Website For Buying Razors?

[njr]

I've been looking at getting a straight razor to hopefully minimize waste and cost from buying disposable razors.

I have medium/heavy beard growth and a van dyke and clip my hair very close or shave my head when I feel like it.

Therefore, I have figured that I'm looking for:

a square point with a flat/straight (wedge?) grind, 5/8" width, preferably with a polished steel finish.

I was thinking that maybe I could find a razor that fits those specs here in Chicago at an antique store or maybe online for not too much money, $50 to $100, and have the razor resharpened.

I was also wondering if anyone knew of an online source that would sell such razors. I have looked on ebay, but most of what I can see is hollowgrind (if I have the term right, it's been months since I did the initial research) and the search function doesn't allow you to sort in terms of grind.

Thanks for any help.

 

[HCSchluge]

Since you are new to straight shaving I would recommend that you buy a new razor pre-honed from one of the vendors below or find a razor and send it to one of the vendors below to be honed. Honing a razor is nothing like sharpening a knife, so your local blade shop isn't going to be of any help at all. Also, the hones can be expensive and honing takes a good bit of time and effort to get right. Eventually you will start honing. For now learning to shave without cutting yourself to ribbons can be a hard enough, learning on a badly honed blade is almost impossible. That said, you will also need a strop, so build that into your budget.

You mentioned that you are looking for a square point (spike). I would recommend avoiding the spike for now, they can be pretty tricky and the round point or a french point would do the job nicely without the challenges of a spike. As for a wedge, versus full hollow I would not be afraid of a full hollow but maybe a 1/4 grind is more your speed. You will find that the full hollows are much more plentiful and in most cases less expensive. A full wedge is hard to find, expensive and very hard to maintain. There is one razor that fits your budget that would match your wish list, it's a French tip 5/8 Wapencia 1/4 grind. Here's the link:

Wapi 1/4 Grind

Straight Shaving Communities:

Badger and Blade

Everything you need to know about straight shaving

Straight Razor Place

Straight Razor Vendors:

Straight Razor Designs

Vintage Blades

Classic Shaving

Well Shaved Gentleman

Shaving Shop

Best of luck to you!! I started shaving with a straight and it's the best move I ever made. I have a very thick beard and have tried everything, and straights are absolutely the best shavers ever.

 

[njr]

Awesome, thanks HCS. That's saved me a lot of time. One question: with a french point, can I precisely shave the area around and inside the van dyke? Otherwise, I'll buy it.

 

[HCSchluge]

The french point should be fine but then I don't do the Van Dyke thing. You might want to post a question on one of the other sites. Lots of folks more than happy to help.