Talk:Straight razor

Expert Commentary

I am a barber and this article is way out of tune. Especially the section on use. The use of lather mugs and brushes is now practically banned by every barber board in the U.S. (with the exception of Alabama which has no barber board) due to their unsanitary nature. Instead a electric latherizer is used and the lather is dispensed into the barber's hand and applied as needed. Razors are honed and stropped both regularly and there is a certain art to it.

If you require any sort of reference I can provide scans of an article published in Knife World by Jim Shields on the art of "Old Fashioned Straight Razor Shaving"

Secondly a replacable blade straight razor is called an "injector razor" and they are made by many comapnies under many names such as Hess and Monsieur charles.

IMO, straight razors have a large nostalgic following -- I own one myself (and use it now and then). Should have their own page.--Rbeas 03:45, 7 August 2005 (UTC)

Correcting for an NPOV

I went back in and edited the article for NPOV. After being away from it for a while, I could clearly see the bias. I plan to continue work on the article.----

Nice correction. —BenFrantzDale 06:39, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

How Do Straight Razor Users Travel?

I just started using a straight razor, and restarted using a double-edged razor. Both afford a great deal of pleasure -- the former from the joy of completing a shave without resorting to styptic stick, the latter from a comfortable and somehow comforting experience. But how does one travel with this habit? I generally keep everything in a carry-on, and there is no reason to believe the TSA will let me through. I would hope not, in fact. Do I mail my equipment to my hotel? Check a bag solely to be able to shave? It would be great if someone with some experience and advice on this topic could add to this entry.

BG

The last time I checked a straight-edge, it was stolen from my luggage, so I couldn't recommend that. Nowadays, I carry a disposable-blade straight-edge in my carry-on and buy new replacement blades at my destination. You're not normally allowed any razor blades in carry-on anyway, so your chances of getting a normal straight-edge through are practically nil.

Spider_1

Weapon

Should a section on weapons use be included? It sound a little odd but I came to the page looking for that info and it wasn't here.--DannyBoy7783 02:07, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

I've added the requested section. Anyone who feels they can improve upon it should feel free to do so. MartinRobinson 03:26, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

I'm concerned that the section on the Razor's appearance in the movies section was deleted completely. I remember that someone said that it appeared in Kill Bill Vol. 1 yet actually it was in Resivor Dogs. When that edit was made a few days later it dissapeared completely. Just because someone makes a mistake dosn't mean erase the whole section. It just means you made a mistake which is entirely human. Blip2blop 7:16, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

I think the reason why it was blanked is that a list of what movies a straight razor appears in isn't particularly encyclopedic, whether accurate or not. TheWarlock 17:04, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

Care and use of

There should be a section on 'best practices' and such with details on how to properly care for one, at least in a more elaborate / comprehendable form. Dante-kun 15:03, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

StraightRazorPlace

User:70.39.140.100 keeps adding a link to a straight razor forum. This seems a pretty clear advertisment of a website, rather than attempt to improve the article (especially since that IP has no other edits besides this), & I think violates the Wikipedia:External links policy of links normally to be avoided. I'm going to revert it one last time, but I don't want to get into an edit war here, so other input & help would be appreciated. If you are User:70.39.140.100, I also welcome your discussion here (though I'm about to head over to your Talk page to mention it there as well). --mordicai. 20:37, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Mordicai,

I appreciate your imperialism here, but the modern growth of the straight razor phenomenon started with the StraightRazorPlace. It is not only of significant historical importance, but it is a place that provides the most non biased information to anyone interested in learning anything about straight razors and should be on any appropriate straight razor map. In addition, you already have another forum link up there from Nassur and another link from a .com store.

I await your unwarranted prosecution, sentence and execution.

Lynn — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.39.140.10 (talk • contribs)

That is a whole lot of loaded language there, Lynn. I'm sorry if you feel that you are being unfairly targeted here, but I think you are misinterpreting my edits as more personal than they are. To your statements; I think you would be hard pressed to pin any social trend to a single cause, which makes me doubt that there could be sufficient evidence for a website being responsible for modern straight razor use. I don't know what citations you would use to prove your point, but I'm open to hearing them. As to your pointing out that there are other websites on the list that are inappropriate for an encyclopedia, thank you. It seems FreplySprang has already gone ahead & pruned them out. For my two-cents, the most I could possibly see warrented for StraightRazorPlace would be a spot in the External Links, not in the main body. Again, please don't take other users edits of your writing as attacks; we're all trying to make Wikipedia the best it can be. Also, you might want to consider creating an account for future edits. --mordicai. 21:51, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Mordicai,

I take no credit for recognizing your narcissistic approach here. Prior to six years ago, there was no single source of straight razor information available on the internet. There were ebay auctions for straight razors and an occasional question regarding straight razors on the knife forums or scattered throughout the web. The StraightRazorPlace was built on the premise of trying to resurrect the art of straight razor shaving and preserve it. As a result of this group being formed, there has been international visibility concerning every aspect of straight razors and once barely surviving manufacturer's of straight razors and shaving products related to straight razors and wet shaving are now thriving and growing. In addition, there are custom makers of straight razors all over the world and more exploring this art daily. There are also now several forums for people to obtain some degree of straight razor information. Some exclusive to straight razor shaving and some for the entire wet shaving community.

Regardless of your lack of knowledge here, it seems that your mind is made up. Sorry dude, but you are what is wrong with the internet today. I appreciate your posting the link in any case if you intend to keep NassRasur which is a European Forum similar to the StraightRazorPlace.

