What Straight Razor Did You Use Today?

Lovely razor, Hans, in that wonderfully crafted stand! I sold the last of my shop tools about 9 years ago. Parkinson’s and woodworking don’t play well together!

 

SOTD FRIDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 19, 2021

Wilbert Cutlery was a house brand used by Sears Roebuck & Co. for their upscale knives and razors from 1908 - 1921. Sears developed a reputation for well-built quality tools that started with the Wilbert Cutlery brand and later transferred to the broader “Craftsmen” brand of tools which first appeared in their catalogue in 1927. The brand was finally acquired by Stanley Black & Decker from Sears Holdings in 2017 for that very reputation.

The razor I shaved with this morning is the Wilbert Cutlery ‘Regal’ model. Friends who owned this particular model extolled its edge-holding and great shaving effectiveness. My friend Sean (@Purvis) introduced me to the model about a year or so ago with one of his beautifully photographed SOTD images featuring it. Sears offered personalized name engraving on the blank side of the ‘Regal’ blade. Since I was already well down the RAD rabbit hole at that time, I began my search for one in decent condition.

Sears sold a lot of ‘Regal’ model razors as I discovered, many of which were in very well-used condition. After over a year’s search, I finally found an unengraved model for $19.99 with free shipping on the big auction site from a reputable seller that looked to be in decent shape. I won it as the sole bidder, and it arrived yesterday. The scales were dirty, but cleaned up with whitening toothpaste. The blade was tarnished, but no rust was evident. A little Autosol metal polish cleaned that up nicely.

The razor appeared to possess a serviceable bevel under the USB microscope along with some minimal spine wear. The Naniwa 12k with a finish by the 9 Ball Slate soon had the blade popping styrofoam all along it length. I always do a first mug shave with my regular MWF shave soap. I grabbed my MrEE LE #005 Aluminum handled SynBad knot and built the thinner, slick lather I enjoy for my mug shaves.

And what a shave it was! This beautiful little full hollow belted out the “Buttering Toast” through all two and a half passes leaving me dolphin smooth as a Scot shave buddy on this thread likes to say. There’s no doubt in my mind that this little razor was well-cared for over its century or so of use. Originally a 5/8, it comes in now at about 9/16. This little razor’s a keeper that delivered a spot on inaugural mug shave!

RAZOR: Wilbert Cutlery Regal 9/16 (Mug), Fine ‘Marvel’ Safety Razor (Dome)
BLADE: Kai DE (4)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: MrEE LE #005 Aluminum Handle SynBad Knot
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Thayers WH. Finished with Aqua Velva 5 in 1 AS Balm

 

Great acquisition Jeff! Beautiful blade and scales.

 

Frameback Friday for Steve.
Unsure of the maker
Brush: Razorock
Suds: Wholly Kaw Sandhurst
Splash: Zingari Man Unscented
EDT: John Varvatos to accent the leather and fruit… great smells.

Enjoy your shave.
Tom

 

TY Jeff, and that’s a pretty vintage Wilbert you have there, snd a nice JFrame Tom!

St Joanis 45, a small, light rattler ground extremely thinly, and with very hard steel, like a Tornblöm or Berg -Hans would appreciate this steel. It has some pitting, and I worked on that but the steel is just super thin. So I sent it to Alfredo, @Doc226 - with some ivory scales from a pair of. trashed blades hoping one would fit, and one set did. This is not really cosmetically the kind of blade that I’d normally put vintage ivory on, but they were too small to fit most other razors that I have and I actually bought the trashed pair of ‘donors’ for the dressing case that they were in. So it all worked out. It’s super light, well balanced, and handles like an 11/16, just a pleasure to use.

Soap was SMN lathered with a M&F Finest, and a splash of Agua Balsamica finished off Frameback Friday.

 

Thanks, Tom!

 

Immaculate frameback, Tom!

 

Lovely job repurposing those scales, Steve! Wow, that blade is incredibly thinly ground!

 

Thank you Jeff, it did come out better than I expected.

 

All clean and smooth thanks to the big W&B

Hot water preparation
Argan Oil PSO
Savile Row 3824 Silvertip Badger
Ethos Lisse Collection Lavender Shave Soap
W&B The Celebrated Hollow Ground Razor FBU 9/8
Ethos Lisse Collection Lavender Skin Food Splash



Happy Shaving - Karl

 

Great shave, Karl, with the classic W&B FBU many lust after!

 

Thank you Jeff. I was surprised by how “untouched” this blade was when I got it.

 

I’m always pleasantly surprised at how this razor shaves - it wouldn’t seem like such a large blade would be so easy and enjoyable to work with but it is This was also one of those rare “steals” that we all stumble across - so it’s nothing but good juju

 

Great shave Jeff with a nice straight razor! This is the first time that I ever heard of a Wilbert Regal straight razor.

 

Nov 19 SOTE

6/8 C-Mon Razor

 

Thanks Jeff! Sorry to hear that you have Parkinson. I am impressed though that you can handle a straight razor!


Skickat från min iPhone med Tapatalk

 

Thanks, Hans, I was using my wife’s ankle weights on my forearms, but after my recent mild stroke rehabilitation for whatever reason (perhaps the physical therapy), I’ve been managing to shave weight-free.

 

Thanks, Joe, they are great little razors, and generally available for a very reasonable price. I lucked out with mine which looked more decrepit than it actually was. It cleaned up beautifully. There are a variety of models. The Regal was their top of the line razor, but the Elk model is quite nice as well. Can’t go wrong with a Sears product!

 

SOTD SATURDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 20, 2021

RAZOR: Wade & Butcher 7/8 (Mug), Cooper Monobilt (Dome)
BLADE: Feather DE (Dome)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: MrEE Monster Tuxedo Synth
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Thayers WH. Finished with Alt-Innsbruck AS Splash.

 

Super Saturday shaves as always Jeff! Enjoy your day!