Found this at a local antiques shop. Looked pretty clean, so I brought it home. She's a 9/16 J.R. Torrey. After about an hour with some Mother's, it looks like this: Turned out pretty good, but there are a few small discolorations still on the blade. Think I'll start at 1000 grit and go through 1500 and 2000, and then re-polish. That should give me a very clean blade, I think.
Very nice! I think many of the vintage razors shave very well. I'm curious to know how the first shave goes!
Nice Torrey! For some reason, the Torreys can be had at very reasonable prices on ebay. A well-made American straight. With blades like those pictured in the initial 2 posts, with hand-sanding I'd start at a lower grit (230-320) to remove any deep scratches, shallow pitting or staining. Then I work my way up steadily once scratches are diminished with each grit (400>600>800>1k>1200>1500>2k); then buff & polish. Much work, but the results can be surprising…
Yeah, I tried starting at 800. Sill looks good, but still have a couple of stains on the end of the razor. I'm gonna go back and start with 400 and see what that does. I'd rather start with the highest grit I can get away with and still get the results I'm looking for. I'll know pretty quick if it's low enough or not.
I would have to dig deep for the proof again.. But let's see if I can word this correctly JR Torrey was the most prolific razor company in the world, making more Straight razors then any other single brand.. I think I wrote that right.. I have been very pleased with the edges that Torrey razors bring to the table myself
Nice razor. I've only read good things about Torrey razors. I have a similar one with the US arrow logo that I need to have honed once I muster up the courage to try straight shaving.
@SRNewb your'e the man. You call it like it is and I respect that. However I would not want to use it on my head, at least not for a while.
Can't blame you there. If I shaved my head, I'd give it a shot now, but definitely not in the beginning.
