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flea market first

A

Arnoud

Member
I found this Schonex 6 at a flea market last weekend and thought it would make a good first project to restore and learn how to shave with a straight.
On the whole it's in good condition, scales are great and the blade fits nicely into them.
I'm not really looking for a mirror finish, I'd rather keep some of the etching.
The blade is OK, just rather black, and the edge seems pretty good, apart from being very dull and having a slight smile.
I'm just doubting whether to hone the razor myself or to get it done properly and focus on learning to shave with a straight first.
Any thoughts on polishing/honing? Does anyone know these razors? I'm guessing the 6 indicates a 6/8 blade, it sure looks close to that.
Edit: I can't seem to find a good way to add pics, so here's a link:

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5801136657_06a8bd65df_b.jpg
 
Bart

Bart

Well-Known Member
Welkom Arnoud,

I've edited your post for you to link the picture.
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is a small tutorial on how to include pictures.

The razor looks fine. I don't know Schonex, but there were so many brands selling razors forged and ground in Solingen, that it's nearly impossible to know them all. In my experience, all vintage Solingen razors can shave outstandingly well. They just need to be sharpened properly.

My advice would be to give the razor a decent cleanup with a metal polishing paste that you can find in a store that sells automotive supplies. I use Peek Polish for this purpose myself, which is excellent stuff, fairly inexpensive, and easy to find in Belgium. :)

Just give a razor a thorough cleaning with such a paste, either on a cotton rag, or if you want to take an ever so slightly more aggressive approach, you can put it on fine steel wool to (grade "000").
It won't make the razor look like new, but since it is a vintage item, a bit of patina isn't such a bad thing.

Once you have it cleaned to your liking, the hard part has yet to come. Sharpening the thing. In my opinion, without any experience actually shaving with a straight razor, sharpening one is next to impossible. One of the important skills for sharpening a razor well, is your ability to assess the edge's performance during a so-called "test shave". Without any idea if poor performance is caused by a poor edge, or by poor shaving technique, it is not possible to assess your sharpening results.

The best thing to do is, to first learn how to use a straight razor (beard preparation, stropping, handling the razor, etc), and only then learn how to sharpen one. Since you're in Belgium, I would be happy to borrow you one or two well-honed razors, so you can get started right away.

Beste groeten,
Bart.
 
pinklather

pinklather

Well-Known Member
Arnoud, 'Grats on a nice find. It looks very nice to me also.

Bart's counsel on learning first to shave may not be what you would like to hear, but I think ignoring it will give you many disappointments. I say this as one who explored most disappointments. By ignoring the counsel to learn shaving first, I suffered (and gave much blood - there's a reason my screen name is pinklather) trying to learn to shave with very sub-standard edges. Its almost certain that by learning to hone on a vintage blade will inflict great abuse on a razor that appears to be a very fine one. The smile in the edge takes a bit more experience to hone. It also makes for wonderfully smooth shaves, in my opinion. I would say not to foul this one up by making it your learning razor. To learn, have one with no smile or frown. To learn to shave, probably the most cost effective method is to buy from another str8 shaver that can deliver it with a fine edge. For that blade at your experience level, I honestly think paying someone (maybe a forum member near you?) to hone would be best for you in shaving, and in saving what is likely a fine razor.
 
geruchtemoaker

geruchtemoaker

Well-Known Member
hey arnoud.

Kan je je email adres eens aanpassen of een correct email adres doorzenden naar stijn@coticule.be. Want ik heb handmatig je account moeten activeren en toen ik een mail wilde zenden kreeg ik iedere keer de foutmelding delivery failed (invalid domain name). Dit is handeig als een van de leden je wilt bereiken(of wij) en ook kan je dan emails ontvangen als er in topics wordt gepost waar jij hebt in gereageerd of die jij gestart hebt.

groetjes
Stijn
 
tat2Ralfy

tat2Ralfy

Well-Known Member
Hi and welcome from me too :)

sound advise so far, I would clean it up and send it out for honing, we do offer a free honing service
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that you may wish to use?

Best of luck with your endeavors
Ralfson (Dr)
 
Snuff

Snuff

Well-Known Member
Welcome Arnoud,

Bart send me a shave ready razor when I started out a few months ago, that way I could compare what a good honed razor should feel like and got me started on the right path. Enjoy your journey! Greets Ron
 
Emmanuel

Emmanuel

Well-Known Member
Welcome Arnoud. Although i cleaned up some razors to a mirror finishing ,i prefer your razor with the patina of time elapsed. I agree to profit the free honing service .
Best regards
Emmanuel
 
A

Arnoud

Member
Thanks a lot for all the suggestions everybody.
I allready guessed it might be better to get the honing done properly, it would be a shame to waste a nice razor (not to mention a nice face!) by inexperience.
Bart, your offer is very generous, I'll get in touch with you soon.
Ralfson, you can expect this razor in the mail as soon as I get it cleaned up.
I already started cleaning with some metal polish and I'm afraid it's a bit harder than I thought it would be. I think I'll need to bring out the dremel and some polishing compounds. The etching is lost already, which is a shame, but then again it was hardly visible to begin with.
Many thanks so far!
A.
 
