Razor Brands To Avoid

I've got a question about this bit: 'Anything brand new marked as 'buy one get one free' that is under £30.'

I've got a razor that was my great grandad's, he was a barber and I've had it restored and it's a great shaver. The scales are plastic but it did look as thought it had some age to it. There is a picture here from before it was restored. Is there anything to look out to indicate that an unmarked razor might be okay if you don't know where it's from?

razorvr.jpg
 
The Mackem Shaver said:
I've got a question about this bit: 'Anything brand new marked as 'buy one get one free' that is under £30.'

I've got a razor that was my great grandad's, he was a barber and I've had it restored and it's a great shaver. The scales are plastic but it did look as thought it had some age to it. There is a picture here from before it was restored. Is there anything to look out to indicate that an unmarked razor might be okay if you don't know where it's from?

razorvr.jpg

I think you have answered your own question - I said 'anything new' - and your grandfathers razor patently is not new.

There may be many reasons why an old razor is unmarked. If dating from WW2 or shortly after, it usually means that the razor was of german origin Understandably, they were not too popular for a while at that time, and the merchant/importer needed to make his money back.

Then there is the case of so-called 'wash stamps' - marks that were put on a razor that looked the part but were really just printed on with some sort of pigment and gum. The marks could be washed off with a solvent. The object here was to get around import taxes and the like.

Obviously, a tempered bit of steel is a fragile and brittle thing - you cannot stamp a mark into it without the risk of it shattering or cracking. You could possibly risk re-stamping with much older razors, where it is not unusual to find that both the spine and the tang are of a much softer temper than the blade. However, I have seen 1940s and 50s razors where the original (german) tang mark has been ground off - often quite crudely done, and a generic mark like 'foreign made' substituted. Either the tangs were soft to begin with which is unlikely, or they were selectively heated to overcome the hard temper.

A similar thing is done today, as in the case of razors originating in China, etc, the parts including the heat treated tempered blade are sent to Solingen for assembly. The manufacturer then lightly laser etches 'Solingen' on tang.

Of course, your grandfathers razor predates this, so I have no doubt that it is a quality piece.

It just has no place in discussion of brand new razors, though.

Regards,
Neil
 
Hi thanks for the great post. I started straight shaving in January and have gotten reasonably competent. I definitely get a closer shave than with my old DE safety razor, so figure I must be getting the hang of it.

I was therefore quite surprised to see Artamis on your list, as that is the razor I got myself for a reasonable £18.95. Was useless out of the box, but a good pass on a strop made the world of difference and although I have never managed a completely successful HHT, the blade seems to perform pretty well. That said, I have absolutely no basis for comparison, as I've never used anything else! Would really like to know therefore that, if say I drop £80 on one of the Solingen blades from TOBS, will I have an even better shave than I am now?

Would really love any feedback, esp if anyone has used an Artamis blade and progressed to something more respected?

Thanks in advance :)
 
ANDYJR81 said:
Hi thanks for the great post. I started straight shaving in January and have gotten reasonably competent. I definitely get a closer shave than with my old DE safety razor, so figure I must be getting the hang of it.

I was therefore quite surprised to see Artamis on your list, as that is the razor I got myself for a reasonable £18.95. Was useless out of the box, but a good pass on a strop made the world of difference and although I have never managed a completely successful HHT, the blade seems to perform pretty well. That said, I have absolutely no basis for comparison, as I've never used anything else! Would really like to know therefore that, if say I drop £80 on one of the Solingen blades from TOBS, will I have an even better shave than I am now?

Would really love any feedback, esp if anyone has used an Artamis blade and progressed to something more respected?

Thanks in advance :)

I can't comment on the Artamis but regarding TOBS - they are not manufacturers therefore they will be buying them in and adding a retail margin which may be as high as a 100% mark-up on cost. Take into account 20% VAT and you soon get back to somehere around what you paid. I'm pretty sure Neil Miller will know who makes them and what the quality is.

If I were you, I'd ask around to see if anyone ahas a definite shave ready razor in whatever price bracket you have - that way you have a good benchmark.
 
Thanks UKRob - I use TOBS to order my creams, colognes etc as I simply can't find them locally. The pain is regarding the razors, there simply isn't any information on the online shop whatsoever, no brand names just pictures and prices. Not at all helpful!
 
ANDYJR81 said:
I was therefore quite surprised to see Artamis on your list, as that is the razor I got myself for a reasonable £18.95. Was useless out of the box, but a good pass on a strop made the world of difference and although I have never managed a completely successful HHT, the blade seems to perform pretty well. That said, I have absolutely no basis for comparison, as I've never used anything else! Would really like to know therefore that, if say I drop £80 on one of the Solingen blades from TOBS, will I have an even better shave than I am now?

Would really love any feedback, esp if anyone has used an Artamis blade and progressed to something more respected?

Thanks in advance :)

I have attempted to hone this brand, but the steel was so poor I gave up. It appeared to take a decent edge under 20x magnification, but when examined again after stropping (I always do this for any razor I hone) the edge was like a row of jagged teeth - bits had micro-chipped away from it.

A new-user on the SRP forum got one as a present - it came with a useless flimsy leather and synthetic fabric strop, a can of shaving foam(!) and a pack of balloons - instructions were to practice on the balloons, like old-time barbers were taught to do. He did 10 in a row without bursting one. Remarkable - that razor must have been really, really sharp (in case you wondered, I'm being sarcastic!).

