Straight Razors

I recently purchased the Kanayama 30000. The strop arrived in a nice box, well packaged. First appearances looked very promising. It is obviously very finely crafted. The leather is absolutely flawless, smooth and silky to the hand. A razor passed on it has wonderful smooth sensation. Draw I found to be about medium. Not as heavy as a TM latigo, nor quite as slick as my vintage Shell. The leather in my 30000 is a little on the thin side. It deforms and stretches slightly under use, so...

I received this strop this morning in the mail, unsure about what to expect, as the manufacturer is a rather self-effacing gentleman. :001_smile We had discussed what dimensions I would like and I asked for something longer and wider than my current commercially bought double sider. What I unpacked was a length of gorgeously finished hide, treated to a wonderfully dark, smooth shine and outfitted with hardware that would surely be a centrepiece in any barber's shop. One end sported a...

I took quite a while to get this review in because it was my first time using a cordovan strop so I didn't really know what to expect as a result. I was so blown away by the Spanish strop Jose (Ambrose) has that I needed to get everything out of this strop to give him the fairest review and make sure it stood up to the success to his Spanish strops. I used 5 different razors to get my final results and my results are a combined of each. WK1; 6/8 Full Hollow Gotta, WK2; TI 69 Frameback...

I was browsing through Ebay and saw a strop that caught my eye. 3 inch English Bridle with webbed fabric for 73 shipped! After a few messages back and forth with the seller, it was on the way to my house. The seller was extremely knowledgeable and helpful, which eased my mind. I own 10 strops and I really enjoy feeling the razor on the different leathers. FINISH OF LEATHER and STROP The strop area is 17 inches which is more than enough room for a nice stroke. The English Bridle...

Here is a review thread on this strop begun by others, with nice photos and everything. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=154571 I did not see an actual review in the reviews of this strop, though. Hope this is not a repeat review. I agree with azmark and Barbash say in the above thread. First a bit about my strop experience. I have a Tony Miller 2.5 inch wide latigo, with cotton webbing, Dovo white pasted strap--see below. I also have a vintage horse cordovan shell...

I received my Kai folding straight today, and at first glance upon opening the box, I was most impressed. This razor just shouts quality. Its solid stainless steel. The look and feel of this razor are most impressive. I only use disposable blade straights, and for almost a year I have been using the Feather AC razors. I have both the RG, and the DX, as well as the non folding AC. These have been excellent razors, and are the ones I learned straight shaving on. I get very good shaves...

Here is a little known razor the genco "easy aces", look wise it looks like any other solingen razor that was made for the american razor market but in actual fact it uses american steel, genco being based in bradford pa. She's an 11/16 full hollow round point singing razor the tang being quite slender, it certainly gave no problems on the hone the blade is nice and straight no imperfections, quality wise the scales are thin but don't flex when in use and it feels nice and light because...

Purchased this blade about three months ago from Rasurpur. Martin provides great customer service. I sent him quite a few emails, and he was always very polite, answering all of my questions and more. The razor gives a great, very smooth shave. Behaves in all the ways that a proper full hollow should. Doesn't "sing" as much as vintage extra hollows, but provides good feedback and shaves just as well as an old W&B or Friodur. The razor is made of Carbonsong C135 steel, named because...

this strop is very well constructed from thick cowhide. the strop area is 22" giving plenty of room for longer strokes on the blade. overall length is 32" with the "D" rings(also available with leather handles) the draw on this strop is in my opinion better than my red latigo. this strop really improves the shave of my straights that i have used on it. priced at about $50 it is a absolute great deal and will give years of use and satisfaction. this product made by a true craftsman and...

Let's take a look at the GD, shall we? The QC from the factory is a bit lax, so the outline will vary from piece to piece, all are about 13/16 to 7/8 width: Tip outline, and edge outline vary. The biggest issue is usually that the heel of the razor is difficult to make contact with the hone due to that extremely large heel stabilizer and thick shoulder on the spine bevel. Some bulk removal of material is usually required to get that sorted out. Outline is one thing, the next is...

