New to Straight Razor shaving - Eskilstuna REX

[robbert]

Hello all!

I must say that I really enjoy this forum, comparing products, but also different methods and techniques being discussed are really helpful in keeping shaving fun!

I have shaved with DE's for almost two years now and two days ago I bought a Straight Razor! It's an Eskilstuna REX and it says 42 on the blade; it's a 4/8 Razor. Is a 5/8 better to start with or is a 4/8 similar for a newb like me?

I haven't got any pictures yet, since I don't own a digital camera, but maybe I'll make a still life with my 4x5 camera one day.

Does anyone of you have experience with these kind of razors? The guy I got it from said that they pretty much compared to Heljestrand razors.

I also got a strop by DOVO, pretty simple, but good enough to start out with:

I also pasted the leather side with the yellow paste.
40 Times on the Canvas and 60 times on the leather.

The blade shaves arm hair and is pretty sharp, but it's not quite shave ready yet, since it's pulling quite a bit while shaving. I've decided to order a Belgian Coticule stone and it'll arrive tomorrow I hope, so I can finally start to sharpen the razor and get a proper shave out of it. I've already found the Coticule.be site, which has tons of information!

In my first shave so far, I did a WTG pass, and it had quite some tugging, but fortunately I didn't nick myself . I then proceeded with my DE, because I didn't want to overdo it, since the straight wasn't quite sharp yet.

How many times did you guys do WTG passes only and then proceeded to XTG and ATG passes? I noticed that tauting the skin really is important! I've done it before with DE shaving, but only with my face muscles and not actually pulling my skin with my other hand!

I plan on not giving up and getting most of my shaves a week with the straight razor when it's sharp! Thanks again for all of your posts and advice here on the forum!

 

[robbert]

Oh and for further equipment I use a Shavemac Finest 22mm Brush and I have several creams and soaps including: Mitchell's Wool fat Soap, Taylor's Avocado Cream, D.R. Harris Arlington Soap, Coate's Limited Edition Tee Tree Cream and I picked up a tube of Proraso Green. For after the shave I only use the Nivea After Shave Balm Sensitive (white glass bottle).

 

[Antique Hoosier]

There are quite a few guys here that like the 4/8. I would imagine it is a nice blade with very good Swedish Steel so you sound like you are determined and off to a fun start. It is true that 5/8 and 6/8 blades are more the "norm" for starting out but I doubt that will be a problem. You chose good steel and you have a great attitude. Don't give up!

 

[SamG]

My first blade was a 4/8 Eskilstuna blade and it gave me pretty good shaves from the start, then great shaves after I learned to hone it properly. I'll never sell it and it's still one of my best shavers.

I'm pretty sure that the Rex razor you have is a Heljestrand that was rebranded for sale in France. They made Le King, Le Prince, and Le Duc as different styles from the same company. Great razors, all of them.

As for the size, many people on B&B prefer 6/8-8/8 razors, but there are quite a few of us that need a different size razor to better fit the curves of our faces. After trying out large and small razors, all of my blades now are between 4/8 and 5/8, with 9/16 being my favorite size.

Most of the time, my goal is not a BBS shave, but rather a WTG one-pass DFS (with touchups). Took me about 14 shaves to get there consistently, and if I have extra time and want to go for BBS, it's easy to do.

Good luck with the coticule and more straight shaves!

 

[honed]

Those NOS REX razor poured out of Eskilstuna a few years ago.
No affiliation with Heljestrand for sure, maybe Klas Tornblom, but we'll leave that open.

Like every other Eskilstuna (or Solingen, Sheffield, France) vintage razors they are good to great shavers.

A 4/8 is perfectly fine to start with. A little more attention is needed when stropping. but that is only good, you learn faster then

No it's not similar to a Heljestrand. The only maker that acts & feels like a Helje is E-A Berg. That said, it's a very good razor. Good luck!

 

[SamG]

Jens (honed) is pretty much the authority on Swedish blades around here, so I'd go by what he says. It sure doesn't help when they advertise 'em like this, though.


http://www.royalshave.com/p/405-080-00/

 

[Luc]

A 4/8 will be fine yes, as long as it's shave ready. Good luck!