Thanks for you time.

Lynn— Preceding unsigned comment added by Adjustme69 (talk • contribs)

Hi again Lynn. Just at the start here I'd like to point out that you're pretty much in violation of Wikipedia:No personal attacks. I don't know if you are used to ad hominem attacks working, but they arn't a good way to express your viewpoint when engaged in a rational conversation. I seems that you feel very strongly about this website; you havn't, however, shown any kind of cause & effect in your argument. Straight razors being on the upswing & the forum being popularized only shows correlation, & you havn't even cited any evidence of that. I don't know what agenda you imagine I might have, but it would serve your argument better to come up with citable content than to concentrate on personal attacks. --mordicai. 23:42, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Mordicai,

As previously stated your lack of knowledge is great and you do not have either the background or have you done any research here. I must accept your authority only because you have it. It is obvious that you don't intent to explore this at all. Your statement of correlation is ludicrous.

If you are a volunteer, they are paying you way too much. Feel free to remove the entire thread if you like.

Thanks again.

Lynn

Your constant ad hominem arguments lead me to think that you have no interest in a rational debate as to your edit's merits or flaws. As I mentioned on your user page, I have no authority here that you don't have, other than that lent to me by the strength of my argument-- you seem to still be confused as to what Wikipedia is & is not, but we are all volunteers here. Regardless, please don't remove this thread even if you are finished with it. Have a good New Year. --mordicai. 00:45, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

Mordicai,

Forgive me for not recognizing your limited intellectual ability and the fact that you are simply committed to your authority and argument vs. any real exploration regarding this subject.

StraightRazorPlace is certainly not the only forum on the internet dedicated to Straight Razors. It just happened to be the first. Today there are quite a few forums not only dedicated to straight razor use and collecting, but to the entire wet shaving population. If you go back in time, about 10 years or so, you would have found it hard to find a place to purchase and straight razor and if you did, even harder to learn how to care for or sharpen your own razor. You might have found a cutlery store that would send your razor out and sometimes it might come back ready to shave. You would also find that of the two resources still producing razors in Germany and in France that the grinders were old and that the art was continuing to die out. The work put into compiling all the resources into one place was an extraordinary task. If you now look over the past five years, you will see that the population of straight razor shavers, collectors, vendors, restorers, custom manufacturers, and even the two existing manufacturers has grown beyond their capacity. Because of the Forums who offer people the opportunity to learn everything they need to know and because of the word of mouth as a result of these Forums, Straight Razor Shaving is enjoying a huge revelation which of course is small in comparison to the global population, but still growing every day. The memberships of people from old to young passing on their experience has been a wonderful thing to watch and participate in. I don't believe there is any way to discount the impact to this environment that the Forums have had or continue to present. To not advise any and all readers of their existence based on your personal prejudice for argument is a shame. There are now thousands of members in the forums and they receive millions of hits a year compared to not even hundreds 5-6 years ago. You can stick to your conjecture of correlation all you want. If you feel that there is no room for mention of this, then Wikipedia loses a great deal of value.

I apologize and wish you a very good New Year.

LynnAdjustme69 15:40, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

This is a far better reasoned argument than You are stupid, though of course you still pepper it with insults. Now what would really start convincing me would be if you could cite any reliable sources for your information. I'm sorry if my use of encyclopedic methodology is coming across to you as "imperialistic," "narcissistic," or "what is wrong with the internet today." I am, very simply, trying to keep a quality of standards in Wikipedia. Can you find sources that ascribe the level of value to StraightRazorPlace that you do? Once you have a reliable reference, we'll have a good idea of how to best incorporate it into the article. I appreciate your passion for the subject, & hope that you eventually understand that we're both on the same side here. --mordicai. 17:51, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

Dear Lynn, I am not an expert at Wikipedia, but I felt it was time someone else intervened here. First of all, as far as I can make the rules Mordicai is trying to express are indeed those of Wikipedia. Secondly, as far as I can see he has been very patient with you consistantly making personal remarks. Third, most of the world still does not use the internet at all, so saying that straight-razor use has increased primarily because of anything on the internet would need substantial verification. As Mordicai tried to explain some time ago. It could just as well be that a rise, for another reason,in the use of straight-razors lead to its appearing on the internet, rather than the other way round. I don't know much about straight-razors, but the manner in which you have conducted this debate alone puts me off sympathising with your point of view. However, I urge you to respond positively to Mordecai's invitation here and produce the evidence he has asked for here on this page. Best Wishes, IceDragon64 21:11, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

Stainless Vs High Carbon

It is my understanding that it is high carbon steel that will take and hold a fine edge, and stainless that will dull quickly, although this article claims otherwise. Does anyone want to tell me I'm wrong or does the article need correcting?--Pypex 14:15, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

No experience with razors here, but this is definately true for a knife blade. Carbon steel will hold a sharp edge longer than stainless steel. --StarChaser Tyger 04:00, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

I (Zubedar) had the same idea when reading this article. Specifically:

"The blade can be made of either stainless steel, which is easily stropped and honed, and resistant to rust, or high-carbon steel, which is more difficult to hone, but stays sharp longer, though it will rust if neglected."

This doesn't seem right to me. Carbon steel is much easier to sharpen than stainless. Stainless is notoriously difficult to sharpen. I've got a feeling this part of the entry has been compromised, and in any event it will only mislead Ebay purchasers if left as it is. I shall proceed to amend this. --Zubedar 18:54, 11 September 2007 (UTC)