A game to play

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Knife and a bottle of bbq sauce
 
shinyedges said:
Interesting, I have one that takes disposable blades and I think i'd like to get one I can just sharpen instead. Any recommendations?
Click to expand...
Loaded question. It really depends on what you're looking to spend... most new ones that are good quality run $100+ easily, but on the auction sites you can find really nice reworked vintage ones in the $60-600+ range.
Personally I like vintage unfinished ones with the patina, I'll clean 'em up a little bit if needed, (rust/corrosion), and just put a clean edge on 'em, but I also typically won't spend more then $25; $50 if it's one I really like and/or is harder to come across... I think the most I ever spend was around $70; a pretty clean Shumate no.850 with original (clean) box, and original guaruntee/bill of sale dated 1/16/20 (1920).
4JSjrL0.jpg

Crazy to think that 102 years ago some guy named Philip S. Spuing? was enjoying his brand new razor, and it's still 100% just as useable right now if I wanted... I just love the history that's attached.
(I also have a personal affinity towards NJ and PA based brands).
...
If you do go the unfinished vintage auction route though, and want something with that history and petina, make sure the edge is straight, (no major smile or frown), and zoom in on edge pictures & make sure there aren't any major chips or cracks, (tiny micro chips along the edge are almost to be expected on 100+ year old razors since the edges are so thin), and make sure the handle is in good shape as well.
Or just spend the extra on one that's already cleaned up nice and polished and listed as "shave ready", (though just be aware they aren't always really "shave ready". They'll have a really sharp edge put on in the process, sharp enough to take hair off your arm, but not necessarily a true hair popping "razor edge" you'dwant dragging across your face and neck countours, so they may still pull a bit and drag a bit & leave bumps. I take mine through the progressions to stropping on a 16000 grit Shapton before deeming them "shave ready"...
...
For a good clean shave with an older razor, a good general rule of thumb is to stick with the more popular English, German, or American brands; they really were the bees knees in regards to quality steel during the turn of the 20th century, so anything made in the US, (Wiss, Electric Cutlery, Waterville, Kinfolk, Robeson, Shumate), or Sheffield (Wade & Butcher, Wostenholm, Joseph Rodgers, Greaves), or Solingen (Oxford, Morley, Griffon, Dubl Duck, the old Bokers) just to name a few, are all pretty much guarunteed good steels and will take real fine edges... Swedish steel from that era can be great too, but Swedish steel in general also tends to have more naturally occuring alloying elements in the iron ore, so sometimes they can be a bit draggy if there's natural cabides blended in... Not intentional, they just really had no idea... Made for some legendary knives and swords though!
*(some folks also love the Japanese style Kamisori's)
...
It's really when you start seeing the American brand names but "made in Germany", you can start getting hit or miss; companies outsourcing for cost effectiveness, not always the best steel was used, mass production led to some QC issues, the whole "pride in manufacturing" art began to get lost. Same with smaller off brands, or the barber shop & old big store brand stamps like the later Shapleigh's (made in Germany instead of St.Louis), EK Tryon, AF Bannister. Sometimes they're still great, sometimes not so much, as they were just having their brand stamped on something mass produced by someone else for marketing, or barber Joe Shmo buying from the traveling salesmen passing through town... You really don't always know what you're getting...
...
So yeah, basically no different then knives, just find one that you like made from a reputable company, with known quality razor steel, and make sure you have a good flat really fine stone to get that hair whittling sharpness you want in a shave. Also have a good strop with green dialux... Nothing too fancy needed, since they're all pretty basic carbon steels, despite all the branding rhetoric like India steel, Silver steel, Carbo Magnetic, Blue Steel, Gun Metal, Hamburg Ring, etc. they are all just fine grained carbon steel with the latest sales pitch attached.
Initial cost might be high, but once you get the edge set, it's really not hard to maintain, (unless you're a barber going through 20 shaves every day), just a quick strop before shaving, and a quick touch up on the fine stone every once in a while, and the satisfaction alone, I think, is worth it... plus never having to by disposable razors again... I only ever use mine to shape up my beard and neck lines, and my users, because I have several, haven't seen the stone in probably a year now... Just keep in mind the sharpening angle is much lower then a knife's. You're really trying to get that thing as thin as you can.
 
