Thread: Newbie razors, help me learn about these razors please!

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. y new.

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.

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.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

... 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.

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.