$100 Straight Razor Kit

[Frank Shaves]

There's a word for this: inflation .

 

[Tomo]

There's a word for this: inflation .

That’s what everyone keeps telling me at the moment.

 

[rbscebu]

There's a word for this: inflation .

That's why I'm buying more SRs now, trying to beat the inflation . Once inflation peaks, I'm going to sell all my SRs, retire on the exorbitant profits made and go back the shaving with a multi-blade cart.

 

[taffy]

Its always a gamble, but the auction site. Here in the UK so many straights come up around the 99p mark, some go way higher, but some just don't sell even at that price. Same as stones, but this is the gamble, you could buy two or three stones of different grit quite cheaply but you will not know what you are getting until they arrive, then you would need to learn to use them. I do reckon that most on here could supply this razor and the bits required for the price, perhaps the most expensive part may well be the shipping.

 

[Tomo]

Its always a gamble, but the auction site. Here in the UK so many straights come up around the 99p mark, some go way higher, but some just don't sell even at that price. Same as stones, but this is the gamble, you could buy two or three stones of different grit quite cheaply but you will not know what you are getting until they arrive, then you would need to learn to use them. I do reckon that most on here could supply this razor and the bits required for the price, perhaps the most expensive part may well be the shipping.

I think your right. There are bargains to be had if you have the skills to pick them and the tools to fix them up.

 

[Steve56]

Get the ones that are unrestored and have little or no wear.

Avoid razors with rust/pitting/corrosion at the edge.

 

[Alum of Potash]

What $100 are we talking about, $100 AU or $100 US? And why $100?

 

[Tomo]

What $100 are we talking about, $100 AU or $100 US? And why $100?

$100 is an arbitrary number. It’s a round number that is a limit in some peoples minds. There are a lot of people that would give straight razors a try if the investment required is limited to $100. I’m MCS it gets more than that people start to drop off quickly.

To that end it doesn’t really matter if it’s $100 USD/AUD/CAD/NZD. It’s a local thing. I would work in AUD because I’m in Australia. Depending on the point in time this has been more or less than 100 USD.

As a level playing field, conversions to USD can be used. The costs should include all shipping required to get the items to your door.

It’s a challenge to build a decent starter kit on a budget that wouldn’t need to be replaced or upgraded too quickly. I plan to put one of these kits together and sell it (at cost) to a newbie based on the recommendations.

One thing that’s becoming clear is that the options and prices are very much dictated by geographical location.

 

[rbscebu]

....
It’s a challenge to build a decent starter kit on a budget that wouldn’t need to be replaced or upgraded too quickly. I plan to put one of these kits together and sell it (at cost) to a newbie based on the recommendations. ....

Great minds. I was thinking of doing the same but was going to charge for the honing so I will let you run with it.

I was going to put together (all prices include shipping to Australia and Australian GST):

• Titan ACRM-2 T.H.60 that comes with a nice PU leather zippered case and a 60mm wide denim strop and some rather good stropping paste for about AU$33.
• Titan leather/denim strop 60mm wide also with stropping paste for about AU$20.
• Synthetic badger hair shaving brush for about AU$5
• Palmolive Regular shaving cream 65g from your local IGA for <AU$3

The SR does not come as shown in their description. The stabiliser is now almost non-existent. You will need to set the bevel and hone it up to shave-ready (I was going to add AU$30 for that). The denim strop that is included with the SR is good enough for cleaning/drying the bevel after a shave or (but not both) being used with the stropping paste to refine the edge every so often. You could use one of the Gold Dollar SRs for a cheaper price but then you don't get the quality of the Titan with its timber scales. Looks sell.

The leather/denim strop has good hardware and works well, however it has rather thin leather. It needs to be used with care (easily cut through) and held with the denim together to give the strop some backbone. Alternatively, you could find a leather strop of thicker leather but I found that they were generally only 50mm wide or less. This may create some problems for a newbie.

The shaving brush is surprisingly good for the price. It doesn't have the backbone of a boar but should be happily acceptable to a newbie.

You already know about the shaving cream.

The whole kit can be posted to anywhere in Australia for about AU$10 so the total cost to the buyer would be about AU$73 delivered. International postage would be <AU$30, depending on location, bringing the price for the international buyer up to about AU$93 or less delivered.

 

[Tomo]

Great minds. I was thinking of doing the same but was going to charge for the honing so I will let you run with it.

I was going to put together (all prices include shipping to Australia and Australian GST):

• Titan ACRM-2 T.H.60 that comes with a nice PU leather zippered case and a 60mm wide denim strop and some rather good stropping paste for about AU$33.
• Titan leather/denim strop 60mm wide also with stropping paste for about AU$20.
• Synthetic badger hair shaving brush for about AU$5
• Palmolive Regular shaving cream 65g from your local IGA for <AU$3

The SR does not come as shown in their description. The stabiliser is now almost non-existent. You will need to set the bevel and hone it up to shave-ready (I was going to add AU$30 for that). The denim strop that is included with the SR is good enough for cleaning/drying the bevel after a shave or (but not both) being used with the stropping paste to refine the edge every so often. You could use one of the Gold Dollar SRs for a cheaper price but then you don't get the quality of the Titan with its timber scales. Looks sell.

The leather/denim strop has good hardware and works well, however it has rather thin leather. It needs to be used with care (easily cut through) and held with the denim together to give the strop some backbone. Alternatively, you could find a leather strop of thicker leather but I found that they were generally only 50mm wide or less. This may create some problems for a newbie.

The shaving brush is surprisingly good for the price. It doesn't have the backbone of a boar but should be happily acceptable to a newbie.

You already know about the shaving cream.

