Comment on Free Talk Friday - December 26th, 2025
pi_dash_rho@wetshav.ing 2 weeks ago
I’m straight razor curious. Randomly, my wife found a cache of straight razors at a local antique shop and turned them into a Christmas present for me. They’re all almost completely black. One of them has some red rust spots. I’m slowly going through them to see what they are and learning how to clean them up.
There are several Shumates, a George Wostenholm & Sons IXL, a Wade & Butcher, and several others. The edges aren’t chipped and look okay to my novice eyes.
This makes me wonder about the backstory - someone in this little town collected them and took care of them for some time before they were tarnished in a junk shop.
I dipped my toe in during this past year, and finally placed an order for more stones yesterday. I happened to check Shave Nation and noticed they had good prices on the synthetic stones there.
Anyway, don’t try to hone anything potentially valuable until you’ve done a couple of lesser razors. Just about anything can be fixed, but it’s better the scuff up a Gold Dollar than a Wade & Butcher!
gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 1 week ago
Rust is not good if there is a lot of it on the edge. Patina on the blade can be OK. Do they lie flat on both sides? And, what does the spine wear look like? Feel free to post pictures. I’m happy to provide an opinion (everybody has one ;-) ).
pi_dash_rho@wetshav.ing 1 week ago
I’ll get some pictures. The red rust I’ve seen is closer to the spine. Most of the edges are shiny and aren’t showing rust or the black tarnish.
gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 1 week ago
That’s very good!