Picked this up on ebay a couple weeks ago and could not be happier. This is a slick razor with a great modern design. It fits and works well in your hand. It is the Japanese non folding style with the replaceable feather blades. It is easy to place new blades in it. With a light touch and with the side of the blade holder against your skin it provides an exceptional shave. Handled lightly it gave a BBS shave in two passes. To much pressure or angle and it will take a layer of skin with...

The razor came via mysteryrazor.com. (Thank you, Jay!) I have heard a lot about great shaving qualities and easy honing properties of the Golden Dollar blades. Well, the razor did not disappointed. Yes, it needed to be honed, but 30 laps on Chinese 12K was all it took to get the balde to the shave-ready condition. The blade itself is heavy, as any 7/8 should be, and the shaving is smooth. I managed to get to BBS with just WTG and XTG passes. The scales are cheap, plastic red wood...

The Hess shown is from my personal collection and has become my personal favorite. Now I know what many of you are saying, stainless is too labor intensive. I had the same initial opinion. The initial honing took a bit over 8 hours. The stropping was easily twice what I'd put on a carbon. Working with many different grades of stainless while I was in aviation, I knew what to expect when it came to working the material. Once the edge was set it shaved like silk! It slices...

I recently purchased the Parker SR2 Straight Razor for $16. I don't have straight razor experience, but I was impressed enough with this razor to write this review. Prior to this purchase I had bought a cheap generic $7 DE Straight razor off ebay with fold metal to hold the blade. I was not impressed with the generic. The Parker SR2 has a nice weight to it and feels well balanced. The blade holding mechanics are solid and hold the blade in the proper alignment. The color is all...

Not everything is better, here in the Old World. Sure we have the three T, Harris, Dovo, Thiers-Issard, Filarmonica, Mastro Livi and a plethora of vintage pieces. But there's something we haven't got. We have no quality strops. Sure, we have a lot of industrial made strops, but the difference with a Miller or a Kitayama is simply embarassing. For a lot of us Italians this Dovo strop (or his paddle cousin) is the one and the last we'll buy. Sad, huh? :thumbdown I have this strop, double...

Fit & Finish Overall, this is a very polished product. The leather is smooth, even and free of any irregularities. The hardware is clean looking and the fancy chicago screw is a nice touch. The lettering is perfect and I think offering the initials free of cost adds a very welcome personal touch to the strop. The diamond embossed back is even in depth and consistent. However, it does appear that mine was embossed a degree or 2 askew. The embossing is slightly off center near the bottom. I...

A brief intro I have to admit that I don't understand the Filarmonica Frenesia that seems to have caught everyone and his dog in the last six months. I own several Fillies (#10 Doble Temple, #13 and #14 Sello de Oro, #14 Especial and this #14 EPBD); they're wonderful razors (and the gold wash on the old Especial really is a work of art) but come on, they can't be as good as a custom made one and surely can't be three times better than a Dovo, Puma or TI. Then why their price has spiralled so...

My impressions of the Hart Steel Razor won during the Carnival of Smiles raffle follow. First let me thank Classic Shaving for donating the razor. A tip of the hat to our moderators who worked hard promoting and running the Carnival. Lastly, I would like to congratulate B&B for choosing, and the membership for supporting, such a worth charity. The Hart Steel Razor does not look impressive. It is rather plain and exclusive of ornamentation. No gold wash, no blade etch, no mirror...

I had coveted Frank Warner's birdwing design for years. Luckily, I was able to nab a spot on his waiting list. While in queue, I found Frank to be a fantastic creative partner in the endeavor, completely game to work with my fondness for natural history artifacts. I found a gorgeous slab of apple coral. Little did I know how much extra work I was creating for Frank who would have to labor away at this strangely porous material. When Frank produced early drawings, I was able to get a...

So I wanted to share my experience with this restored Red Imp razor that I bought on eBay from lax, as today was my first day shaving with it. I was actually a little scared about using it, probably because of the red color -- I mean, a RED razor, that can't be good, right? But my concern quickly disappeared as I started to shave. The blade is very thin and hollow, and you can actually hear it shaving off each individual whisker. Many of my other razors kind of bump or skip along my...