Toff

Toff

Well-Known Member
A nice find! Clean it well with an ammoniated detergent and a 25mm wide paintbrush with the bristles cut to 20mm length. Oil it gently with a mineral oil. A bit of Flitz, Simichrompoli, or Maas, on a small rag and you are the possessor of a very classy and quality razor. I agree with the above posts as to having it sharpened by a good hone person. Honing skill does not come readily as my poor abused face can testify!
Enjoy your find, and get one more similar razor to alternate daily to assure that an edge is not going bad.

If you are able to find another straight razor aficionado locally that has experience, try to get shaving and razor maintenance lessons from them. That will surely save time and effort!
Respectfully
~Richard
 
Emmanuel

Emmanuel

Well-Known Member
That's the Arnoud razor. Came to me after a cleaned up by him for sharpening and honing. The razor was well cleaned but the edge was grabbed by the buffing and spoiled completely.That's why i removed a bit more metal from the spine and the edge for trimming.The sharpening and the honing performed by a cretan hone with slurry and then on my LPB. The HHT reach a good 4 at least all along the blade.
Hoping Arnoud will enjoy smooth and dreamily shaves.
Best regards
Emmanuel
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A

Arnoud

Member
Truly wonderful, Emmanuel!
I'm usually a very rational man, but when my wife studied in Crete I lost a piece of my heart in Greece. To have my razor honed by a Greek on a Belgian stone was a great opportunity, but now it turns out it was honed on Greek and Belgian stones by a Cretan married to a Belgian. You couldn't arrange such a beautiful coincidence.
I can't wait to get my razor back, I got so impatient that I bought another one to start practicing. That means I'll have something to compare Emmanuel's hard work to. I'll certainly report back when I get it.
Until then, I thank Emmanuel with all my heart.
 
A

Arnoud

Member
The razor came in the mail this morning so I got my first shave with it.
At first glance it looks like Emmanuel put a lot of work into honing, you can see the traces on the spine and the edge is nice and straight now.
Compared to my shapleigh the shonex feels really heavy, I'm not sure if I like that or not but it will certainly take some getting used to. It felt really smooth when I put the blade to my cheek and it went through my beard effortlessly. I've only had about ten (partial) straight shaves so far, so I can't really give an expert opinion on the honing, but it felt really nice. Lots of thanks again to Emmanuel.
I'll definately have to be very careful with this razor, because it turns black very quickly. Careful drying and storing it outside of the bathroom will be necessary.
The pivot is a bit loose, I'm wondering what I could do about that without having to repin. Could I get away with hammering the pivot pin lightly? Or wouldn't that do any good?
Another fourteen hours before I can shave with it again. Maybe I should get up early tomorrow, I can't wait.
 
tat2Ralfy

tat2Ralfy

Well-Known Member
What a wonderful thread, i am so happy that you are enjoying the razor, and whatever a soeplepel is sounds just right for the job hahaha

Best regards
Ralfson (Dr)
 
A

Arnoud

Member
For those who don't speak Dutch (and for the education of those who do): "pollepel" is the Dutch for ladle, "soeplepel" means soup spoon. There is some debate between the Dutch and the Flemish on the exact name for every type of spoon, which is quite interesting but not very relevant. The most important thing is to use an old ladle or spoon, because tapping the pins of your razor will leave lots of little dents in it. The lady of the house might not appreciate that.
Happy holidays, gents!
 
Y

Yves

Member
Speaking of restoring an old razor.

How does bicarbonate soda work as a polishing compound? Does anyone have any idea of its grit size?
I'm currently rubbing toothpaste into a Kropp razor at the moment, lacking the fancy car polish stuff.
 
Toff

Toff

Well-Known Member
Hello Yves,
Bicarb is really not a polishing compound, but a non-gritty toothpaste is. I have used Bicarb in water as a honing fuid on a rock that wanted my blades to discolor quickly. You might also look into some of the ladies fingernail polishers. See the Cheap tools thread here.
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You are going at it in the right way. By hand and slowly gives good results and a lot of knowledge.
Cheers!
~Richard
 
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