Razor advice

[GreenMountainBarber]

Edit* sorry, it seems I accidentally posted this in the wrong forum, thought I had put it in the straight razor forum. My apologies, feel free to move or delete it if necessary.
Hello,
I’m a barber who is looking at getting a razor for personal use (head shave). My dad always used straight razors and that’s what I learned on and used until I grew a beard (haven’t shaved my beard in 10+ years and have no desire too). I always used my dads spare razor in the past, it was a greaves, he sold it when he got older and switched to modern razors.
Was wondering if this would be a good razor to start with? I’m definitely drawn to it because of the barber logo and I like older tools. Is this priced fair ya think or should I look elsewhere?
Any feedback would be great and helpful.

 

[rbscebu]

Valuations are not allowed on B&B.

Looks like a nice SR. If you like it and it is within your budget, go for it. If you find that it is not the best for you, there are hundreds thousands more to choose from and buy. That's the B&B way

 

[Darth Scandalous]

If that's a listing from Griffith shave goods, it will be an excellent razor, cleaned up well and honed to a nice edge. I've bought from him and I know others have too. I won't speak directly to the price of that razor but overall I think his pricing is pretty fair, considering the level of care he putd into his restores.

 

[GreenMountainBarber]

Valuations are not allowed on B&B.

Looks like a nice SR. If you like it and it is within your budget, go for it. If you find that it is not the best for you, there are hundreds thousands more to choose from and buy. That's the B&B way

Thank you for the heads up about valuations, my apologies, anyone else reading this please disregard that question.

 

[rbscebu]

It looks like a fine blade and GSG have a reputation for selling well restored SR's at fair prices.

I'm not a fan of the scales on that SR but that is a personal thing.

 

[GreenMountainBarber]

Whelp, I bought it. I like using tools from the past and as a barber I really appreciate the scales, kinda makes me feel like it was custom made for me. Now I gotta start looking for a strop. I have a brush and bowl already because I’ve been shaving my head for a while with feather razor that uses disposable blades. Thanks again to all that responded and I’ll be sure to follow up with how it performs. Also, thanks to the moderator that moved my post, I truly appreciate it!!! Next time I’ll be more diligent when posting to ensure it’s in the right sub forum.

 

[rbscebu]

Heirloom Razor Strop Co by @Tony Miller is the place to get your strop. Even if you are outside of the USA, they are worth the shipping cost for the quality.

My preference is for 2½" wide strops. They are less inclined to "cup" than the 3" wide and you don't have to be so particularly with X strokes like you have to do with 2" wide strops. Of course, it is your choice.

While you are waiting, give serious consideration to using diamond pasted balsa strops for final refining and ongoing maintenance of the blade's edge. If your SR is truly shave-ready, and it should be, using diamond pasted balsa strops will mean that your SR should never need touch a whetstone again. You will also be shaving with a fresh edge every shave

 

[GreenMountainBarber]

Heirloom Razor Strop Co by @Tony Miller is the place to get your strop. Even if you are outside of the USA, they are worth the shipping cost for the quality.

My preference is for 2½" wide strops. They are less inclined to "cup" than the 3" wide and you don't have to be so particularly with X strokes like you have to do with 2" wide strops. Of course, it is your choice.

Mr Rbscebu,
I appreciate your response and have promptly messaged Mr Miller on his website to begin the process of procuring one of his strops.
You seem to be well educated about straight razors, so if I may, I would like to ask a follow up question. I have my grandfathers straight razor which dearly needs restoration, is there a person you would recommend for the job?
Thanks again for all your help sir, it is very appreciated!!!

 

[rbscebu]

Mr Rbscebu,
I appreciate your response and have promptly messaged Mr Miller on his website to begin the process of procuring one of his strops.
You seem to be well educated about straight razors, so if I may, I would like to ask a follow up question. I have my grandfathers straight razor which dearly needs restoration, is there a person you would recommend for the job?
Thanks again for all your help sir, it is very appreciated!!!

Knowing your location would help. I know of good restorers in the USA and Australia. For other locations, perhaps others could better reply.

 

[Frank Shaves]

First, welcome to Badger & Blade!

Nice razor - excellent choice. George Wostenholm made great razors.

The Tony Miller strops are terrific. Not sure how much experience you have stropping, but new stroppers tend to cut their first strop a few times. If you are new to stropping, I would recommend you get one of Tony's value strops. I have one 3" veg tanned and one 3" roughout. The roughout has more feedback. The amount of feedback is personal preference. You also get less feedback from thicker ground razors like near wedges. Tony should help guide you.

Regarding restorations, Alfredo (@Doc226) does wonderful work. You will see a lot of his work on B&B, and you can check out Doc226 - http://doc226.com/Doc226/Home.html.

 

[GreenMountainBarber]

Knowing your location would help. I know of good restorers in the USA and Australia. For other locations, perhaps others could better reply.

