Building the 7 Day Shave Kit

[Dutch101st]

I am a DE shaver (about a year in) who has gone to straights. As such, I do want to start slowly building my "7 Day" shave kit...straight razor for every day of the week. As such, I do not want to aquire sub-par razors...don't like dealing with the junk for obvious reasons.

So far, I have got a Dovo Best Quality (my first straight) and my Bismarck gets here on Monday. What is next? What razors stand out in quality and style? I am going to take the plunge and do a WhippedDog just because...but what about some modern-made razors?

What do the straight shave bretheren recommend?

 

[Doc226]

The sky is the limit. There are a lot of fine razors.

 

[Legion]

Can I recommend a thirty day set?

 

[brothers]

It took me a couple of years of more than a few straight razors coming and going, and I've finally got a great set of 7 old and new straight razors that I can count on to give a superb shave every time, so long as I keep up my end of the bargain and keep them well honed and stropped, and clean and dry. They've come from a wide variety of sources:

Hart Steel, new from Classic shaving, but I understand they are available now at other well known websites.
Filarmonica 14, a good deal from a private seller. An amazing 8/8 shaving implement.
Boker King Cutter 15/16, believe it or not, an ebay razor that was new and unused when it came to me.
Hess Fortyfour Stainless, again, an unused ebay razor.
Henkels Friodur, bought it on ebay, from a seller who is a well known denizen of a few of the shaving forums, specifically SRP.
Clauss 6/8 round point, vintage razor, again from ebay, one of the finest shaving straight razors ever made (in USA).
SSA Eskulstuna 6/8, SRP classifieds.

Since I became familiar with, and started using straight razors about 3 1/2 years ago, I've bought and sold quite a few. Going in, I made sure I knew exactly what I wanted, and didn't want, regarding blade width, round point, full/quarter hollow ground, and the prices I was willing to pay. You get what you pay for, of course. I know what it takes to win on ebay, when I make up my mind to win. And I know when to walk away, when my guts tell me to. They aren't giving these away for free, even on ebay, even junk. A very good straight razor is worth the money you pay for it, if you are a cautious shopper, but wiling to take a risk, and if it's exactly what you are looking for. For example, at one time I had a 5/8 SSA razor I got at a flea market, cleaned it up and sharpened it, and it turned out to be an excellent little razor, but I prefer 6/8. So I shopped around constantly at SRP classifieds, and one day a long time SRP member listed a 6/8 quarter hollow SSA, and he stated it was a better shaver in his opinion than the legendary Le Grelot. I liked the look and the specs on it, and I gladly paid his asking price for it. Later, like many of us, I searched out a quarter hollow Le Grelot. It was a great shaver, but amazingly, the quarter hollow SSA was/is at least as good, if not better, than the Le Grelot, and in use, the Swedish Steel holds the edge better in my opinion, than the French Le Grelot. Don't be in too much of a hurry to get the razors you want, and work best for your particular preferences. At one point I even bought two new razors, a Dovo and a Thiers Issard, but for a few reasons, I ended up selling them. Only you know whether you like or don't like how a particular razor works for you, and you just do what you have to do, and move on. Good luck!

 

[ladykate]

Can I recommend a thirty day set?

I'm currently building a 7 month set. But I have extras...

For the original question - it has been answered in that there are so many options. NOS old and new razors are quite fun. Rebuilds that brought junkers out of the grave and gave them custom scales and lots of class are also fun. You can decide if you like big blades, medium blades, small blades, or a combination. I have big blades in several popular brands but I like the medium blades almost as much and I have two or three 4/8 that are also nice. Just so many choices!

I have purchased 7 day sets with mixed results. I got two that were marginal and one of them cost me quite a bit - I have one that is absolutely superb and I still shake my head when I look at it - it was a fantastic deal.

If I built a 7 day set from diverse razors, it would probably vary depending on when I was asked but right now I would get in the widest available blade:

Le Grelot (pre- TI), Filarmonica (14 is wide enough), Wade and Butcher (near wedge), Joseph Rodgers (near wedge), Custom GD (I would build it), F.W. Engles, Bartmann

No... no... not that seven... changed my mind...

Hart, Dovo, Wostenholm, Puma, C-MON, Henckels, Boker

No... no... not that seven...

Doubl Duck, Reynolds, ERN, ... etc (mind went numb - there are dozens more examples)

Too many choices. If you do a permutation of the above numbers (change out one of the seven for one of the others until there are no more unique sets), you get a metric s**tload of possibilities. And my examples just scratched the surface.

So... Get a couple of razors and decide what you want to shoot for and do it. Be sure to show us... with pictures!

 

[Dutch101st]

Well the Bismarck got here today...and it sank me. Need to work with my Dovo Best Quality until I get the technique down...figured I would give it a go as I just watched Lynn's dvd. Ah well, lesson learned. It will be ready when I am ready for it. In the mean time, will continue with the DBQ (tonight was only shave number 5)

Beautiful razor anyhow!

 

[Doc226]

Well the Bismarck got here today...and it sank me.

Why, what happened?

Very nice razor and scuttle ( I have the same one)