Is the Jury still out on Vintagestraightrazor.com?

As some of you may know, they had been posting their specials on deals.woot.com recently, and I know a decent amount of people bought, myself included.

I had ordered this blade:

http://www.vintagestraightrazor.com...rbon-Steel-Straight-Razor-w-Etched-Spine.html

Any ideas on shaving quality? I shaved for the first time this morning (stropped, creamed up, etc) and had a decently rough shave, although I'm not attributing that to the blade (newbie with a razor...seems like the majority of initial shaves are a bit rough). The site claims that the razor is made by GB Buckington and Sons, but I can't find anything about them online. Another rather odd tidbit is that they claimed that the logo on the razor for that company was a sticker that could be removed...but my razor didn't even have a sticker on it. I noticed in the FAQs it was said that any razor without some sort of marking for manufacturer is bad news, and despite the fact that this blade was supposed to have one, it appears that it does not.

Any tips on where to go from here?

Never heard of the company or razor. Send it out and have it honed and see how it does then.

All they sell is the standard paki crap at hilarious prices. Personally I'd avoid anything they sell. They obviously don't know much about straight razors.

Never heard of them.

Looks like modified Paki or blanks in general thrown together with a rescale. At the price it may be the scale that you're really paying for. Send it out to get honed and see what happens. Are there any markings on the tang?

A sticker isn't the sort of manufacturer's mark that would lend any credence to the quality of a razor.

mmack66 said:

A sticker isn't the sort of manufacturer's mark that would lend any credence to the quality of a razor.

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Technically the actual ad describes it as a "stamp" not a sticker, which in conjuction with the image they show I take to be just some ink or paint stamped on the blade. Still sucky, but not a peel-off sticker.

Also wanted to mention, they offer free lifetime honing and sharpening, and their blades come from China and Japan, as well as the Middle East; so they say. I ordered one as well, and a kit. Not sure what Blix's comment is based on though. Have you ordered a few blades from this vendor? Have you talked to them?

What are you commenting on that you are saying to avoid a company? I am curious as I haven't tried using a straight yet and am waiting on mine to arrive. If there is a reason to write a company off as selling "crap" at least please say you tried their blades, and which model? I also ask because the owner stated it was a new company, and they have people on site honing these and stuff. At what point do you have to give an upstart a try to encourage more people to get into the business?

Artimid said:

Also wanted to mention, they offer free lifetime honing and sharpening, and their blades come from China and Japan, as well as the Middle East; so they say. I ordered one as well, and a kit. Not sure what Blix's comment is based on though. Have you ordered a few blades from this vendor? Have you talked to them?

What are you commenting on that you are saying to avoid a company? I am curious as I haven't tried using a straight yet and am waiting on mine to arrive. If there is a reason to write a company off as selling "crap" at least please say you tried their blades, and which model? I also ask because the owner stated it was a new company, and they have people on site honing these and stuff. At what point do you have to give an upstart a try to encourage more people to get into the business?

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I'm sorry you wasted your money. Yes they offer lifetime honing, too bad they can't hone. They use a knife sharpening system and they are not coming to you even close to shave ready. There's a thread on them on another forum.....

I would have to say be weary, these don't look like legitimate quality razors to me either. While its impossible to say for sure without trying one in person, there are several clues that give away the fact that they don't have much experience with razors.

- American Quality (But where are they made? looks like a play on words to make you think they are made in America.)
- They call scales handles.
- They list the same blade as being both Damascus and Carbon steel.
- They say it has been sharpened. I think a legitimate seller would state that it has been "honed".

Now, I'm not stating that these are crap or quality. These are all words on their website. However I would not be purchasing from a vendor who doesn't know the proper terminology for the business that they're in.

There is some things you take with a grain of salt. Just reading this post. You have people posting claiming they know more about this company than is even offered on there site. The usage of words could be a play on "newbies"

If you are willing to take a risk, do it? Let us know how things work out.

The prices on their shave soap are way too high.

Are you talking about the post on straightrazorplace, the one about the one razor that one guy ordered? That was sent out in bad condition and then apologized for by the company? Where the one person who made the post basically said "It is all okay now" ? And I am not sure about the knife sharpening system, I know they say:

"We use a wet 3000/8000 double sided stone, a diamond sharpeners, and electric strops. For automatic sharpening and stropping we use Chef Choice pro sharpeners. No paste. Chefs Choice Commercial Straight Blade Sharpener is the model. We start with 3000 wet onto the Chefs Choice then followed by a wet 8000 then Chefs Choice strop."

