Thread: My Grandfathers gear

Well Fellas you encouraged me to go for it and I did. I used Grandads stone and honed in his "The Ideal Razor" SPUR Sheffield stamped J.W. Mackie Ironmonger Kirkcaldy on the reverse. The honing process was slow as the stone must be 10K, neither side would cut fast. I used the electrical tape but noticed that my granddad had not and there was much wear on the top of the blade. I assume that would change the angle of the hone a good bit. Once I was satisfield, I stropped the blade on newspaper. I lathered up and started shaving. I had a very unconfortable grip, kept adjusting what finger went where unconsiously. I had spent 10 minutes being careful when I got to my chin I panicked and lost all hope and control then finished with a disposable. For the most part I enjoyed the hell out of the experiment, however I ended up with 3/4 of a shave and the razor scored 6 direct hits, one 3/8 inches long when I lost angle on my grip. I am 61 (today!) and not really worried about my face, I figured they were high spots that needed leveled off anyway! Thanks guys, I had fun! Next I will use 2 pieces of electical tape to reangle the hone to original and give it another shot after I heal.

WELL HAPPY BIRTHDAY and if in doubt send it off it will be the best 20$ U ever spent if you get a better shave with a piece of family history.

ONE OF US, ONE OF US, ONE OF US!

Welcome to the community as for the grips, have a look at this page:
Different ways to hold a straight razor - Straight Razor Place Wiki

try some out and maybe do some pretend passes to see if it's going to be comfortable before actually shaving.

a styptic pencil and alum block are very good investments to make aswell,
the first stops the bleeding if you cut yourself, and the second soothes your skin and helps prevent razor burn.


Enjoy your next shave!

Happy Birthday mate, and good on you for taking the step into having a go. At the very least you have got bragging rights .


Mick