I just bought a lot of old straight razors that i intend to restore. I'd like to know if any of these are good/valuable, that way i wont try to restore that one first, before learning the ways of straight razor restoration... Ebay description read: 1 - Used George Wostenholm Straight Razor made in Sheffield England 9 1/2 " long end to end, 5/8" Blade Width 1 - Used Griffin Made in Germany Approximately 9 1/4" long end to end, 1/2" Blade Width 1 - Used Simmons Hardware Co Straight Razor made in Germany 9 1/2" long end to end, 1/2" Blade Width 1 - Used Alfred Field and Co Inc Straight Razor Progress made in Germany 9 1/2" long, 3/4" Blade Width 1 - Used Straight Razor (Manufacturer unknown due to blade being rusted and can't read engraving) 9 1/2" long, 1/2" blade width Thanks
Generally speaking, the wider the blade, the more desirable they are to collectors. Your third and fourth on the list are contract razors made for those establishments by German manufacturers perhaps in Solingen, perhaps not. I would give it a go with any of the last three on the list. Do your research first and ask any questions here, as there are many knowledgeable and competent restorers on here.
My 2 cents... The Wostie has the most collector value, but it likely isn't a lot being that it has a plain black set of scales, and isn't one of the earlier designs from 1880's and earlier. They are still good razors and somewhat collectable compared to the nondescript nature of the other razors, but newer and/or plainer Wosties aren't extremely valuable. Therefore, I wouldn't get extremely uptight about any of them. All of that aside, the wider blade is almost on par with the Wostie simply for the fact that it is a wider blade and looks to be in pretty decent condition. Buyers pay more for the big choppers regardless of brand. Of course they pay even more for big choppers from famous brands, but a 3/4" razor (expressed in straight razor circles as 6/8) from a nobody brand will fetch much more than a 5/8 or smaller also from a nobody brand. I've seen many 6/8 razors from obscure unknown makers fetch more than 5/8 razors from moderately collectable makers. (say $50 versus $30) Of course, condition is also a primary factor. Your Wostie in the above picture looks to be in the cleanest condition, and is a known and respected brand, therefore, as PLANofMAN stated, it's your most valuable. The 6/8 Alfred Field and Co is a very desirable size and looks to have little or no hone wear, but a little staining. It can probably clean up into a good razor that might surprise you, both by being the best shaver in the group and by becoming the most valuable after restoration. Not a guarantee, but a possibility. I would send that one out for restoration if I were you. The remaining three razors are essentially worthless. People on ebay may make a fuss over them from not knowing any better, but 4/8 razors are too skinny to be very desirable. They rarely shave well and don't have the look that 90% of razor buyers want. There are some people who use and like skinny razors and are able to get a good experience from them, but they make up a small portion of the general straight shaving community. I think using them for honing practice is fine, but it will also be limited benefit because honing a skinny blade is not the same as honing a wide blade. A narrow blade has a different angle of attack when laid down on the hone, and will have more stability issues. They don't tend to like laying down flat compared to a wide blade. Also, the bevel tends to want to be to shallow to hone into a good edge. A skillful honemeister can work that out, but a beginner is going to get very frustrated trying for way too long to get the darn thing to pop hairs. Long explanation to get to this, but what I would say is, if you want to practice the movements involved in honing, but aren't going to worry about actually getting a good edge, go ahead and practice with the skinny razors. If you want to truly refine your honing into actually being able to get a decent edge, you would be better to get some nondescript 5/8 razors with significant but not excessive hone wear and salvageable edges, and learn on them. Use an extra layer or two of tape on the spine to compensate for hone wear and set your bevel with a 1K stone before moving into higher grits. Hope that helps.
Thanks all for the input. It sounds like it is pretty safe for me to "play" with most of these, which is kind of was the plan. I have a bunch of synthetic and natural whetstones; used to be a knife sharpening enthusiast. Although, prior to honing them, i'll probably end-up sand blasting and electroplating the blades first... I am tempted to try zinc-nickel and electroless nickel plate job on couple of these.
I've never never heard of anyone doing that in a restoration before, so I have no idea how that might might turn out. Sent from my SM-G781U using Tapatalk
The razors got here today. Here is a very quick plate job. 9453s is original 9457s is after sand blasting 9458 is after zinc-nickel plating and quick sharpening. I think i gave it too much current though, the plating should be a little brighter. It can slice through free hanging toilet paper and cuts hair on the arm. havent tried proper face shave, with lather etc, but it pulls facial hair just dragging it across...
I hones this one after sand blasting and plating. I think i need to hone it better though and definitely more practice needed. At this point i prefer DE like fatboy to how this straight feels...
It takes a lot of practice and good stones to hone well. It also occurs to me that the plating process may run counter to your efforts to hone the edge. The plating material may not have the right properties for a truly keen edge, and after a bit of honing, you will actually grind right through the plating, which in turn will want to make your plating flake off. I've seen it on antique cheap razors that were plated. Sent from my SM-G781U using Tapatalk
Plating protects sides and spine from corrosion. It will be ground off on the edge during sharpening/honing. Its actually pretty thin, like 5-20 micron. My stones go up to 1 micron and honing compounds to 12.5nano-meters. Which is 0.0125 micron. I need more practice sharpening razors. Last 10 years i mostly did knives... Can get them crazy sharp, but still different technique than razors.
I know plating is fun, I did it on many DE razors I had. But, for a Straight Edge, it isnt necessary, unless it is for esthetic. Many just use Renaissance Wax, on the blades, many use nothing at all, and just wipe dry. Me, I live in a very humid area, and just put a little mineral oil on the blade, after each use. I have never had one rust, even after many years of usage.
@pcm81 , what stones are you using to hone your razors. Pics and descriptions would be nice. We like pics around here. .
King or chosera 1K stone for rough work. 2K chosera if don't need to go to 1K or light work on 2K after 1K Steelex Japanese Chisel Sharpening Blade Stone 6000 grit D1070 (best $60 6k stone you can ask for. Seriously one of my favorite stones, i'll take it over 10K super stone if i can only have one of the two) 10K naniwa super stone 0.5 micron AlOx on a strop 12.5nm CBN on a strop. DONE I have many other stones including Arkasas Stones, Iyoto, Aoto, Suita, Tomae, Belgian coticule. But the synthetic line-up listed above is my go-to method.
