Thread: H Boker & Co. Razor I picked up

Hello all, I'm new here and this is my first straight razor. I tried to look it up, but all I found was general history of the company. There is no distinguishing features about this razor that I can list so I just took some photos. Does anyone think they could (possibly) date this blade? It feels like the handle is made from plastic and there is a white piece in between the black part of the handles at the very lowest part of the handle, away from the blade. I picked it up cheap at a antique sale for around $30. The woman took off some for the chip and that I bought a few other things from her. I believe it came out to be somewhere around $25 (26.40 or something along those lines). Anyway, my second question is does anyone think that this blade is worth restoring? The chip at the tip seems substantial to me and the blade needs a good cleaning and sanitizing. But if I can't use it for shaving I'm just going to leave as is and use as a display piece in the bathroom and then buy a nice shiny new straight razor. ANY help or advice would be really appreciated. Thanks ahead of time.

I would save it. If I am correct the stamp shows it was made some time between 1900-1929. The chip can be rounded off easily enough. The big question is if there is more damage to the steel in cracks etc. seems to be in fairly good shape though with no rust. I did one similar to this with a dremmel tool and then cleaned it up to a nice bright mirror. looks new now. just go slow and gentle with it. easier to take off small bits of metal then add it back!

Thanks for the quick reply and the info. I find that awesome that the razor is in fact that old. I figured since Boker still is around that the razor was much newer. I'm a little hesitant on using a dremel to fix this...How would I go about rounding off the tip exactly? I'd imagine a soft tip would be better then a hard one and going slow. Anything I should do or should I just see if I could send it out to someone for honing and hope that they think I have a jaw made from a slab of marble and my blade is just really really dull.

I have a Boker that was made for the Columbian Exposition of 1893. It's a fine shaver. Boker has a _long_ history. IMHO, _any_ Boker that can be saved, is worth saving. Whether it's cost-effective to have someone else do the work, you'll have to find out for yourself. There are many fine craftsmen in the Vendor section of this site.

Worst case, you can grind 1/4" off the end of your blade with a Dremel, and round the point with a coarse sharpening stone. Don't overheat the blade -- work slowly.

You might be interested in this thread about using a Dremel on a Gold Dollar razor (which isn't nearly as good as your old Boker):

http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...trouble-2.html

You should also understand that after rounding off the corner, you (or somebody else) will have to hone the edge back to "sharp". That's not a trivial process -- there's a lot of educational material in the Wiki on this site.

Welcome to the land of vintage razors . . .

Charles

Thank you for the info. I'm very happy that I got a good razor. I'm definitely going to restore this blade. It deserves it as a piece of history. The only other thing I'm curious about now is that do you guys think I got this blade for a good price? I mean I can't imagine it would have been cheaper...except maybe it could have been free. Anyway, thank you guys for all your info! Very helpful and informative.

Originally Posted by MikeTheRipper12

The only other thing I'm curious about now is that do you guys think I got this blade for a good price? I mean I can't imagine it would have been cheaper...except maybe it could have been free.

There's a rule against "valuations" on this Forum, I think. My suggestion:

1. Check out some sites (and the "Classifieds" on this website) that have some "shave-ready" low-priced razors:

Whipped Dog Straight Razor Sales

Razors for sale « Holli4's Straight Razor Page

and compare what you paid to what the sellers are charging. Bokers are good, but they're not rare.

I paid too much ($35) for my first antique-store razor. It was a Wade and Butcher (which was good), but it had a frowning edge that took quite a while to fix. I still have it, it's in my "regular rotation", and it shaves well. It was a good education -- both for sharpening skills, and negotiating skills.

Charles

Oh, sorry. I didn't really want an approximate number or something along those lines. I just kind of wanted a ball park estimate of what they "go for" or if I had paid too much. Won't happen again, when I had read the forum rules it was quite late (3am) and my eyes had that glazed over look that I always had during high school math.
The only thing that I'm concerned about is after looking at other pictures of bokers I notice mine dosen't have any kind of stamp of what model it is, where it was made or such. Is this common or do you think I could have a fake?

It has a "Boker" stamp on the tang, and a tree (which is Boker's trademark). It's real.

I haven't heard stories of people counterfeiting vintage razors. And if someone wanted to, they'd choose a rare, high-priced brand to copy.

What _really_ matters is how well it sharpens up, and holds an edge. You'll learn that as you restore it.

Charles

PS -- there's are two articles in the Wiki you might want to read, if you're going to haunt antique shops and such:

Brands of Straight Razors to avoid - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Good Straight Razor Brands - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Just about all the "brands to avoid" are _modern_, not vintage.