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I've been using the same Gillette Sensor razor since 1990. It never gave me a particularly good shave. The newfangled five-blade systems don't interest me at all. When a blade gets dull, I pop the cartridge off and throw it in the trash. What a waste.
Surely there has to be a better way to shave. Something more affordable and more environmentally responsible than these disposable plastic & steel monstrosities that go right to the landfill after only a few uses.
Please see my Shaving Gallery for more images.
T'was the night before Christmas Eve and all through the house not one of my family knew that I was bidding on eBay for a straight razor. Yes, the old-fashioned "cut-throat" style razors that you see in old westerns and such. I ended up getting a restored Heljestrand straight razor with a 5/8 spike point blade from Bob Keyes, who has quite an online reputation for excellent quality and customer service. [IMAGES]
To make things more fun for me, I also purchased a set of three vintage razors that were in need of restoration [IMAGES].
| Site | Notes |
|---|---|
| RazorCentral | Exhaustive reference on how to shave with a straight razor, maintain your blade, and much much more |
| Community | Notes |
|---|---|
| Straight Razor Place | This community has a really good vibe to it, kind of like hanging out in a neighborhood barber shop back in the day. The staff is great and they stay low-key. The members are very eager to help out a new comer with some apropos advice. |
| Badger & Blade | The members of the community seem nice enough but the staff can be rather draconian. They have a secret list of banned vendors. Some of the really best known people in the community have been banned from this forum. I'm not being on forums with heavy-handed moderation, but I list this one here for the sake of completeness. |
| ShaveMyFace.com | If you want to get really technical about wet shaving and be a complete shavegeek, this is your place. |
There are a lot of scheisters out there on eBay. Watch your back! Be mindful of poor/blurry photographs (they may be that way intentionally) or sellers who don't take the time to property and accurately describe what they are selling. Also check out this page for some sellers and brand names to avoid on eBay. Here are some of the more reputable sellers:
| Seller | Notes |
|---|---|
| altima55 | Bob Keyes came highly recommended on some of the wet shaving forums. He is well-known for his superlative restorations. The only criticism I've heard about his work is that he routinely pops the pins on his restorations. I suppose that may be important to some. But I reckon the kind of people who are bothered by that are the same kind of people who believe a beautiful classic car needs to be trailered from place to place. |
| heirphoto | Sometimes has some nice strops available. |
| razorman2 | Phillip Krumholz also sells a wide variety of wet shaving razors. Quality levels will vary considerably. |
You can also find quite a lot online outside of eBay. Or even a brick & mortar store in your neighborhood. Here are some reputable vendors to check out:
| Vendor | Notes |
|---|---|
| ClassicShaving.com | Variety of wet shaving products. Some great starter kits here! |
| Crabtree & Evelyn | This store might actually be in an upscale shopping mall near you. They have a nice selection of wet shaving products. |
| Em's Place | A wide variety of wet shaving supplies and other mens' hygeine products. |
| Mama Bear's Homemade Soaps | Mama Bear is an active part of the wet shaving community and has a plethora of unique scents available as shaving soaps and colognes (and more). If you want something that you're not likely to find anywhere else, check her site out. |
| The Perfect Edge | Great place to pick up sharpening stones at a good price. |
| redtrader99 | Nice inventory of NOS barber hones from the early 20th century. He's also got a nice collection of vintage straight razors innice condition. |
| Robert Williams | Well-known maker of custom made high-end straight razors for those with discriminating tastes. |
| Sara Bonnyman Pottery | Sara makes all kinds of pottery, but in the wet shaving world she is best known for her "Moss Scuttle". If you prefer shaving with creams as opposed to soaps, this is the key to having a hot lather throughout the entire shaving experience. The moss scuttle is not much more than an old fashioned shaving scuttle without drain holes in the bowl part, so your lather doesn't drain out. |
| Shavemac | Manufacturer of some of the best shaving brushes out there. |
| ShavingShop.com | A pretty broad selection of straight razor shaving supplies. He always has some nice low cost entry-level razors available, too. |
| Straight Razor Supplies | Owned and operated by Lynn Abrams, founder of the Straight Razor Place community. Lynn has a well known DVD out about straight razors, and is also well known for his blade honing skills. |
| Vintage Blades, LLC | Don't want to take your chances on eBay? Can't say I blame you. These guys have a nice assortment of vintage blades for your perusal in their online storefront. |
| The Well-Shaved Gentleman | Source for (among other things) some of the finest heirloom strops you'll find out there. They also have some great vegan-friendly strops. |
If you want to try your hand at restoring some old eBay junker, you might find some of these links valuable.
| Site | Notes |
|---|---|
| Culpepper & Co., Inc. | Source for some really gorgeous exotic materials to fabricate scales with. Including mother of pearl, mosaic abalone, mammoth ivory, stag horn,bone, coral, stone, and more. |
| Lee Valley & Veritas | Exotic wood blanks, intended for making pens, can be used for fabricating some handsome new scales quite inexpensively if you have the tooling and knowhow. |
| Micro Fasteners | Good cheap place to get washers for your straight razor restorations. FWB0 (outside of the scales) and FWBW0 (inside of the scales) should work for most restorations. |
| Small Parts, Inc. | Another source for washers. This link is for stainless steel. Size 0 for outside of the scales, size 0W for inside of the scales. |
| Wood Stabilizing Specialists, Int'l | Excellent source for stabilized exotic woods for fabricating scales. |
| Woodcraft | Good source for wood blanks, already milled down to 1/8" thickness. |
| [Maintained by Magnus Hedemark] [Last updated April 21 2008 07:28:54.] | |
| Copyright 2009 |