Thread: An Inherited Razor

I recently inherited a razor that was my Great Grandpas in the early 20th century. Because of this I became really interested in straight shaving. Now the maker is us cutlery and it says it is "magnetic steel" has anyone ever heard of this company or razor? and I have included some pictures because I also want to know what it would take to get this into shaving condition?
Thanks
Ben

Welcome to SRP Ben. What could be cooler than having grandad's razor ? Maybe having it shave ready. Here is the SRP Classifieds where you will find 'member services'. From the photo it looks to me like the razor may need a little work but a good honemeister can have it in service in no time. Read the ads and determine which of the members you would trust with your heirloom and go for it. Read my sig below to avoid nicks and cuts and the link below for more info on shaving with a straight razor.

Welcome to SRP

Nice razor you got there, I know the feeling of haveing grandpa's blades Keep reading the Wiki and as questions pop up that are not covered ask away One thing I would suggest is getting another razor that isn't an heirloom to learn on, just incase you slip or something bad happens in the learning process. That way the Heirloom stays safe and usable when your skills are set, it doens't take long to learn

From the pics I think I see some chips that will need worked out, the Member services has ta listing they can fix most problems

Welcome!

Thats a great razor you have there! I'd just like to echo the comments above; Send the razor out to be honed by a pro lest you inadvertantly damage an heirloom and get yourself a second shave ready razor (DOVO BEst Quality or Black Star) to use while you wait for that one to come back.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Hello Ben. In addition to the good advice given above, I can tell you that your razor, according to the Goins encyclopedia, was made by the U.S. Cutlery Manufacturing Co, which was located at 168 South Clark Street in Chicago, and was probably made sometime around 1910. I hope you get your razor back into shaving condition and enjoy it for many years.

Regards - Walt

Thanks everybody for your responses and advice. I have been trying to start straight razor shaving for 3 months but like everyone knows it is an expensive hobby. So i have bought a little at a time. I have not been able to find very many resources in Utah so I will keep looking. Also a big thanks to Walt for telling me about my razor. My mom said she thinks my Great Grandpa got it when he left to fight in WWI and had it in Europe with him. Being a history lover it is very special to me. Not to mention that I am named after the named after him so that is always cool too. I never met the man but feel a connection to him through the razor.

Maybe the folks here, or here, may be able to help you locate some of the items you are looking for locally.

Regards - Walt

Originally Posted by benious82

Thanks everybody for your responses and advice. I have been trying to start straight razor shaving for 3 months but like everyone knows it is an expensive hobby. So i have bought a little at a time. I have not been able to find very many resources in Utah so I will keep looking. Also a big thanks to Walt for telling me about my razor. My mom said she thinks my Great Grandpa got it when he left to fight in WWI and had it in Europe with him. Being a history lover it is very special to me. Not to mention that I am named after the named after him so that is always cool too. I never met the man but feel a connection to him through the razor.

It doesn't have to be really expensive, there are some good products out there on the low $$ end, they do take a bit of hunting down but thats part of the fun

Originally Posted by benious82

Thanks everybody for your responses and advice. I have been trying to start straight razor shaving for 3 months but like everyone knows it is an expensive hobby.

It doesn't have to be expensive at all. You can get a Van Der Hagen brush and soap for about $15. For the strop, you can start like I did and find a local leather shop and buy a piece of scrap leather. It'll end up costing about $20+ depending on how hard that chip is to hone out.

When I started, I got everything I needed for ~$30 and that included an antique store razor that I honed myself, and all the other goodies sourced cheaply.