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These are two razors i have recently acquired. I am pleased with them. The Red Imp is in really good shape, and does not have any hone marks on it at all. The Wostenholm is well used, but i am hoping it will clean up nice. Please tell me anything you can about them and if the Wostenholm is salvageable. Remember please I am very new. Attachment 70063yAttachment 70062 Attachment 70061nAttachment 70060eAttachment 70059wAttachment 70058.Attachment 70057
Hello,
That Imp does look great.
The Wosty is gonna take some work. If you're new to either shaving or honing, it would be best left to a pro, or given the work needed, it might not be worth salvaging. There a frown between the middle and the heel that will likely have to be taken from the middle. Also, the heel is ground all the way up to the stabilizer, which will have to be ground higher to permit honing the heel. Speaking only for myself, I'd save the scales if you like them and let the Wosty go. They're quality razors and definitely one of the nicer Sheffields, but this one's pretty thrashed. 'Maybe not good news to receive, but be prepared for less than happy input there. Hopefully some of the good resto guys can weight in with better analysis, but I wouldn't pursue the Wosty. That Imp, on the other hand... very nice. You'll have a happy face.
Noticing your join date, I'm guessing you might be new to str8 shaving. If that's the case, I'll echo what countless others have said - avoid the ebay and antique store 'finds' until you're further down the road. As one who's made most mistakes (if they were expensive mistakes, I probably made them twice), I agree w/ all the others that your best shaving value remains the classifieds from others that shave daily w/ a str8.
If you need to get the imp honed up, I'd be happy to help - postage only.
Welcome to SRP! Be sure to post up in the beginner's forum and introduce yourself; where you're from, how you came to SRP etc. is all a part of getting to know each other and finding resources (like guys to help with these razors) that are close by.
The Wosty's been abused some. It might still turn out to be a good shaver, but more experienced eyes will be able to comment better on it. Geo. Wostenholm is a fairly common vintage brand and well liked by most. You would do well to have it honed/restored and shave with it.
The Red has been used, but not abused. Likely would hone up to be a good shaver. I'm not familiar with them though.
Peace,
I have posted in the beginner's forum. I am in upstate SC. The Wosty i know even with my inexperienced eyes is in rough shape. I would like to try my hand at restoring it though. That is the main reason i bought it. I think the scales look pretty good. I would like to try my buffing and polishing skills on it as well as possibly the spine, etching it. I didn't expect to shave with it though. If it is possible to save then i may attempt it. The Imp i was planning on using.
Does anyone know what the year ranges these may be?
@Pink, I may take you up on that offer for the Imp. I would prefer if there was some one close or learning myself though. Although, I do not want to make the mistake of damaging it.
I took a couple of hours and cleaned up the Wosty and created a smile. It removed the least amount of material. Is this too extreme or can i still set a bevel. Let me know what you think. To experiment i notched the toe as well. I plan on going back through the polishing step if i want it to shine.Attachment 70072Attachment 70073
Well done. If you are not an experienced honer, now is the time to send it off to someone who can set it up so it does those scales justice. You've done well, but, like Clint says "A man's gotta know his limitations". Still, pretty darn impressive!
It certainly did clean up fairly nicely. Clearly that razor has not lived an easy life. But in my experience some of this old beat up razors are like old stinky mongrel dogs that you rescue from the pound. Clean them up and show them a little TLC and they'll be your BFF :)
Best looking Imp I have seen in a while, God save the Wosty. The poor thing has been abused, very nice clean up I hope you can get it back together and properly honed, it deserves a better life.
+1 on that. Looks like a good smile you were able to get out of that Wosty and save it. If you have ambitions to hone I would suggest you try the Imp first, or another razor with a straight edge. From my personal experience it takes more finesse to hone a razor with a significant smile, and I got further by honing on a straight edge first.Quote:
Originally Posted by nun2sharp
Like learning to straight shave, it helps to remove as many variables as possible.
Good luck!
I'd highly recommend sending that Wosty out to be honed. You cleaned up the frown, but dug the heel into the stabilizer. Someone with more experience would be able to set the bevel without changing the angle from the stabilizer.
Good job on saving the scales, though.
I went back to the pipe razor again and continued to polish out with MicroMesh. I think it looks pretty good now. I would like to see how that honed up but i'm definetely not experienced enough for that one. The imp i have done the TPT and it passes well. It wont cut a hair dangling though. Does this need to be honed or can it be put straight to the strop to make it shave ready? I have a standard canvas and leather strop if that matters.
Is there anyone who would like to try try and hone thier skills on the Wosty. It has quite the smile so i don't think i can even begin to set a proper bevel on it. It would be nice to see if it would shave again.
Please don't post 'want to buy' (honing service) in the open forum. There is a section in the classifieds for "Want to Buy" for this type of post. Your best option would be to go into the 'Members Services' forum in the classifieds and PM the members you would like to ask for service.Quote:
Originally Posted by JhurricaneL
Oh please don't misunderstand, or maybe i am misunderstanding. I am not soliciting or offering any services. I was mearly asking, just as Pinklather was asking if i wanted to send them my Red Imp to get shave ready. I was asking if anyone who is currently building thier honing skills and has not tackled any type of smiled edge like this would like to practice on this one. I am not expecting to get a free service or sell this razor or anything else like that. I personally like the razor and I had cleaned it up pretty well in my opinion for my first, it is enough for me to just have to admire. I don't think i was out of place asking that. I hope noone else misunderstood my comments.Quote:
Originally Posted by Joed
