Thread: just signed up today!

Hello straight razor shavers,
I just signed up today, and will be lurking and reading before buying my first straight razor. Currently, my daily shavers are a Feather AS-D1 or a Mergress, both loaded with feather blades. Sometimes I will use a slant or old Gillette comb.

I am interested in trying straight razors. At this time I am leaning towards looking for a used Feather Artist Club DX (non folding) early in the new year, hoping a few show up for sale here, EBay or elsewhere. Alternately, perhaps a used Kai Captain Standard or Excelia as they are reported to also use Feather blades. Obviously I have no idea, but my impression is the non folding Japanese style straight razor may be easier for a newbie to try and use. Any suggestions welcome on the Feather versus Kai brand stainless steel straights, and Japanese non folding style versus "traditional" folding straights. Thanks and happy holidays everyone.
cheers,
Robin

I spent a lot of time here before I did anything, and it paid off. I realized how much was involved in maintaining a straight razor and bypassed all that by getting a Dovo Shavette that uses replaceable blades. I went on to real straights from there, but it was a good way for me to get started.

Welcome to SRP Robin. Straight shaving will come with a bunch of challenges & starting with a kamisori or non folding razor as you called it may not be any more difficult for you than a regular straight... or it may. I found it took me a handful of shaves to adapt to one but I had been using regular straights a long time first. Starting from a clean slate with few preconceptions you may well learn easily. Keep us posted on your decision.

Thanks for the welcome. Is there a reason why there are not more stainless steel straight razors? I would think they would be harder to put an edge on, but would hold it longer? Also, I am getting the impression the best steel comes from either Germany, France or Japan, followed by Sheffield England and Spain for vintage straight razors. They are pricey, but the recent and new Japanese "folding" straights look like they are very high quality razors. Any comments on what to avoid with Japanese razors is appreciated. Thanks.

Not really knowing anything about straight razors, as a newbie, in addition to stainless steel, I think a molybdenum steel would be good too as it would provide superior hardness(perhaps obtain a sharper and longer lasting edge between honing) and corrosion resistance (less pitting). So far, the only Moly steel straight razor I can find is a Japanese "Hayashi" brand Black Diamond. Do you know of any others and are Hayashi's a quality starter razor for a newbie? Thanks.

Originally Posted by Robin1

Thanks for the welcome. Is there a reason why there are not more stainless steel straight razors? I would think they would be harder to put an edge on, but would hold it longer? Also, I am getting the impression the best steel comes from either Germany, France or Japan, followed by Sheffield England and Spain for vintage straight razors. They are pricey, but the recent and new Japanese "folding" straights look like they are very high quality razors. Any comments on what to avoid with Japanese razors is appreciated. Thanks.

Re the reason for SS razors being less common I have no idea but as far as best steels go it's a grey area. Sweden supplied the whole cutlery world with steel at times so it's hard to make that call. That prized Sheffield that some love so much could be Swedish steel

As far as avoiding problems with Japanese or any razors for that matter steer clear of beat up eBay rubbish. Most are past their use by date.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Re the reason for SS razors being less common I have no idea but as far as best steels go it's a grey area. Sweden supplied the whole cutlery world with steel at times so it's hard to make that call. That prized Sheffield that some love so much could be Swedish steel

As far as avoiding problems with Japanese or any razors for that matter steer clear of beat up eBay rubbish. Most are past their use by date.

Yes, I have figured out that much. At this time, other than a used Feather Artist Club RG or DX (japanese style), for folding razor, I am only looking at new, or NOS (new old stock), and focused on either molybdenum steel (certain Hayashi), stainless(german INOX) or perhaps a Swedish (Heljestrand )or Solingen (Puma)carbon steel, either with a thumb notch as the design looks ergonomic to me.

You might also be interested in a model made by Geneva Cutlery that was Vanadium steel. Might be hard to find one as NOS tho.

The Hart Steel razors are made from O-1 tool steel. That should have enough alloying elements (manganese, chromium, tungsten) to suit most people. They're not cheap, and they're not stainless. But you know what you're buying.

Charles

Originally Posted by onimaru55

You might also be interested in a model made by Geneva Cutlery that was Vanadium steel. Might be hard to find one as NOS tho.

FYI, Vanadium steel increases toughness and resistance to wear. Molybdenum (with chrome) steel and INOX (high chrome steel) will provide good hardness and good corrosion resistance. Most used carbon steel razors I see on EBay are corroded and pitted. A few vendors polish them out, but I really don't think I want the hassle of looking after a "high maintenance" razor that is susceptible to corrosion and pitting. I expect is is more work to hone a moly steel or inox (chrome) steel razor, and I expect they should hold an edge longer. What I don't know is whether or not they are "better" shavers. I just noticed that Dovo makes an INOX straight razor too. Filarmonica also makes some stainless razors, but they are comparatively expensive. So far, the only moly steel razor I have seen is made by Hayashi.