Thread: Razor Question For Beginner

Hello,

My grandpa died 3 years ago, and I was helping my grandma clean out her attic and found a box. In the box were a ton of straight razors.
I figured there is no better time than now to learn how to straight shave. Half of them look shave ready, the other half are restorable. I have
a lot of experience restoring knives and this can't be too much diff. There were also 3 hones in the box and those can't be too diff than a whetstone.
My question is, which one of these razors are good ones, and which ones are probably the best to learn on? The razors in the box were...

Case:
Temperite 25 (2 of these)
Temperite 20
Red Imp 125

JA Henckles:
28
76
401

Dubl Duck:
Wonderedge
Goldedge (2 of these)

Durham Demonstrator
Shumate's Peacemaker
Champion Wedge (Genco?)
Fromm Eagle
Devry B.S Co Aristocrat
WM Elliot and CO 21
Ontario Cutlery CO 86
Westpfal Cutlery CO 85
Robert Klaas (Prima, saturday on the spine) 22
Waterville Cutlery
Shuredge? (might be something else from rochester NY)
and than there is one that has like a crown symbol followed by an R its in an Orrey box i believe

So this is the collection I just inherited, and I am sorry if this is the wrong forum. But I was looking for advice. Im a college student who wants
to pick up straight razor shaving. I just came into a bunch of straight razors, hones, and a strop. I went out and just got cheapo soap and a brush
from walgreens. Any advice on what razor to use would be greatly appreciated, or if maybe any of them are worth looking into selling so I can get
my grandma some money. Thank you ahead of time for all the advice.

Regards,
John

welcome to SRP!
That's quite the inheritance you got there!

Honestly, most any of those razors would, if in a decent condition, provide you with great shaves.
Get a couple of them professionally honed, and you should be set

We don't do valuations on SRP, against the rules, so we can't help you there.
What I can tell you is to look at ebay for what the various razors can get on the open market.

Good luck with learning the skills needed for a comfy shave using straights.
Any questions you have, post them up, and we'll do our best to help you out.

if you can post pics of the blades we would be able to give you an idea of the condition and what can you do to bring them back to life.

Thank you a ton guys. I will post pics when I get done with class for the day. Unless honing a razor is super different
than sharpening a knife on a whetstone. I should be able to get most of these all fixed up good as new. If not, do you know
where I can go for a professional hone. Barbershop maybe? Thanks again.

Originally Posted by rober695

Thank you a ton guys. I will post pics when I get done with class for the day. Unless honing a razor is super different
than sharpening a knife on a whetstone. I should be able to get most of these all fixed up good as new. If not, do you know
where I can go for a professional hone. Barbershop maybe? Thanks again.

The only common denominator when sharpening a knife and a razor is you are forming a bevel, pressure is different, no burs are raised, you need fine stone (8k is th eminimum for comfortable shave) to polish the edge of a razor while for knives you can stop at 1k if you want and usually going above 5k is going overboard.

Got ya, so my whetstone prob isn't gonna cut it and I should prob stick to the barber's hones. I feel like honing would be a good skill to learn, I mean
I will still send a couple out and let a professional do it, but I would like to learn. If you had to pick one of the top out as practice (in case I mess it up)
what one should I practice with? Thank you a ton guys, this really does mean a ton to me.

The Case, Dubl Duck, and JA Henckels are at the top of the food chain as far as I am concerned. Any of these three should be superior shavers with proper honing. I wouldn"t practice on these, but get them done by a pro and you will have a standard to go buy. Very Best, John

You have some really good blades there. Any Henckles, Case, Genco, or Dubl Duck will give you a killer shave if honed right. Of course just about any piece of good steel honed right will! Once something is shave ready it really boils down to technique.

And whats with the no pics???? dont you know we all feed of those???? c'mon man get with the program! lol

any way good score! hope to see pics soon and I hope you enjoy your transition to wet shaving!

That's quite the score there, all should be wonderful shavers once cleaned/honed.

I too recommend you get them professionaly honed the first time as that will
1) Give you a reference for what shave ready SHOULD be when you start honing
2) Take the guesswork out of knowing if it's the blade or your technique while you are learning to shave with the straight...

You can go into the classifieds and several members offer honing/resto services, well worth the $ IMHO

First,

sorry for your lost.

Second-your granpa left to you and elite of razors. Enjoy your rider with SRP and straight razors. Wish you all best with restoration!