Thread: My First Straights - Advice Please

I haven't had my first shave yet but I already have three straights plus one from Whipped Dog on the way. I picked up these at flea markets. The first is a Kratz (Gernmany), it seems to be in very good shape and I will be sending it out for honing. Second is an Imperial Safety. Germania Cutlery Works. It's got a broken scale, can I use epoxy to fix it well enough to be used? No one's going to want to hone it while the scale is loose, right? Third is marked "EBUS" Solingen, with "Made in Germany" on the other side. The scales appear to be either bone or ivory with a small chip broken off and a small crack. I can't find anything on this one, the maker is apparently Ernst Busch.

I love that double bicycle etching. Classic!

I have an imperial stamped with the 2057 mark in my lap being cleaned right now lol! You could epoxy it as a temp fix, but a complete break will only break off further down the line. It wil be needing new scales at some point, and better to do it before honing b/c it will have to be done again after the rescale. Never heard of the third, sorry, but it looks to have some pitting, better clean it well first and see what you are working with.

Looks like a burn mark on the toe of one of them as well...unless the picture is deceiving me...the imperial..

The first razor looks great, the second one could be a lost cause, depending on hoe deep the pitting around the edge is.

Originally Posted by aespo

Looks like a burn mark on the toe of one of them as well...unless the picture is deceiving me...the imperial..

I think it is patina, the blade does not look buffed , it has scratches from attempt of hand cleaning

Originally Posted by aespo

Looks like a burn mark on the toe of one of them as well...unless the picture is deceiving me...the imperial..

I think it may just be bad lighting for the pictures. Thanks for the reply.

Originally Posted by mainaman

The first razor looks great, the second one could be a lost cause, depending on hoe deep the pitting around the edge is.

Thanks. Unfortunately I didn't do a very good job with the pictures. I didn't spend a lot and one of the main things I had in mind was to have something for later that I could learn to hone on and maybe attempt to polish and fix up without worrying about value.

Do I need to protect the scales in case they are ivory or does the broken off chip negate any value there?

Originally Posted by mderenal

Thanks. Unfortunately I didn't do a very good job with the pictures. I didn't spend a lot and one of the main things I had in mind was to have something for later that I could learn to hone on and maybe attempt to polish and fix up without worrying about value.

Do I need to protect the scales in case they are ivory or does the broken off chip negate any value there?

the scales are not ivory, they look mire like bone. This particular razor will be a bad example to start learning honing on, you need a vean blade that you can focus on setting bevel, not honing out (if at all possible) a ton of devil spit