Thread: Hi Newb questions here

I've finally gotten fed up with these disposable how many tiny blades can we fit on a head razors. I began investigating and learned about badger brushes and the soaps and the good 'ol safety razor and straight razors. I was about to go online and buy a brush, safety, razor ect. when I thought about the antique store. I'm pleased to report I've found what I believe to be a decent badger brush and mug for under 20.00 and a safety razor for 6.00 I went with an old gillette but they had many. I also found many straight razors. Some of the prices I saw online for straight razors and brushes shocked me 800.00 for razors 40 - 300 for brushes so I feel pretty good about my day today.

I passed on buying a straight razor until I could learn more about them as they varied in price from 8.00 - 40.00 and I didn't want to buy junk. Many had the names of Old local stores on them but most were from Germany one was English. I saw a Wustof a couple were Solingen. I think I remember a Robeson. Any recommendations I'd rather get a good deal on something vintage than pay top dollar for a new one I may not use. Thanks in advance, Mike

Oh Yeah I remember One of them was a Wustof and had the word Splendid etched on the blade I thought that was,well, splendid. Another was called a Shorty CF Scwartz. Diamondin and who knows what else.

They were probably all good. I'd go with the one with the least hone wear, most even wear, and the best looking blade (i.e. no chips etc).

I suggest you buy one or two, they are a pretty good investment below $20. At $40 you may not get a bargain for an average vintage blade. But you'd probably be even up. At $60+ it would need to be a pristeen blade to get your money out of it.

You could take pics and we could give you better insight. Without you catching the "straight" bug you may not have enough interest to plop money down on a straight razor.

If you wait till you catch the bug, they may be gone.

If you want you could buy one, send it to me for free honing, use it, and if you don't like it sell it (I'd even rehone it again before you sell it, assuming it was targeted to a new forum shaver).

Well honed razors at that price point are picked up by new straight shavers pretty fast.

I'll go look again tomorrow and buy a couple, I'll also take some notes. Your very kind to offer to hone them for me, I'll take you up in that. There were some vintage strops as well. A bunch a shaving equipment, I was there for hours... Thanks again.

Welcome to the SRP!

Alan gave you some good advice and a very nice offer. Be sure and purchase some quality shaving soap and a good hanging strop. Then enjoy the journey

Welcome aboard!

I agree with the others. Those razors all sound like they would be good grabs, barring any nicks or major rust/pitting. And you'll definitely want them honed before using...very nice offer from Alan.

Also, I would suggest buying a new strop. Stropping technique can be very difficult to learn, so having a nice Tony Miller strop (or maybe an Illinois) is a good way to ensure other factors are out of the way...small nicks in the leather, hard or unconditioned leather, slight bends where razor doesn't lay flat...

Tony Miller sells a nice starter strop that is very cost efficient.

Welcome to the site and to the world of wet shaving. A Gillette adjustable DE that I picked up for like 5 bucks is what got me into everything. It sounds like you got a pretty good deal on everything. Even with the Gillette and a brush and some soap you'll notice a world of difference over the old hundred blade cartridges.

I found the safety razors to be a good intro because with them you will have to learn proper shaving angles just like with a straight.

I agree that you may want to snag the razors that are worth the price while you can. You'll thank yourself down the road when you're looking for something to practice honing/stropping with.

When the bug bites you it bites hard. Use this site to it's full potential. Any question you can think of is probably answered here somewhere and if it's not post it and you'll have all the answers you ever wanted in no time.

Thank you all for your kind responses. I'm about to head out and hit up some antique stores today, it was a good week to be bitten as I had a couple of extra days off this week. I hope I don't make any glaring mistakes but I'll do my best. I too thought to start with safety razors, there were many and some still in the original box for 8-14 I decided since I'll be using it to not buy something so collectible i.e. original box,unused ect. I bought a Gillette which is adjustable 1-9 but I'm not sure which model exactly. There were some of the older brass ones in original hard shell cases, I almost got one of those with an older salt glaze mug... I wish I knew more...
Here is a quick photo of what I bought yesterday.

That looks very much like mine except mine was what they call a "fat boy" or something like that. The handle is a bit shorter and thicker. On the adjustables 1 is typically less harsh, meaning less blade is exposed and it works on up from there. I'd recommend starting at 1 and gradually increasing until you find what works best for you. I stopped at around 3 and I'm happy staying there.

With the DE's there are a ton of blades out there. I've only used the ones from Wal-Mart and I have been more than happy with them. If you do a search I'm sure there is more info on the different DE blades.

Here's a link to a thread I started about my day today. It looks like I didn't do so hot as I already purchased the first four...oh well. I'm curious what you guys think about them Thanks again, Mike
http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=21385