Planing a board.

[David Weaver]

You can shave blind with a straight razor, but it wouldn't be great for the water to get stuck in the scales. shaving blind with a straight razor is fairly easy if you completely rid yourself of a mirror and don't try to peek back and forth.

[Brian Holcombe]

I've got a Keen Kutter that's about four generations old, but I use a DE with feather blades. They're sharp.

[Eric Schubert]

I agree. If you find what grind and size you like, you can pretty much get any maker and be happy with it. And like tools, even if you can't get a razor that's the size and grind you like, you can get used to it and like it a lot.

I've had razors that cost a couple of hundred dollars and I can't figure them out quite right, and I've had $20 ontario cutlery 6/8s that are just fantastic.

Attachment 298577Attachment 298578

I have spent a few dollars a couple of times to get some of the razors made by the finest makers and cutlers, though, and I don't mean the boutique razors made now that cost $1000, they don't compare to some of the insanely skilled finishers like fukataro tanifuji and a whole glom of german makers in the early 1900s through the 1960s or so.

(I haven't honed the razor above yet, i'm sort of on the fence about it).

...

That is a fine blade, David! Absolutely gorgeous.

Funny, I went into this thread thinking of planes, and now we're on razors, which is another love of mine. I have about 4-5 straights and a few double-edged razors, myself. My favorites are a Gillette '40's Super Speed with Astra and Feather blades, and a 7/8" Rostfrei hollow-ground straight. Love those two razors! The Rostfrei is nice and heavy, making it easy to plow through a coarse beard.

Then again, I almost have more fun trying soaps, creams, and aftershaves than I do with trying new razors. (Aww, who'm I kidding? I love trying new razors, blades, and brushes, too! Yes... I have a problem...)

[John Sanford]

The fascination with razors and shaving is one of those things that I can only "get" by analogy, analogous to planes, or chisels, or N scale locomotives or.... I dislike shaving, and do so rarely. A triple disposable or cartridge razor works for me. And my Norelco trimmer to keep the beard in check.

[David Weaver]

That is a fine blade, David! Absolutely gorgeous.

Funny, I went into this thread thinking of planes, and now we're on razors, which is another love of mine. I have about 4-5 straights and a few double-edged razors, myself. My favorites are a Gillette '40's Super Speed with Astra and Feather blades, and a 7/8" Rostfrei hollow-ground straight. Love those two razors! The Rostfrei is nice and heavy, making it easy to plow through a coarse beard.

Then again, I almost have more fun trying soaps, creams, and aftershaves than I do with trying new razors. (Aww, who'm I kidding? I love trying new razors, blades, and brushes, too! Yes... I have a problem...)

I like the old gillettes, too. I don't ever use them anymore, except when traveling, but they are good to have around if you drink too much coffee before you get a show and shave. All of the other new expensive DE razors make me think about wanting to shave with a straight razor instead.

I've not used feathers, but there is one thing clear from the pictures of feather blades - you can't sharpen anything by hand to match them. I'm too cheap for them, though (which is a dumb thing to say if you have a tanifuji razor), but love the astras. 12 cents each, a week's worth of sharp shaves. Fantastic.

You like the Rostfrei? Probably started off at henckels at a blank if it was finished by anyone else, an early nod to cryogenic treatment - (loooooooooong) before it was a craze in woodworking. Those blanks get ground by so many people that they're all different. I had a friodur that was ground so thin it sounded like a gum wrapper - very loud!!, but it provided a nice shave for a steel that people say won't take an edge (440C).