 

[honed]

Jens (honed) is pretty much the authority on Swedish blades around here, so I'd go by what he says. It sure doesn't help when they advertise 'em like this, though.


http://www.royalshave.com/p/405-080-00/

I could be wrong of course, but I really think they have gotten it wrong.
Heljestrands NOS razors are floating around, but those are not anything like these.
And they don't look like Heljestrand & don't feel like Heljestrand on the face.
Unfortunately I gave my REX away some time ago to a colleague interested in picking up straight shaving a while back.
So I don't have it around anymore.

I know a bunch of REX's was offered as newbie razors for like 50 or 60 USD sometime when these originally showed up on SRP
They sold for around 250 SEK in Sweden by then (~38USD)
So I must say that $130 is a hefty price...

 

[robbert]

Thanks you guys for the in depth information!

 

[robbert]

Quick update;

it's actually a 5/8 razor! and I've also found a picture on the website from where I bought it:

He also listed it as a CV Heljestrand 5/8, but it clearly states Eskilstuna on the blade itself.
Doesn't matter to me though, because I'm really happy with it, and can't wait to give it a good hone with my coticule.

 

[Antique Hoosier]

5/8 then...good for you. Trust me,.... it probably will be the first of many that creep into your home.

 

[honed]

Quick update;

it's actually a 5/8 razor! and I've also found a picture on the website from where I bought it:

He also listed it as a CV Heljestrand 5/8, but it clearly states Eskilstuna on the blade itself.
Doesn't matter to me though, because I'm really happy with it, and can't wait to give it a good hone with my coticule.

Listing that one as a Heljestrand is nothing but fraud

But, that aside, I hope you get many good shaves from it!

 

[komodo]

Hai, bijna naamgenoot!

Where did you get this razor? Do you plan on honing it yourself or do you plan on sending it off some place?

I am very new to straight razor shaving myself, only a few shaves out. Had a pretty good experience today, though.

Happy shaving from Almere


Robert

 

[robbert]

Hey!

I got it from the dutch shaving shop in Breukelen!
He also has a website that you can google by typing in Dutch Shaving Shop.
Really nice guy to deal with and has alot of soaps and creams, blades, strops really a store that makes shave-nuts people go crazy!

I received a coticule, but I can't use it untill monday, since my razor is at my place where I live when I go to school from monday to friday
So yes, I am going to hone it by myself. I can shave arm hair with it, but it doesn't pass the hanging hair test, so it needs to be given a proper honing.

Good luck with your shaving!

 

[komodo]

Ok, cool. I bought my stuff so far from 'scheerwinkel.nl'. Really like what they offer there, but the actual shop is in Leiden. Breukelen is nearer to where I work, so I'll be sure to check it out.

Actually, I think I'd better get another straight, so I can have a bit of a rotation. Also, I think I need to learn how to hone.... Well, for me priority is to learn how to shave well with one for now.

 

[robbert]

I ordered my coticule hone from scheerwinkel actually

I can start honing tonight, printed out the coticule.be tutorials

 

[DESkydiver]

Listing that one as a Heljestrand is nothing but fraud

But, that aside, I hope you get many good shaves from it!

I just received one of these REX razors sold online as a NEW C V Heljestrand vintage razor.


I have started the process to return the item and get my money back.

 

[honed]

I just received one of these REX razors sold online as a NEW C V Heljestrand vintage razor.


I have started the process to return the item and get my money back.

Let me know if you need any "back-up"

 

[DESkydiver]

Let me know if you need any "back-up"

Thanks for the offer. So far they have been actually quite responsive, they sent me the pre-paid return postage label and I sent back the razor. Will have to wait and see how long it takes to get the refund.

The seller still advises assurances through e-mails that it is a genuine C.V Heljestrand...

"I assure you that the razor is indeed a genuine CV Heljestrand and not a rebranded off name razor, we do not sell off name razors at all."
"The “Rex” is made by CV Heljestrand it is one of their many razors."

Like I say, so far their return process has been reasonable since the razor was never used or honed... I simply was not going to accept a razor without CV Heljestrand imprinted in the tang as being a CV Heljestrand I am looking for.