Cheap Straight Razor Isn't Bad After All!

[KI4TFT]

OK let me say up front that I have no experience with truly good straights. I've never had $100 bucks to spend on an entry level straight.

I do have a gold dollar 66 that I had professionally honed, and I have shaved with it several times. I've also been shaved by barbers with both "real" straights and shavettes. Personally, I tend to use safety razors.

A while back, I posted a question about Frost Cutlery or Pride Cutlery razors. The company is local and I know a few people who work there. They produce good knives, but razors are a bit different. I got a variety of answers, none of which were terribly good. None of the answers were from anybody who had actually used one. As I am wont to do, I purchased one anyway.

As expected the razor came with a factory edge, not sharp enough to shave with. I took a set of Arkansas stones and some oil to it and honed it to what I believe to be shave ready. The sucker shaves! I don't know how it compares to a $100 razor, but I like it better than my Gold Dollar 66 already.

It remains to be seen how long it will hold an edge, but I like it. The scales are a tad heavy, almost as if they were produced by someone who didn't quite understand that they aren't a handle. However they are attractive.

 

[Seraphim]

Cheap razors rule!!

 

[totorlekiller]

That is the spirit.
Don't just take rumors for truth. Try it.

I shaved all summer with a no-name cheap thing I picked up in France, which I think was made in Pakistan.
It shaved OK. And I only honed it down to 8000 as I could not bring too many stones with me on that trip.

I had to re-honed it on the Norton every other day though.
So may be that what the difference is. Those cheap things take an edge but are not as good at keeping it.

 

[KI4TFT]

Perhaps there needs to be more cheap razor discussion. Maybe a sticky on cheap razors? When I first came to B & B I found the idea of SR shaving daunting because it seemed everything I read equated $100 to an "inexpensive" razor. Now that I have shaved with a straight and know that I can, I might well drop $100 on a razor, but prior to knowing that for sure I couldn't justify $100. Do you know how many interesting safety razors that would buy

 

[Haggises]

Not so long ago someone started a thread on "why do you never talk about expensive straights?"

 

[KI4TFT]

Well there is a lot of room in the price range of straights. Now that I know I can shave with a straight, $100 doesn't seem expensive for a razor. It was only a daunting sum when it remained possible that I might not be able to learn to use it.

Based purely on my looking throguh the forums, I'd say most of the discussion is on average priced razors in say the $100-$200 range. That's probably where even most collectors live when it comes to the "work horse" razor in their collection.

On the upper end of the spectrum, if you buy a truly expensive razor -unless you are an idiot- you are going to be buying something of good quality. The majority of us will never own a razor at that end of the spectrum. So the main value there is to salivate over pictures of the razor that will never touch my face.

On the low end of the spectrum, there is more need for information. Lots of guys want an entry level razor for a small ammount of money. It is possible to get one, but it is also possible to flush $20-$50 down the toilet. A Gold Dollar, a Krieger, and a Pride can all cost the same ammount of money, but they aren't equal in quality. The Krieger might even be the visually more appealing, but for shaving would be the worst of the 3. So newbies could really use some guidance here.

I was happy with my Gold Dollar, if you get it properly honed it is a good razor. A Gold Dollar is probably a good intro razor for any man to learn with.
I bought the Pride razor largely because it came with a free strop (that did have good reviews) and to see if I could hone a factory edge to shave ready. The jury is still out on how long it will hold an edge without rehoning. A friend of mine bought a Krieger and quite frankly the cheap multiplex knife I got as a groomsman gift once can take a sharper edge thean a Krieger.

 

[totorlekiller]

A good idea to explore some more.
we could write an encyclopedia on the topic by having members interested in the experiment by some home them, try them and then Pif them away to get others opinion.
and the good news is they are, well, cheap.

 

[Slash McCoy]

