Thread: Good Buy ?

Hi all. After getting the bug i decided to jump in with both feet and bought a 'Wilkinson's Lance Razor' off a well known auction site . . .

Knowing absolutely nothing about good/bad razors yet would this be something half-decent ? I paid just over £20 for it. Thanks for any info

From that picture there looks to be a fair bit of uneven hone wear on the spine and a bit of a frown towards the heel. They can be corrected to produce a shaver but I don't think that would be worth paying someone to do it for you. While we're not allowed to comment on prices in open forum, looking at that photo, I would have passed on it. If you get into honing then it could be a project for the future. Is it your only blade at the moment?

Well, you know . . . I'll try it out a couple of times and see how it shaves. If it's no good then i'll use it for honing/stropping practice in future. Yes i'm new to all this so it's my first. Hey-ho. You live and learn

Some better pics -

Chances are pretty high that will be a very uncomfortable experience.
Unless stated shave ready, you can be pretty sure it is not, and then it would be a bad shave. If stated shave ready, there is a chance it actually is, or then again it could not be.

It was stated to be shave ready. Guess i'll find out

You never know, you may have got lucky. Keep us posted.

I'm going to guess this razor is not shave ready across the entire length of the blade. Maybe at the center but with the uneven hone wearl/frown and bevel cutting into the shoulder, this thing was probably not sharpened by a competent honer.

I think if you try shaving with that razor as is you are a very brave man.

With some work it could be a fine shaver though.

Let us know how it goes, keep in mind. If it is uncomfortable your best bet would be to STOP. Don't tear your face apart for no reason! If it was stated "shave ready" you may get a half decent shave.

Well. Not being the sort of person to be deterred easily i had a go ! It was . . . Ok. A bit of tugging which (being my first shave with a straight razor) could well just have been my bad technique. however it's probably not the best blade to be using for a first time. I think i'll invest in another one and keep this one for practicing.

Started on the right side



Started very cautiously (as you do) trying to keep a good angle and not press too hard. Then started to get the feel for it so went on down the neck a bit



At this point i'd only just nicked myself a little and that was trying to change grip to get around the beard. I literally just touched my face and thought 'that's not right'. Then i switched to the left hand and had a go at the other side



I went down as far as the jaw and thought 'that's enough for now' and finished the rest with a normal razor. So on the whole i thought it went ok ?