Thread: First straight razors from antique store

Schick sent me a nice looking razor to me in the mail. It has a heavy, ergonomic handle. Five blades to get the job done. The first shave went fine, but the head lasted all of three shaves before it got permanently clogged. A set of cartridges costs about $15 and I won't stand for it. So I went to an antique store and bought a couple of straight razors for a total of $22. I need to get a little rust off of them and a strop and hone and then I'm set. I'm pretty excited to try this out. I'm still learning about all this stuff and I'll be having a few questions. But I only have one right now: I'm not a rich man, so I'm sort of collecting all the materials slowly. I know that some people have more than one hone. If you had to choose only one hone to sharpen your razors with, what hone would you choose?

If I'd never honed a razor before and I was planning on shaving with the razors I'd bought from an antique store I would seriously consider having them honed by a professional. They shouldn't then need honing again for several months and by then you'd have more money and more knowledge. It's great you're getting into straight razors, but please try and walk before you run.

What Danny said is actually true. You can get by with one finishing hone if your razors are shave ready already, cf. What hone(s) do I need? - Straight Razor Place Wiki. If not, you'll have to get more.

Some people have more than one hone? Why would anyone need more than one hone?

The advice above is dead on. You can learn how to hone for yourself but you would definitely benefit from having at least one razor honed for you so that you have some sort of benchmark by which to measure your own honing. Also, if you get your razor properly honed by someone else, you can maintain it indefinitely with a single barber hone. Good luck!

The advice given so far is spot on. Get at least one of those razors honed by someone from the SRP. Look in the classifieds under services for some names.

gearhead, listen to them. Get one honed by someone in the classified's section. But to answer your question is hard because there are so many types of hones. And after that, there are about 1 million diferent ways we all hone the razors. It's all a matter of personal preference in hones. My choice is the Norton 220/1000 and 4000/8000 combination water stones. But that is only my opinion. ANy you other guys want to give him your suggestion? Take care gearhead and God Bless!

GHB, if you want to get started sooner while restoring the antiques, you can buy a disposable straight razor by Dovo. The blades last about 5-7 shaves and the blades will hold you down for several weeks while you troubleshoot the antiques and bring them back to life, which is no small task.

Pabster

Gearhead,
I did the exact thing you did. Went and found two razors at a antiques place and thought that it would be fun to bring them back around to shave readiness all by myself. There are two things you should do:

1) GO FOR IT (if you are ready for alot of reading, learning, sanding, honing, experimenting and eventual A.Ds) READ THE WIKI!!! Let me repeat... READ THE WIKI!!!! This has all the info you need. I spent many hours become very intimate with the knowledge contained in it. I will also say this: It's a steep learning curve, but for me was a lot of fun! Don't get discouraged. Your first shave might not be perfect, but it will be an accomplishment!

2) Follow the advice already given! Even though I redid the razors I picked up, I bought a nice razor off of the Classifieds. (A Thien Issard that was super nice!!!!) I restored the antique razors and shaved with them with some good success. But when I received the TI, it made me realized that there is lots of room for improvement and many more steps to perfection. I now have a couple razors for my rotation and the beginnings of the skills to really redo razors to a usable shape.

I applaud your enthusiasm and gusto!! Hop to it and have a blast delving into the wonderful (addictive) world of shaving the right way!