NO NO NO! Please stop spreading deceitful, misleading, harmful misinformation here! Those cheap razors cannot be honed properly, and if they could, they would never hold an edge! You get what you pay for. A proper straight razor goes through about 340 steps in its manufacture, all done individually by hand by master craftsmen in the slow, time tested, careful manner that alone can produce a blade worth shaving with, and is made from only the finest artisan quality steel and other materials. This costs money and that is unavoidable. You can't get quality without paying for it. A fine piece of razor steel alone costs more than several of those poor quality imitation razors, even before it is cut into a razor shape. There are at least 30 hours of hand work in each good quality straight razor, and it passes through long and rigorous individual inspection for quality. Do you really want to shave your face with a cheap razor shaped object probably made out of an old Yugo leaf spring or scrap angle iron? Well, fine. But don't be sending newbies who don't know any better down that road. They should be encouraged to buy only quality razors and related paraphernalia, sold and honed by professionals who care enough to deliver the best. There is no room for discussion on the matter! It only sets up newbies for frustration and heartbreak, and quickly turns them away from straight shaving, while paying for a new tin roof for some enterprising Pakistani or Chinese huckster who doesn't even know how to shave with a straight razor, much less know how to make one, and who doesn't care about the product because there are plenty of idiots online who will buy it as long as it looks roughly like how a razor should look. Cheap razors? NO! Don't buy them, don't discuss them. They are good only for opening packages and scraping paint off of windows. This subject has been beat to death and there is only one logical conclusion for any reasonable, rational person and to continue it only exposes newbies to confusion. If you encourage anyone to waste their money on a sub-$140 razor, you are doing them a terrible disservice. If you yourself waste your own money on a bargain basement "new vintage old fashion classic shaving edge straight razor knife with beatuful wood grain handle" from some hut dwelling, dictator loving, American-hating, commie jihadi tribesperson laughing all the way to the bank with your hard-earned dollars, then you are a fool. He should be looking north over the south end of a plow-pulling water-buffalo, up to his butt in rice paddy mud, not trying to cheat his way up the upward mobility ladder by robbing honest folks (AKA "suckers") who believe him when he says his so-called razor will actually shave. And you want to pay him for his dishonesty? I say stick with the razors that the professionals recommend, and forget about those cheap imitations.









Just kidding. LOL! I do like my $3.43 Gold Dollars! Here's one:



So regarding the Frost/Pride razor, you got a link to one like you bought? What did it cost? How many shaves so far without rehoning or pasted stropping? BTW, don't worry about the clunky scales. They are the easy part to fix. You can make a new pair from scratch in a few hours. The steel is the question, followed by the grind.

 

[cb91710]

The majority of us will never own a razor at that end of the spectrum.

I disagree on that.
While the majority of us do own and use razors in the $100-$200 range, a very good number own at least one in the $300+ range.
My everyday shave is a $325 Wacker.

 

[Kentos]

I disagree on that.
While the majority of us do own and use razors in the $100-$200 range, a very good number own at least one in the $300+ range.
My everyday shave is a $325 Wacker.

Indeed this is a Straight Razor enthusiasts' forum, so I would expect more would be willing to save for a few months or years to get a custom or higher end razor "just because"

 

[totorlekiller]

BTW, don't worry about the clunky scales. They are the easy part to fix

That's what I thought. It looks easy when you see someone who knows what he is doing on Youtube.

I have yet to finish one though, which is too bad as I have many nice razors waiting for new coats.

 

[KI4TFT]

So regarding the Frost/Pride razor, you got a link to one like you bought? What did it cost? How many shaves so far without rehoning or pasted stropping? BTW, don't worry about the clunky scales. They are the easy part to fix. You can make a new pair from scratch in a few hours. The steel is the question, followed by the grind.

I don't shave with a straight daily. I'm still a bit of a newbie. I've shaved with it twice now. Since I don't use it daily, still preferring my DE most days, it will likely take a while for me to find the upper limit of the edge in number of shaves.

The website for Frost is here: http://www.frostcutlery.com/ I purchased the one with rosewood "handles" (their misprint, not mine). Unfortunately, they seem to be out of stock on most razors. Often, you can actually find better prices on "the bay" than via the website.

 

[wolfsvein]

http://www.frostcutlery.com/productdetail.aspx?itemnumber=RZ-006

Doesn't look bad.

 

[Shave_Rat]

I think the majority of these are being produced as "razor knives". All the ones I've seen have no hollow on the grind, so they are all a thin wedge (thin compared to the vintage wedges, at least). They seemed like quality enough steel to take an edge, can't comment on how well they'll hold it. I am pretty sure they weren't produced or sold with the intention of them actually being used for shaving. Doesn't mean they can't be, of course.

 

[KI4TFT]

This one certainly isn't "full hollow" but I wouldn't call it a wedge either.

Frost's own website is pretty slim on the information, and I don't know what the difference between their different brands (Pride, Voss, Ocoee....). It may be the same blades but with different scales. It is also possible that some of them have better blades than others. I ran across a post on another website claiming that at some point at least some of Frost's blades were made by Dovo, but I have no idea.

 

[drmatt357]

Slash is KILL'N me again!😂

 

[Gamma]

Somewhere on the net there's a video of someone bending the blade with pliers on one of these - don't remember the brand.
Can't find the video now - it's pretty cool though.

 

[Proinsias]

Is it the GB Buckinham vid you're thinking about?

 

[Gamma]

Bingo!

Nice, ty.

 

[alpster]

Slash is KILL'N me again!

Slash has definitely missed his calling. He should of been a comedy writer. Hey, maybe that's what he does for all I know. Anyway he makes me laugh.