But, not sure what else to make of that, I am pretty much ignorant outside of sharpening weapons, and even then there is a lot of disagreement on how to do it correctly. I certainly don't expect to hone a razor like I would my nice katana. Your experience with their blades might be different, which blade did you get that it came non-shave ready? He does proclaim shave ready, but might need stropping. The one other guy who tried his razor in that srp post said it needed honing, but others in the deals said it was ready to shave.. so that might hold true that they don't hone each one the same, I guess. That doesn't necessarily look good, but I will hold off on the jury until more people are posting about the blades. When I get my blades, I will take lots of pictures for review of the people here, as I tend to trust thing place on their judgement.

As far as the soap, yeah, yeah it is expensive. A few people mentioned that to the owner about the kits and he came down in price a lot, not sure if he is buying some stuff from a local retailer and just marking it up after shipping or what not.
Not trying to be a jerk, but if newbies are coming here to get information, posts like dakotaev seem helpful since it states specific issues with just the website that hints to being weary. Just telling people a company is crap, basing that off of "one" review that said everything was okay, seems a bit harsh and kind of undercuts the tone that is usually on the forums.

Blix said:

I'm sorry you wasted your money. Yes they offer lifetime honing, too bad they can't hone. They use a knife sharpening system and they are not coming to you even close to shave ready. There's a thread on them on another forum.....

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Artimid said:

Are you talking about the post on straightrazorplace, the one about the one razor that one guy ordered? That was sent out in bad condition and then apologized for by the company? Where the one person who made the post basically said "It is all okay now" ? And I am not sure about the knife sharpening system, I know they say:

"We use a wet 3000/8000 double sided stone, a diamond sharpeners, and electric strops. For automatic sharpening and stropping we use Chef Choice pro sharpeners. No paste. Chefs Choice Commercial Straight Blade Sharpener is the model. We start with 3000 wet onto the Chefs Choice then followed by a wet 8000 then Chefs Choice strop."

But, not sure what else to make of that, I am pretty much ignorant outside of sharpening weapons, and even then there is a lot of disagreement on how to do it correctly. I certainly don't expect to hone a razor like I would my nice katana. Your experience with their blades might be different, which blade did you get that it came non-shave ready? He does proclaim shave ready, but might need stropping. The one other guy who tried his razor in that srp post said it needed honing, but others in the deals said it was ready to shave.. so that might hold true that they don't hone each one the same, I guess. That doesn't necessarily look good, but I will hold off on the jury until more people are posting about the blades. When I get my blades, I will take lots of pictures for review of the people here, as I tend to trust thing place on their judgement.

As far as the soap, yeah, yeah it is expensive. A few people mentioned that to the owner about the kits and he came down in price a lot, not sure if he is buying some stuff from a local retailer and just marking it up after shipping or what not.
Not trying to be a jerk, but if newbies are coming here to get information, posts like dakotaev seem helpful since it states specific issues with just the website that hints to being weary. Just telling people a company is crap, basing that off of "one" review that said everything was okay, seems a bit harsh and kind of undercuts the tone that is usually on the forums.

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Dakotaev says pretty much the same as me, in nicer packaging.
It's just screaming obvious that these guys doesn't know anything about straight razors. The "sharpening" system speak for itself.
When you have spent literally hours and hours on eBay looking at straights, you recognize the generic Pakistani/Indian/Chinese straights right away.
Now add no brand name besides the fake one on the blade which is a sticker.
The general rule when it comes to straights, is to avoid those.
The owner of this company may have all the right intentions, but as long they sell generic razor shaped objects and try to sell shaving soap at 5x the normal price, they may not last long... And should be avoided.

Not trying to be a jerk myself, but you are obviously new to straights. If you stick with this for a while, you'll eventually understand and laugh at this, I promise!
I'd love to be wrong on this, but I don't think I am, all the red flags possible comes up unfortunately.......

Tell you what, if I'm right and this is the crap I think it is, I'll be happy to send you a known good, and shave ready (for real) straight razor, free of charge...

Clever domain name considering max's site is http://www.vintagestraightrazors.com. and they do not sell any vintage straight razors. The VDH kit for $20 is hilarious.

