What do you use to shave?

[Mr Vim]

Thanks to all my new shaving appliances, I hate not shaving... I went this weekend without shaving, and I cannot stand it, I feel like I have a muskrat stuck to my face. Shaving today!

 

[Dulouz]

I know the feeling!

 

[Dulouz]

Hey Guys!

So I took a couple of trips to a local antique shop this weekend and found a couple of nice items. The first was a vintage barber's hone. The other was this vintage EE Mos straight. It is part of a 7 day set. A friend that I met on another forum came down with me and gave me some advice and even honed this thing up for me as we sat and talked. He had bought Tuesday a few months ago, I bought Wednesday, and Thursday is still down there in about the same shape as this one.

I'm ready and excited to give this a try tonight! It will be my first straight shave. I know that they say not to try this during the week, but I'm throwing caution to the wind. I've been waiting long enough. Wish me luck!

I also sent my newly made friend home with this:

It's a no name German made blade that I got as a gift from a friend. He has it honed up and ready for me. I just have to make the 30 mile trip to pick it up. I'm looking to pick up a few more to get a rotation going.

 

[John in Covina]

That was neat to see the hanging hair test in action. I have only read the description, nice to see it.

 

[Shangas]

You really ought to get that blade properly honed on proper sharpening stones, and get a horsehide strop.

By the time your blade is done on the last stone, you will be able to drop a hair on it and it will fall in half. I promise you, your blade is nowhere near as sharp as it could be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF-ayPofWpY

I can get a decent shave out of it and I'm happy with that. Besides, I read that the hanging-hair tests can be inconclusive and that the best way to determine if a staright is sharp enough is just to shave with it. I did, and my shave is excellent, so I'm sold that it's sharp enough.

 

[Mr Vim]

Dolouz, nice find.

But I am a little uncertain about the days of the weeks... each razor is for a specific day in the week? Sorry, but I am writing this late at night, on a night watch.

Oh and the shave today was a thing of beauty. I feel much relieved.

 

[Shangas]

What Dolouz has is part of an antique seven-day straight-razor set. Complete, they look like this:

You had one razor for each day of the week. Shaving like this prevented excessive use of any one blade, made the blades easier to look after and prolonged the useful life of the razors. Sets like these were usually very expensive and only the wealthy could own them. Most people just used one or two straight-razors.

 

[Feraud]

The other was this vintage EE Mos straight. It is part of a 7 day set. A friend that I met on another forum came down with me and gave me some advice and even honed this thing up for me as we sat and talked. He had bought Tuesday a few months ago, I bought Wednesday, and Thursday is still down there in about the same shape as this one.

What a shame you could not acquire the entire set. They command a very good price.

 

[John in Covina]

Those 7 day sets are uncommon and as said above pretty darn expensive. Thats one thing that is pretty cool about straight razors is that the old ones can be found in good condition so you can clean them up and get them sharpend for use fairly easily. The old ones are well made and have history.

I love the looks of the wider blades but found that I shave better with half inch and 5/8's blades. It might be the flex of the wider blades.

 

[Dulouz]

I love the looks of the wider blades

+1

Nothing cooler than a 7/8 Wade & Butcher.

 

[Lou]

First shave with this Gem Micromatic. The case is bakelite and has two containers marked for new and used blades. It's an aggressive razor and gives a close shave! Patience is a virtue when using this one. Take your time..

I bought a GEM Pushbutton a few months ago. I was excited to add it to my shave options, but it didn't work out for me. No matter how much prep I did and how gently I went, it was just too rough compared to my DE. I tried a few different blades, but got the same results with each one. I'll be selling it soon. Lots of people seem to like SE's, so I hope yours is working out for you.

 

[John in Covina]

Here are straight razors I have bought new. PIC form Soligan, a Dovo, Thiers Issard, the Straight Razor Place one is a T-I, the Timor and the lime green is a Spanish Filarmonica An 8/8's I believe.

My frustration is being unable to sharpen them adequately!

 

[Feraud]

My frustration is being unable to sharpen them adequately!

Same here. The one straight edge razor I own is vintage and was purchased around 10 years back. Never could get it sharp enough..

 

[John in Covina]

Here are some vintage straight razors that I hope to renovate at some point.

In there is a Puma, Shumate, Torrey and others.

The one that is "historic" is the one that is one up from the bottom on the right side.

The handle has an inlay that is Fasces, the Roman bundle of sticks used to make a axe symbol that was used by the Fascists in Italy and the source of the name Fascist. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasces

The name on the blade shaft is Benito which is Mussolini's known by first name. I think this was made prior to WWII when people in the US had a higher opinion of Italy, and probably before they attacked Ethiopia.

 

[Feraud]

That is a nice group of razors. :eusa_clap

 

[Canadave]

Here are straight razors I have bought new. PIC form Soligan, a Dovo, Thiers Issard, the Straight Razor Place one is a T-I, the Timor and the lime green is a Spanish Filarmonica An 8/8's I believe.

My frustration is being unable to sharpen them adequately!

All of a sudden, I feel like watching a Zorro movie.

 

[Shangas]

Those 7 day sets are uncommon and as said above pretty darn expensive.

The set in the photograph is selling for over $300.

 

[John in Covina]

I have several sharpening stones including the infamous Norton 4k/8K and a Chinese stone that's around 10K or higher grit. The thing is I can't get the technique down I may be pressing a little too hard when trying to sharpen the razors. I think that it's because of the flex of the blades. I had a 4/8's Henkel Brothers razor that was inflexible and that I was able to sharpen okay. I of course gave that razor away as a gift.

I have a 2 sided strop that's mounted on thick corian that I use with those diamond pastes. If I start with a sharp blade I can keep it sharp for a while but once it's dull past a certain point I can't bring it back.

 

[Feraud]

I bought a GEM Pushbutton a few months ago. I was excited to add it to my shave options, but it didn't work out for me. No matter how much prep I did and how gently I went, it was just too rough compared to my DE. I tried a few different blades, but got the same results with each one. I'll be selling it soon. Lots of people seem to like SE's, so I hope yours is working out for you.

Sorry to read the Gem didn't work out for you. Every man's face is different as are the razors we use.

I had a second shave with the Micromatic. It was better than the first. I love how aggressive it is.

 

[HHISIII]

The set in the photograph is selling for over $300.

That's pretty cheap for a box o' seven.

My Dovo was $100 new and it's the bottom end of their current blades.