The whole kit can be posted to anywhere in Australia for about AU$10 so the total cost to the buyer would be about AU$73 delivered. International postage would be <AU$30, depending on location, bringing the price for the international buyer up to about AU$93 or less delivered.

A pasted strop of some kind is a good idea. That should take honing out of the equation for a while.

 

[Legion]

A pasted strop of some kind is a good idea. That should take honing out of the equation for a while.

I would suggest a flat pasted bench strop would be best for a newbie, as they would be less likely to round the edge. At least not so quickly. Otherwise they will be paying for a set of hones, from bevel set to finish, when it needs doing.

 

[Jakebullet]

I’ve always been impressed how you’ve managed to resist temptation and keep it simple. Learning to use the smaller stones m really helps keep the cost down. Did you have any sort of progression in the beginning or were you able to get by with just the finishing slate?

For the first couple of refreshes I tried CrOx paste but some pieces are useable for razors and others not so much. Then I bought a pack of films and the piece of slate.
I blunted two of my Gold dollars on the slate and left it in a drawer for a few months, while learning my first refresh on the film.
I was so happy when I finally got an edge to shave ready on my own.
After a while I got the slate from the drawer and learned to hone on that which stood me in great stead for the future as I can now hone on pretty much any size rock.
I have a progression of lapping films but my go to progression these days is a 1k King then straight to jnat with diamond slurry.
This gives a brilliant edge.
The 1k king has a 6k backing which I may use if a razor needs a deeper refresh but I find a diamond jnat slurry also does this job. Now and then I finish on a thin Tomo Nagura slurry.

 

[Tomo]

For the first couple of refreshes I tried CrOx paste but some pieces are useable for razors and others not so much. Then I bought a pack of films and the piece of slate.
I blunted two of my Gold dollars on the slate and left it in a drawer for a few months, while learning my first refresh on the film.
I was so happy when I finally got an edge to shave ready on my own.
After a while I got the slate from the drawer and learned to hone on that which stood me in great stead for the future as I can now hone on pretty much any size rock.
I have a progression of lapping films but my go to progression these days is a 1k King then straight to jnat with diamond slurry.
This gives a brilliant edge.
The 1k king has a 6k backing which I may use if a razor needs a deeper refresh but I find a diamond jnat slurry also does this job. Now and then I finish on a thin Tomo Nagura slurry.

I had my first success on films too. I then took it to a diamond paste on a hard balsa substrate as @Legion suggested. I used this as a backup for a while until I got to grips with stones. The learning curve isn’t so steep with films and paste.

 

[rbscebu]

I had my first success on films too. I then took it to a diamond paste on a hard balsa substrate as @Legion suggested. I used this as a backup for a while until I got to grips with stones. The learning curve isn’t so steep with films and paste.

And also gives you a good base with which to start on with whetstones.

 

[Tomo]

And also gives you a good base with which to start on with whetstones.

Absolutely. It’s a good base to build from. You have all your bases covered and can just add a stone here or there.

The technique and muscle memory is virtually the same. It’s a bit easier because flatness and slurry are taken out of the equation. You also have the luxury of a big honing surface and small grit jumps with a bit of overlap between the stages.

 

[Tomo]

I’ve done a bit of hunting and found a few diamonds in the rough. For $100 AUD I can put together the following kit.

1 x Shave ready vintage razor
1 x Titan leather strop
1 x Lapped finishing stone
1 x Lapping film progression (6 x 1/3 sheets)
1 x Acrylic substrate
1 x Pre-pasted 0.1 micron balsa strop

To my mind this should be enough to get someone up and running with a decent chance of success. They should get a good 50 shaves out of the balsa before it needs a refresh. At that point they should have the shaving bit down and would have the supplies to start honing. One set of lapping film should be enough for about ten sessions. Enough to fix any mistakes along the way and get to grips with the natural finisher. At that point you could continue indefinitely with out any further purchase.

Or you could slowly build on the kit with more paste, more film, upgraded strop, different balsa strops, different finishers. With $50 a month you could start to explore the rabbit holes.

 

[rbscebu]

@Tomo, what shave-ready vintage SR are you talking about? I have decided to stop buying Bengalls so their price should start to drop a bit now.

Most SRs do not come really shave-ready. Do you intend to hone it before selling? Personally, I don't think that a n00bie to SR shaving would better appreciate a vintage. My feelings are that, unless they read B&B, they would be more inclined to a new SR.

 

[Tomo]

@Tomo, what shave-ready vintage SR are you talking about? I have decided to stop buying Bengalls so their price should start to drop a bit now.

Most SRs do not come really shave-ready. Do you intend to hone it before selling? Personally, I don't think that a n00bie to SR shaving would better appreciate a vintage. My feelings are that, unless they read B&B, they would be more inclined to a new SR.

I was planning to hone up two out of this lot. Some of my most ambitious refurbs. I’ll only send them out if I’m happy with the way they shave. The options for new at this price range are very limited. These would have been decent razors in their day. A couple of them still have some life left and they are of no great loss if destroyed by a new honer.

 

[Legion]

I was planning to hone up two out of this lot. Some of my most ambitious refurbs. I’ll only send them out if I’m happy with the way they shave. The options for new at this price range are very limited. These would have been decent razors in their day. A couple of them still have some life left and they are of no great loss if destroyed by a new honer.


View attachment 1503906

That Gotta 120 will make a decent shorty. I did that to one of those not long ago.

 

[Tomo]

That Gotta 120 will make a decent shorty. I did that to one of those not long ago.

View attachment 1503962

I was thinking maybe a square point. I don’t think it’s lost too much in length. Some of these maybe too far gone. It will be easier to see when I have them in hand.