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Hi,
Being new to all this, plus having just found this great forum, I thought I would solicit an opinion on a razor I can get locally. Its a 5/8 Boker as you see it. Does the finish of the blade look good? According to the seller, its honed up and ready to go. I can see that one pin has been changed (I think) as its a different finish than the other one. It certainly looks like its been polished alot. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated, and Hello!
First of all, welcome to the site!
The razor, from what I can see here, looks good. Bokers are a good make and shave very well, and this one has no cracks or chips, nor does it have loads of spine wear. As you say, one of the pins has been replaced, but as long as the scales and pivot are tight its purely a cosmetic thing.
Make sure you read the SRP Wiki, Beginners Guide and FAQ in my sig line below, as they will answer a lot of your questions.
In terms of shave readiness and honing, a lot of sellers claim a razor is shave ready when it actually isnt. The only way to tell is to strop it up and give it a test shave! If it doesnt remove hair or pulls alot, then send it out to be honed by a pro. If it shaves, then no problem!
You'll also need a strop of some kind, plus a brush and soap. Check the Vendors Corner here for a list of places you can get the other kit you need.
When you start shaving, take it slow and make sure you feel comfortable with what you're doing. Its not a race, just enjoy the ride..! :)
Good luck and keep us posted!
Welcome to SRP. Looks like a good one to me. Unfortunately we don't discuss price here so that is an issue that could make a difference in the answer but that aside Bokers are great shavers and hard to beat.
If you google Boker razor you'll find what current production Bokers are going for which will give you something to go with on value. The average cost of honing seems to be around $20.00 so figure that into the equation.
See my sig line below to avoid nicks and cuts and click the link to the SRP Wiki for tons of info on straight razors, shaving with them, and maintaining them. If you don't find the answers there don't hesitate to ask on the forum. :gl:
One the razor looks good, but if your interested here is a thread about 2 Bokers I just restored for myself... In fact I just finished shaving with the Injun :)
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...jun-102-a.html
The Red Injun is a "Custom Restore and it is very obvious that it has been re-done...
The Boker 95 TE is what is called a "Vintage Restore" where the razor is brought back as close in factory as possible, not so easy to tell since I changed both pins...
It might be a good read for you...
Welcome to SRP
This razor has definitely been removed from the scales, polished and then repinned. This is not a bad thing if it was done properly.
What seems a bit disappointing to me are the scratch marks on the blade which are running at a 45° angle. The man doing the refinishing obviously felt the need to use a strong wheel compound (or sandpaper) to clean up the blade, but didn't care enough to remove those marks from that first cleaning process. Further polishing work, therefore, has left the blade with polished scratches. :( That doesn't mean that the blade won't shave you properly, but it is rather a shame.
For the rest, it is a quality blade and - if the sharpening and honing have been properly done - should be a good shaver.
In addition to what ignatz pointed out the guy using the brass to pin rather than nickel silver rubs me the wrong way. :shrug: It sticks out like a sore thumb AFAIC.
Hi All,
Thanks very much for the opinions. Yes, since finding this site (a little over a week); I've spent that time reading all I can, and have learned much. I also collect police badges, and believe it or not, there are alot of similarities when it comes to evaluating a razor! Fakes, junk, hallmarks, wear and tear, repairs, etc, so I have a pretty good eye for that stuff.
As for this blade, I had similar concerns about the polish work and pin, hence this posting for opinions. He's not asking alot for it anyway, $105, which I thought was good, and he will deal....
Once I get a good blade or two, then get the rest of my kit, I'll try to use one! That should be fun!
Jimmy and ignatz are both right. My guess is this the blade had minor pitting and rust and couldnt be removed with just buffing and polishing so he sanded with a knife grinder using about a 320 grit zirconia type grit maybee ceramic but the blade was then taken to a buffer and polishied with a green steel polish maybee white but because he never went to a higher structured abrasive type belt wasnt able to remove the scratches thus leaving a smeared look. Sorry but its not worth that much money and im by no means any expert. Im a knife maker and I take my blades to 3000 grit to get a nice polish no scrathches and see yourself in the blade. Most the time I dont touch a knife to the buffer now and just had a bad accident on the buffer with a razor . 100year old boker snapped when the buffer grabbed it from me.