http://www.reddit.com/r/wicked_edge...gb_buckingham_and_sons_damascus_steel/c2muk8t

betelgeux (_) 7 points 8 hours ago (10|3)
An unknown in the razor community in so far as I could find. I decided to take a chance and see if it could be true that someone is making a cheap patterned steel razor that wasn't just decorative,
The thing is massive 85 grams (3.95 oz). My Genco is less than half that at 37 grams. It's actually awkward and the scales are out of proportion
The pattern is impressive and even with a magnifying glass I'm not seeing any evidence that it's just an acid wash to make it look like folded steel.
The scales have tool marks that tell me that this is hand made and poor craftsmanship.
The first ill omen strikes. There is no country mark on the blade or the scales. This is bad. If you aren't willing to name the origin you are not playing above board.
Now to business. The edge looks like a 1000 grit belt was used to start the bevel. I start at 1000 grit waterstone and work up to 8000 before finishing with 3 micron diamond paste and green chromium. The edge is inconsistent and the nose and tail of the blade are wider than the middle. As I am getting close to finishing with the 8000 stone I notice that there are long metal bits on the stone face. A quick look with the pocket scope reveals them to be wire edge debris.
I've never seen this. Steel for a razor shouldn't be able to support wire edge like that. It's actually pliable. The blade has no "note" either. When struck or plucked it sounds like a lead coin dropped on stone.
I'm starting to wonder if this is even tempered - it sure as hell isn't acting like it.
The attempt to shave went worse. Two WTG strokes and it's only got about 1/3 of the hair. It's skipping and pulling, not worth it - I quit.
This is a decorative item in the same class as the Sweeny Todd blades. Overpriced and functionally useless. I bought this hoping I was going to be surprised but sadly it's the old adage once again.
If it seems too good to be true...

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Now what a surprise....

I just checked the forums on straightrazorplace that Blix and artimid were referring too since I too just received a buffalo horn razor from this company. The gentlemen that was worried about his razor received a refund, and a better razor. I had ordered the incorrect razor, and they send me the right razor quickly without any hassles. So far, it looks fine. No pitting, and straight. That's what i expect. I'll shave with it tonight or tomorrow, and let you know how it goes. As far as they go, they are an honest company, and seem to care about their customers. Why blast them so much when they do good on their word, and strive for customer support?

Blix, save your hating for companies that sell junk, then disappear when you try to get a hold of them. I'm starting to sense that you're just trolling, after reading your comments on the other thread.
As for me, i'm going to take a hot shower, lather up my nomad soap, and see how it goes. - J

Jiu-Jitsuman said:

I just checked the forums on straightrazorplace that Blix and artimid were referring too since I too just received a buffalo horn razor from this company. The gentlemen that was worried about his razor received a refund, and a better razor. I had ordered the incorrect razor, and they send me the right razor quickly without any hassles. So far, it looks fine. No pitting, and straight. That's what i expect. I'll shave with it tonight or tomorrow, and let you know how it goes. As far as they go, they are an honest company, and seem to care about their customers. Why blast them so much when they do good on their word, and strive for customer support?

Blix, save your hating for companies that sell junk, then disappear when you try to get a hold of them. I'm starting to sense that you're just trolling, after reading your comments on the other thread.
As for me, i'm going to take a hot shower, lather up my nomad soap, and see how it goes. - J

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Members are free to post their opinions on products and pricing as long as it is done in a decent manner.
You may be pleased, but that doesn't mean everyone would or should be.
It is difficult for many folks to take seriously the favorable recommendation of someone who comes in and defends a seller or manufacturer the same day he signed on to B&B and with less than 3 posts overall.
I'm not suggesting you have an interest, but you'd be best served to get to know folks and establish a reputation before recommending what others may see as questionable.

Jiu-Jitsuman said:

I just checked the forums on straightrazorplace that Blix and artimid were referring too since I too just received a buffalo horn razor from this company. The gentlemen that was worried about his razor received a refund, and a better razor. I had ordered the incorrect razor, and they send me the right razor quickly without any hassles. So far, it looks fine. No pitting, and straight. That's what i expect. I'll shave with it tonight or tomorrow, and let you know how it goes. As far as they go, they are an honest company, and seem to care about their customers. Why blast them so much when they do good on their word, and strive for customer support?

Blix, save your hating for companies that sell junk, then disappear when you try to get a hold of them. I'm starting to sense that you're just trolling, after reading your comments on the other thread.
As for me, i'm going to take a hot shower, lather up my nomad soap, and see how it goes. - J

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As luvmysuper says... Your very first post on B&B is this, and interestingly an hour earlier someone registered on SRP and post a praise of them as well.
That is just raising red flags all over.

Unbranded razors like those are well known for lousy quality, and it's obvious to anyone with experience with straight razors that those guys selling these does not know a single thing about straights.........


I'd love you to prove me wrong, but my hopes are certainly not up.

This is a Chefs Choice automatic sharpener.



Anyone who is selling a straight razor to the public and uses one of those to sharpen it deserves to be ridiculed.


Fancy paying hundreds of dollars for a Damascus straight from Tim Zowada, Gabor Buddel or even a factory made one from Boker when these guys can sell you one for $119.