Thread: Razor Question For Beginner

That's awesome that you got some family heirlooms. I wish I had some from my family members. Just to echo what the others have said....getting a few honed by the pros is a great idea. That way you can started shaving with a shave ready razor. It will also serve as a bench mark as to what a shave ready razor is.

Pics are a great idea. That way we can give you recommendations as to which razors you should send out to be honed or what razors would be good to practice on. Keep in mind a barbers hone is used to keep a razor in shave ready condition. You won't be able to take a dull razor to shave ready with just a barbers hone. Norton hones are cheap. You'll need at least a 4k/8k hone. You can also get a 1k to speed up bevel setting. Higher than 8k is a luxury. Naniwa 12k hones are excellent and still relatively cheap. A 4k/8k norton would be an excellent start on a college student 's budget. There are lots of videos on youtube about proper honing methods. It is different than honing knives. This site is also an excellent resource to find info about honing and SR shaving in general.

Pics would be extremely helpful to send you in the right direction. Also, it's impossible to tell if a razor is shave ready by looking at it. The only way to tell is by the razor comfortably shaving. Pics would help us determine a lot.

That is one heckuva collection to get started with!!! All DD's are great shavers and the wonderedge is the top of the line DD. Goldedges are up there too. Henckels are top of the line shavers. Case razors are awesome as well. Waterville razors hold a fantastic edge. Genco, Shuredge, Elliot, and pretty much everything you have are quality razors. You'll be able to pass them along to another generation of your family.Oh yeah, pics please!

Originally Posted by jcsixx

You won't be able to take a dull razor to shave ready with just a barbers hone.

Actually, yes you can, it just takes FOREVER and a LOT of skill (We are talking hours and hours on that stone, but it can be done)

there was a fellow on the honing section IIRC that did just that, honed a razor from bevel set to shave ready using nothing but a barber hone, i think it took something like 8 hours to hone...

Send the first batch out to a pro, then when you are ready to learn, get a Norton 4/8 and a pasted strop and you will be all set.


Again, sorry for your loss, but your Grandfather has left you some seriously FINE shavers that you will have the rest of your life and hopefully pass on to your son and he onto his son etc....

Thank you every one. Everything is really appreciated. This is a wealth of info. I promise I will get pics up for you guys as soon as I can, the only problem is I dont have a camera so they will be camera phone quality when they do arrive. Once again, thanks a ton.

Ok so I should have some time later tonight to upload some pics, like I said though they will just be phone pictures. But I will do the best I can with what I have. Right now at the engineering building studying for an exam but having trouble focusing because something is eating away at me. Do any of you have any inclination sight unseen into what the one razor is that has a crown followed by an R stamped into the blade. I see no name or any other markings. I am deciding whether or not I want to chose it as the first to restore. The blade by far looks the coolest but the scales are broken so I'd would have to make new ones. Thank you guys, Ill get back with some pictures later.

The razor with the crown is probably an old sheffield razor. The pics will help us to figure out what it is and if it should be restored.

Added a picture of the crown R blade in my above post, I would like to add more but idk if this is good enough quality. Like I said I am just using my cell phone. I will have access to a camera this weekend. I will try to add razor pics than. But just to hold you guys off till than. I will include some pictures I was able to take. 1 is the goldedge, 1 is the shumaker, and one is the wm elliot. An update on the collection, I gave the wonderedge to my mom. There was this old picture of my grandpa in his barbershop using the razor and she wanted it as a keepsake to keep with the picture. Also I gave my roommate one of his choice as he wants to start straight razor shaving with me and he chose the case red imp. So I no longer have that one either. Now the pictures...

That's a nice looking Dubl Duck. I want one of those so bad

Grandpa had good taste in razors and you are fortunate young man to have them to cherish and use.

Take care of them and your sons and grandsons may have them to enjoy as well.

The pics of the razors you posted so far look to be in really good shape!

Cool, there are prob 12-13 more that are in the same shape. 6 or so that have active rust that I will have to restore. The rest are pretty patina'd so I could restore them but idk. My big question now is the first picture I posted. I dont know if any of you can help me date it or maybe tell me the history of it. So far what has come out is that it is probably an old sheffield. Like I said the only markings on the blade are a crown and an r. I cant remember atm but i think there is an s and an n too. But you can see the blade. I think I want to restore that one first, one of the scales are bad so I want to make new scales for it. All I am really looking for is whatever information anyone can give me on it. Thank you a ton guys, I really do appreciate all of this.