Yes! Sorry for omitting that, I live in Vermont.

 

[GreenMountainBarber]

First, welcome to Badger & Blade!

Nice razor - excellent choice. George Wostenholm made great razors.

The Tony Miller strops are terrific. Not sure how much experience you have stropping, but new stroppers tend to cut their first strop a few times. If you are new to stropping, I would recommend you get one of Tony's value strops. I have one 3" veg tanned and one 3" roughout. The roughout has more feedback. The amount of feedback is personal preference. You also get less feedback from thicker ground razors like near wedges. Tony should help guide you.

Regarding restorations, Alfredo (@Doc226) does wonderful work. You will see a lot of his work on B&B, and you can check out Doc226 - http://doc226.com/Doc226/Home.html.

Frank, thank you for your thought out response!!! I’m very excited to hear back from Mr Miller, his strops look high quality! Would you mind explaining what you mean by “feedback” in regards to strops?

 

[rbscebu]

Yes! Sorry for omitting that, I live in Vermont.

I'm asuming Vermont USA and not Vermont in Australia or South Africa. For SR restoration, contact @Doc226. If he is to busy, I am sure that he can recommend another for you.

 

[Frank Shaves]

Frank, thank you for your thought out response!!! I’m very excited to hear back from Mr Miller, his strops look high quality! Would you mind explaining what you mean by “feedback” in regards to strops?

It looks like I used the wrong term for strops. For stones, we use the term feedback. For strops, we tend to use the term draw. The draw of a strop is the amount of resistance you feel plus the amount of sound the stropping makes. It is a very personal thing.

Will be interesting to see how others describe draw.

 

[Slash McCoy]

A Wostie is a good razor. They made a wide variety and I am pretty sure that the "For Barbers' Use" ones will be half or 3/4 hollow. That's fine and the width is fine. The restoration should be pretty good from Griffith. I do have a bit of sticker shock on that one but I won't offer any further comment on the priceworthiness. It will be a good razor, though. Anyway you seem to already have bonded with it a bit and there is no doubt in my mind but that you will love it and won't regret the purchase.

I second Tony for a strop. Good workmanship, good materials, fairly wide selection and price range, which are reasonable, IMHO. Plus he is a member here and we tend to look to ourselves for such things first, before trusting outsiders. He has also been of great help to a lot of newbies here.

Ditto on the pasted balsa. The trick is to get the full benefit you need to be able to do it exactly the way that the thread says. You also have to read it from end to end, because The Method has evolved over the last few years since its inception as a discrete thing.

 

[GreenMountainBarber]

Wow!! I’m overwhelmed with the helpful advice from this community!!! Thank you so much for your help! I’m definitely looking into the balsa wood strops as recommended and have talked with Tony about strops, I expect to order one tomorrow. Thank you all again!!!!

 

[Frank Shaves]

For the digested version of The Method, see How To Use a Pasted Balsa Strop - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/how-to-use-a-pasted-balsa-strop.473580/page-57#post-10897369.

You will want to ask Griffith Shaving Goods how they honed your razor. It is common practice to use one layer of 3M Scotch Super 88 tape on the spine of old Sheffield near wedges. I am sure that @Slash McCoy and @rbscebu can say more about the use of tape on a near wedge when using The Method.

When you get into honing, you may want to buy an old beater on eBay to practice on. You should be able to find one for $25 to $50.

 

[GreenMountainBarber]

For the digested version of The Method, see How To Use a Pasted Balsa Strop - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/how-to-use-a-pasted-balsa-strop.473580/page-57#post-10897369.

You will want to ask Griffith Shaving Goods how they honed your razor. It is common practice to use one layer of 3M Scotch Super 88 tape on the spine of old Sheffield near wedges. I am sure that @Slash McCoy and @rbscebu can say more about the use of tape on a near wedge when using The Method.

When you get into honing, you may want to buy an old beater on eBay to practice on. You should be able to find one for $25 to $50.

Hi Frank!
Thanks for the suggested question, I will promptly send them an email enquiring. Also, what do you mean by “near wedges”

 

[GreenMountainBarber]

As a follow up, I sent an email enquiring about their honing process and will share the reply so others will know for future reference.
Cheers!

 

[rbscebu]

For the digested version of The Method, see How To Use a Pasted Balsa Strop - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/how-to-use-a-pasted-balsa-strop.473580/page-57#post-10897369.

You will want to ask Griffith Shaving Goods how they honed your razor. It is common practice to use one layer of 3M Scotch Super 88 tape on the spine of old Sheffield near wedges. I am sure that @Slash McCoy and @rbscebu can say more about the use of tape on a near wedge when using The Method.

When you get into honing, you may want to buy an old beater on eBay to practice on. You should be able to find one for $25 to $50.

I'll let @Slash McCoy address that matter. He is much more experienced than I am at dealing with taped honing.

Personally, I would ask Griffith if they would hone it without tape.