot of them. There was two Electric cutlery co. One in business New Jersey from 1890 to 1910 and the other one in New York 1910 to 1920. Geneva cutlery co. we're in business from 1902 to 1935 and made good razors also. I can't find much information on the others. Everybody has their own way of buying and collecting, these razors that I have mentioned would be a good starter blade and the others maybe also just depends on what you want to collect and use. I would try to stay away from pitied and rusted blades unless you want to have somebody completely restore it to new condition which sometimes can cost quite a bit. I would suggest picking out the best condition / looking razors, ones that is not going to need a lot of work done to it maybe just honing and that's it. Good luck in your venture.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Aside from "we don't do apprasials" (and that is essentially what asking "Should I buy this blade for this price") it is impossible to say anything about a razor without seeing pictures or at least having a good description.

+1 on the money bit.

The only reason for me to buy a razor is that I would be
willing to shave with it. In fact do I want to shave with
it.

All in all good prices for sound steel i.e. if no nicks or cracks
and functional pins and scales. If you sold the DD
you should be able to cover shipping them to me...