Thread: My first buy.

Well, I jumped in and bought 3 old razors. I'm hoping with all the reading I have done I picked out a few good ones.
First 4 pics are a Carl Herlitzius. It says 99 4/8 Herlitzius on one side and the other side says Gustoc
Celebrated Cutlery
Warranted

Next 3 pics Is a Henkel. Fremont.O. U.S.A. That's all.

Last pics are a George Wostenholm & Sons Real IXL razor.

Be honest and tell me if I did bad or good. Tell me what info you know on them. Thanks

Well, it seems the pictures got out of order, Sorry

I'm sure they all would come out great once honed. The mint green one seems to be reshaped after chipping.

Originally Posted by Blix

I'm sure they all would come out great once honed. The mint green one seems to be reshaped after chipping.

Like a retard I didn't realize that might be till I got it home.

They look to be in pretty good shape and should hone up well. You may want to consider having a little more shaping work done on the mint green razor to make it look more natural. You could easily turn it into a shortie and it could still provide serviceable shaves. It is certainly worth a try. Don't beat yourself up, you still did well. One of the first eBay razors I purchased was so overhoned that the spine would have needed six or seven layers of tape just to set a bevel.

Let us know how things turn out.

Happy Shaving!

Don't let the green razor worry you. I have a old Colorado Cutlery Works razor that had been cut down. I reshaped the toe, honed it up, and it made a good shaver. The Wosty will make a wonderful shaver when properly honed,however it does have some wear issues and I would definitely send it out to be honed by an expert. Wosty's make super shavers and if you are new to honing razors (hunting knives don't count) this is not the razor to learn on. Welcome to SRP and please ask questions as this forum has a great bunch of guys who really want your adventure in straight shaving to be fun, and a great learning experence. Best Regards and Happy Shaving, wildhog

Thanks guys for the encouragement. I will be sending them out soon to be sharpened. I really like the green one and think it will possible be a good razor for my 16 year old son that is the reason I am doing all this. This will be an adventure both of us will do together. Thanks, crazy8days71

Looks like you're off to a great start, don't really know anything about American razors, but the Wostenholm should be excellent. They all look to be in very nice shape. Like Wildhog said, don't let the re-shaped toe put you off, the edge seems to be in good shape and you can get it re-shaped. You could get it to shave as it is (was) and it would most likely make a good razor, but for the esthetic aspect.

Wosty's are some of the most sought after razors out there. They're good shavers and most of them are pretty old. Yours needs some rehab, but is a good sample.

The Henkel has had rehab work done to it, and I support the idea of having it ground down further into a more appropriate round point shape...it'll be a great shaver for your son. (Kudos on the shared adventure BTW).

The Herls is one I'm not familiar with, but it looks to be in the best shape, and I really like the deer inlay on the scales. Very nice looking.

So what are your plans from here? Are you going to attempt to take on honing first, or send them out, or do both?

Peace,
Jim

Originally Posted by BigJim

So what are your plans from here? Are you going to attempt to take on honing first, or send them out, or do both?

Peace,
Jim

Thanks Jim, My plans are to send the out to be professionally corrected. I do plan to learn how to hone my own razors. My father is planning to give me a few more that were his parents. Depending what needs done to them I might send out, might not. Tonight I went to 2 antique consignment shops. Looked through a dozen or more but they wanted to much and most looked like they used them as screwdriver.

crazy8days71