Thread: shumate

i am new to the site.
I purchased a shumate razor for $5 and am considering sending it to someone to have it honed/repaired. It is in kind of rough shape and i was wondering if these razors would even be worth the money to have repaired. There are no large chips or other obvious damage to the edge, but it does have some very small chips.
The blade says shumate 30 on one side, and shumate razor co. st. louis, mo
I understand my questions may be difficult to answer without pictures.
I just really want to know if it would be better to have this razor refurbished or buy a shave ready razor.
Does anyone know when this razor was manufactured?
Thanks in advance

Pics would be nice, but if the chips are small enough they can be honed out. Old razors are brought back to life everyday here and Shumate is definitely quality. Welcome to SRP, enjoy the ride!

thanks for the quick response, i will try to add some pictures.

i took some pictures

Doesnt look like a problem to me, I have seen much worse!

I would also like some opinion as to whether this razor is appropriate for a beginner such as myself.

Shumates are great old razors. I got one on ebay for $15, sharpened it and it turned out great. As good as my Dovos. Yours looks okay, no damage to the edge, it should hone nicely. As for a starter blade, it should do fine. Personally, I think a wider blade is a little easier to work with. This one looks like a 5/8 or maybe a little less, but that really isn't a big deal. If you like it, keep practicing with it, and for your next razor try a 6/8 and see if you like that even better. Dovo makes good razors that start for less than $100. Or familiarize yourself with the brands of quality vintage razors listed in the wiki here. Then you can look for those on this site's classifieds or on ebay.

Actually I find razor width to be entirely personal and I like them all. My smallest is a 3/8 I got NOS in wrapping my largest is just over 8/8. Neither are a Shumate.
I love my Shumates though. They shave great and never seem to disappoint in shave or off of any hone. I agree, that one looks like it shouldn't be much of a problem getting cleaned up. You can go to the member services section or vendor section here and find a handful of guys who will do a great job.
Welcome to SRP and I hope you enjoy your time here.

Thanks for the help everyone.

A lot of people around here (me included) like Shumates. I'm pretty new to straight razors myself and while I got a couple of new ones from SRD a couple of months ago during Xmas, I also found a Shumate 018 5/8 from ebay for less than $10. I cleaned it up a bit and sent to SRD for honing and for $20 got a razor that shaves as good as the ones (Dovo and Boker) I bought. Other members around here (listed in the vendors) also have really great reputations for honing and getting razors serviceable. It could be a good inexpensive way to start.