Thread: Ready to take the Plunge

Well, I have been contemplating the straight razor move for a few months now. I've been reading everything I can here and just want to let you know, you guys are great. I've learned a great deal here. However, I'm hoping I can pick up some more information today. I have a couple of razors that I have acquired. The first is a Rawson & Youle ( as near as I can tell) that I found at a flea market and the second was a gift from my wife who saw it and knew I liked wolves. If anyone could take a look at these photos and give me an educated guess as to the shave-worthiness (or shave potential) of either of these, I would be grateful.

Good news and bad news...

The bad news is that first razor looks like a Pakistani razor that will never take an edge worthy of a shave. In fact, if you even try, it would be excruciating.

The second razor is, well, pretty haggard but should be able to be made shave ready if you send it to a pro-honer. It'll never be a real looker, but hey, it's your first razor so who really cares.

Be sure you have, if you don't already, a strop, brush, and quality soap to get your started.

That's kinda what I had figured but I wanted someone with a little more knowledge than myself to confirm it. OK.....looks like I'll need a honemeister then I can get started. I have the strop, soap and brush and the nerve. Thanks for all the help here folks!

If Red96ta is right on the first razor and it is Pakistani, I'd keep the scales. You never know, you might get a decent razor with bad scales, then you'll have a nice set of scales to change them with.

I'll keep it anyway. It was a gift from the wife and it makes a good showpiece for the curio cabinet if nothing else. Good point about recycling the scales, though.

I found these at an antique store in town the other day. Would any of these have a better chance of being a good shaver?

This first one is stamped "Fred Bender Harrisburg, PA".





This second one is stamped "Wade and Butcher".





And this third one is stamped "Fredrick Reynolds".





Any information on these would be appreciated. I got them all at the same place and I think a decent price. I just hope I'm not as naive as I feel.

Razors 1 and 2 look salvageable. Some cleanup and polishing is definitely required. Unless you are proficient with honing I'd send them out to get honed by one of our honemeisters, after the cleaning and polishing. Your face will thank you for it. May I make a recommendation? Check out the classifieds here. There are some truly great buys there. You will be getting a really good razor at an attractive price. And, it's more economical than the "bargains". If you are inexperienced at razor restoration, I'd go with a known quantity. After you have gained some experience then you can go after those bargains with some confidence.

Razor one is your best bet. But you still have to service it and get it ready to shave wich takes a lil learning curve). If it was me I would save all the money you are spending on antiques until you learn the ins and outs of restoring..Buy a starter kit and build from there. If you keep going you could waste more money gettting started on something you may not even like...Lern to shave first, then learn how to build one...padi -wan

Most of the razors I can find locally look like that F. Reynolds. They all look like they've been honed on a rock.

I talked with Stefan yesterday about these items. I'm going to send him the W&B, F. Bender and another one I have that's from Dixie Manufacturing. He's going to get them all honed up and we'll take a look at the restorations needed and hopefully, I'll be shaving with them before too long.