Last edited:
strategy9 said:
Loaded question. It really depends on what you're looking to spend... most new ones that are good quality run $100+ easily, but on the auction sites you can find really nice reworked vintage ones in the $60-600+ range.
Personally I like vintage unfinished ones with the patina, I'll clean 'em up a little bit if needed, (rust/corrosion), and just put a clean edge on 'em, but I also typically won't spend more then $25; $50 if it's one I really like and/or is harder to come across... I think the most I ever spend was around $70; a pretty clean Shumate no.850 with original (clean) box, and original guaruntee/bill of sale dated 1/16/20 (1920).
4JSjrL0.jpg

Crazy to think that 102 years ago some guy named Philip S. Spying? was enjoying his brand new razor, and it's still 100% just as useable right now if I wanted... I just love the history that's attached.
(I also have a personal affinity towards NJ and PA based brands).
...
If you do go the unfinished vintage auction route though, and want something with that history and petina, make sure the edge is straight, (no major smile or frown), and zoom in on edge pictures & make sure there aren't any major chips or cracks, (tiny micro chips along the edge are almost to be expected on 100+ year old razors since the edges are so thin), and make sure the handle is in good shape as well.
Or just spend the extra on one that's already cleaned up nice and polished and listed as "shave ready", (though just be aware they aren't always really "shave ready". They'll have a really sharp edge put on in the process, sharp enough to take hair off your arm, but not necessarily a true hair popping "razor edge" you'dwant dragging across your face and neck countours, so they may still pull a bit and drag a bit & leave bumps. I take mine through the progressions to stripping on a 16000 grit Shapton before deeming them "shave ready"...
...
For a good clean shave with an older razor, a good general rule of thumb is to stick with the more popular English, German, or American brands; they really were the bees knees in regards to quality steel during the turn of the 20th century, so anything made in the US, (Wiss, Electric Cutlery, Waterville, Kinfolk, Robeson, Shumate), or Sheffield (Wade & Butcher, Wostenholm, Joseph Rodgers, Greaves), or Solingen (Oxford, Morley, Griffon, Dubl Duck, the old Bokers) just to name a few, are all pretty much guarunteed good steels and will take real fine edges... Swedish steel from that era can be great too, but Swedish steel in general also tends to have more naturally occurung alloying elements in the iron ore, so sometimes they can be a bit draggy if there's natural cabides blended in... Not intentional, they just really had no idea... Made for some legendary knives and swords though!
*(some folks also love the Japanese style Kamisori's)
...
It's really when you start seeing the American brand names but "made in Germany", you can start getting hit or miss; companies outsourcing for cost effectiveness, not always the best steel was used, mass production led to some QC issues, the whole "pride in manufacturing" art began to get lost. Same with smaller off brands, or the barber shop & old big store brand stamps like the later Shapleigh's (made in Germany instead of St.Louis), EK Tryon, AF Bannister. Sometimes they're still great, sometimes not so much, as they were just having their brand stamped on something mass produced by someone else for marketing, or barber Joe Shmo buying from the traveling salesmen passing through town... You really don't always know what you're getting...
...
So yeah, basically no different then knives, just find one that you like made from a reputable company, with known quality razor steel, and make sure you have a good flat really fine stone to get that hair whittling sharpness you want in a shave. Also have a good strop with green dialux... Nothing too fancy needed, since they're all pretty basic carbon steels, despite all the branding rhetoric like India steel, Silver steel, Carbo Magnetic, Blue Steel, Gun Metal, Hamburg Ring, etc. they are all just fine grained carbon steel with the latest sales pitch attached.
Initial cost might be high, but once you get the edge set, it's really not hard to maintain, (unless you're a barber going through 20 shaves every day), just a quick strop before shaving, and a quick touch up on the fine stone every once in a while, and the satisfaction alone, I think, is worth it... plus never having to by disposable razors again... I only ever use mine to shape up my beard and neck lines, and my users, because I have several, haven't seen the stone in probably a year now... Just keep in mind the sharpening angle is much lower then a knife's. You're really trying to get that think as thin as you can.
Click to expand...

All joking aside, this post should be a sticky somewhere. It’s a complete primer on vintage razors. 👍
 
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