Beginners Razors - How many interested?

Fellas,
I am thinking about going on an "ebay spree" and picking up a bunch of straight razors, honin' them up, then turning them around to forum members -so they have shave ready razors on the cheap. How many of you guys would be interested?

Joel, I can't make a firm commitment right now... but I'm at least interested... would like to see/hear how this progresses. Maybe this will be my means by which to get in to straight shaving???

NMMB said:

Joel, I can't make a firm commitment right now... but I'm at least interested... would like to see/hear how this progresses. Maybe this will be my means by which to get in to straight shaving???

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I've got 2 or 3 right now.... they are mighty rough lookin' - but should shave ok, I should have my Norton 4K/8K show up tomorrow, so maybe there will be a few available by early next week. My goal is to get razors to guys at about $20 or less shipped.

I am I am!!!!

I would consider this. The problem is that I don't know how to use one at all.

I'm interested.

Joel, count me in!!

Joel,

Well, $20 sounds mighty cheap. Which sounds nice to me. I need a learner, before I get into my Wacker. My only concern is to make sure I get something decent quality. In other words, I would want to be sure I was getting something with a really good edge, and a steel that would hold that edge at least passably well. And also be decent for a beginner to learn honing on. I would rather pay $60 if I had to in order to be sure I was getting something that was a good standard for what a shaving edge should be, and that wouldn't have me trying to learn honing on a crappy steel. But if I can get that for $20, Hell Yes! I don't really care what it looks like, of course, at that price.

-Mo

I agree with what Mo said. I'd rather pay a little more if it meant getting something of value versus a razor of limited use and limited value. What else would be needed? Strop?

Shaving with a straight razor looks damned intimidating, but I definitely want to try it. Lessons included in the deal, right?

Mike

Well.... I don't know how they will shave, until I give 'em a go. Of course, each one will be different. You could always buy a new one, and send it my way for me to hone up, but of course, that'll be pricey. One of the razors for instance is an M Jung Lynn gave me quite some time ago, and the blade is all sorts of wacky - but it should hone up, and shave decent. Are these show stoppers? No.... but to purchase a razor for say..... $10, have it shipped to me for about $5, then ship it out to you for $5 - you are at about $20.... anything much more than that - and it just pays to jump up to $50 or so, and get something awful nice, but some fellas don't want to do that, as a strop will set ya back $30 or so as well.

Is a $50 or so razor going to look a lot nicer? Yeah. Is it going to shave better? Depends on the razor.

As another Straight razor junkie,
I just wanted to add that 20 bucks is an outstanding deal for ANY straight razor ready to shave; in many cases the honing alone is worth that if you do not have the experience (and equipment) yourself to do so.
Good deal if you can do this Joel.
John P.

JohnP said:

As another Straight razor junkie,
I just wanted to add that 20 bucks is an outstanding deal for ANY straight razor ready to shave; in many cases the honing alone is worth that if you do not have the experience (and equipment) yourself to do so.
Good deal if you can do this Joel.
John P.

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John,

I was just thinking this. Hell, I'm not a newbie, but I'm probably interested!!! In a few!

Randy

I think there would be considerable interest in a roughly $20, serviceable razor. A beginner doesn't need a collector's item to start with, only a sharp, shave ready blade. It doesn't take long to determine where straights fit into one's shaving scheme, and this idea may be just the thing to jump start potential users.

Whenever I see Joel's avatar, I think of this teapot.

http://www.necessiteas.com/image.aspx?storename=necessiteas&ItemID=5582238

Yup. I'd be mighty interested.

Dennis

Joel, I would be very interested. I think it is a great idea for a newbie like myself to try a straight without breaking the bank.---------Wess

Joel, while I don't have a need (I already have several inexpensive straights that are honed and ready to go) I think it's a great opportunity you are offering for folks to try their hand at straight razor shaving.

Joel - this is very generous of you - I hope you don't have a job, as this could likely become a full time one!

For those of you who don't know, the standard price to make a razor shave-ready (honing/stroping) is $20 (not including shiping each way) - this is on top of the price of the razor. So $20 plus shipping for a shave-ready razor is a screaming good deal.

As for those who are concerned about getting a ***, while I'm not an expert, from my research, back in the day, there were a lot of good razors made under several names (in many cases, they were made by the same factory, as there were relatively few manufacturers of razor blanks and finished razors). The consensu among the people I've spoken to is that the razors made in Germany, Sweden, England or the US were generally of decent quality and make decent shavers.

Even if you decide that straights are for you, having an extra shaving-sharp razor isn't a bad thing. If you keep it shaving sharp, you can likely flip it to another noob for the same price you paid for it.

Basically, its hard to go wrong if you take Joel up on this.

Just to be clear... I read my earlier post and hope it did not come off wrong. I was just posting honestly my thoughts on whether or not I would want one, and the factors.

On the whole though, I think it is an extremely generous offer on Joel's part, and he is quite the gentleman for offering to help beginners get into the sport like this.

-Mo

I'd be interested for sure...thanks for the offer.

Mo, I thought you were asking a legitimate question - many people (myself included) think that the only people who make straights are Dovo and Thiers and are unfamiliar with other brands.

I was just trying to explain that there are lots of good antique razors around that just need some TLC to bring them back to shaving sharpness. They won't be showpieces, but they will be good shavers, which is all that's important when you get started. The funny thing is that lots of the experienced folks like the antique razors and have little interest in buying "modern" (if you can apply that term to a straight ) razors.

If you look hard, are patient, you can get e-bay razors that clean up nicely for very little $$. You can also get great deals at antique/junk stores, flea markets and garage sales if you want to go that route.