Another new-user on the B&B forum said that the edge was poor, and gave up completely half way through a shave - a sure sign of bad steel - probably buckled and rolled the edge with the coarseness of his bristles.

If you get a decent shave from an £18 razor (I have seen them cheaper) then that's great, I applaud you. However, sharpening good steel with a strop would take a month of sundays if the edge was a little blunt to begin with. The edge has to be there in the first place for the strop to refresh it. That a strop had such a dramatic effect on your razor must indicate that it is very soft steel indeed.

I have heard - but don't know for sure - that the place of origin is China. One fellow on another forum was disgusted with his Artamis razor and took it back to the shop he bought it from. He asked the salesman where the razor had come from - 'China' was the reply. Hearsay, I know, but I tend to believe it.

Regards,
Neil


Further to the origin of these el-cheapo junk razors, a visit to the Alibaba homepage proves very instructive:

onedollarrazors-1.jpg


golddollar-1.jpg


Not bad - a razor for a dollar (yes - I am being sarcastic again)...

Regards,
Neil
 
Thanks Neil for taking the time to respond. Wow I guess I must have just got lucky with mine. I tend to find straight after a honing (I've only done it once) and touch up strop it performs awfully, but if its then left 24-48 hours and restropped its absolutely fine - I'd just assumed that was something to do with letting the blade rest before use.

No complaints with it, definitely gets all the hair (which is quite wiry) off my face; but as I mentioned I have nothing to compare it to as a relative noob so might well find myself very pleasantly surprised after an upgrade.

Do you have a recommended thread I could look at?

Thanks
 
ANDYJR81 said:
Do you have a recommended thread I could look at?

Thanks

Sorry, Andy - I'm not quite sure what you mean - a thread about what? You can find most anything yourself simply by googling and having some time to spare, if that helps.

Regards,
Neil
 
Timor Razors are a PITA too. I've had quite a few sent to me for honing and spent ages on them before giving up. About 1 in 5 (from my experience) actually takes a half-decent edge and keeps it for more than a few shaves.

Most new factory supplied high-end brands don't come 'shave-ready' either (at least what I'd refer to as such), but no problem at all to hone.

I recently bought a new razor from Revisor and although dubious that it was 'shave-ready', it wasn't too bad at all and after a few months, I've yet to hone it. I will though, soon.

Many a hundred year old (or more) razor from the Solingen of Sheffield makers, just needs to be shown a hone and the edge, jumps onto the razor :)
 
onotoman said:
Timor Razors are a PITA too. I've had quite a few sent to me for honing and spent ages on them before giving up. About 1 in 5 (from my experience) actually takes a half-decent edge and keeps it for more than a few shaves.

Most new factory supplied high-end brands don't come 'shave-ready' either (at least what I'd refer to as such), but no problem at all to hone.

I recently bought a new razor from Revisor and although dubious that it was 'shave-ready', it wasn't too bad at all and after a few months, I've yet to hone it. I will though, soon.

Many a hundred year old (or more) razor from the Solingen of Sheffield makers, just needs to be shown a hone and the edge, jumps onto the razor :)

I did have second thoughts about Timor, strangely enough!

The vintage ones were very good, no doubt about that.

However, G&F produced some new blued-tang ones quite a few years ago. The initial crop of them were OK - nothing special, but decent razors. Then something must have gone wrong - they started to have poor grinds, kinks in the spine, and the bevel was prone to take a wire edge very easily. That phase lasted for a few years. Then a new range was introduced. They were hard to hone, mainly because the steel was harder and the bevel G&F put on them was a bit arbitrary - they came with slightly blunt, often micro-chipped edges. However, after a full bevel re-set and proper honing they were very capable shavers.

Now it seems (as of January, anyway) that another problem lot have emerged. So, reluctantly, they are now on the list. Applies to new Giesen & Forsthoff Timors only though - not the vintage ones.

Regards,
Neil
 
I found that with a couple of the G&F Timors (with a blued tang which I assume is the same as Neil's reference to bled). It took a long time setting a bevel but after that they took a good edge.
 
Neil Miller said:
This list has been compiled in response to the ever-growing number of con-artists and scammers, mostly from the East, that are currently infesting the market place with what they describe as 'straight razors' but which are either incapable of taking a good edge, made of poor quality steel, are poorly made and assembled and which do not shave well if at all - usually due to a combination of all these things. They are usually to be had for £30 or less, although brand new. Be aware that you need to pay at least double for a new entry-level razor by a reputable maker (and even then some of these have very lax quality control which leave them with defects like warps, poor grinding, etc that render them sometimes unusable).

<snip>

The list of Brands to Avoid:

<snip>

Enzo
Enzo England
<snip>

Keep in the mind the old adage - 'if it looks too good to be true, then it probably is!' (ie - its worthless).

Regards,
Neil

Well that answers that question then

I'll use this as my starting reference.

Cheers!
 
The answer to all of this is to buy a vintage blade from one of the guys in here. Tell them your budget and I'm pretty sure they could come up with something shave ready at not much cost. I doubt I would ever buy a new straight again, the three that I have bought new and "shave ready" were good enough, but then I bought a vintage "shave ready" in here and the difference was remarkable.
I very much doubt Neil or Rob would sell any blade to anyone if it wasn't going to be fit for the job. They have too much reputation to loose by doing things like that.
Good effort on that list Neil!
 
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