Lather Up!

Two in a row on old school shaving! Needless to say that the collection has boomed. My one shaving mug has now exploded into 15 shaving mugs and counting as well as a few brushes and other shaving items. This has turned into a little obsession and is very fun scavenging through antique stores, yard sales, thrift shops, & flea markets. Here are shots of my collection. Among the collection I have many Old Spice mugs, an Apollo tin shaving mirror with a mug built in, a Mohawk mug with a cool pirate ship on it with mountains, "Men Only" mug, "Your father's mustache?", A 1908 Oldsmobile car mug, Train by Avon, and an original vintage mug with men's faces and a reproduction, and a mug with my initial on it that isn't technically a shaving mug but has the correct shape and had to put it in my collection. Some of the OS mugs on first look are the same but upon further inspection they have differences. One has the same look but with two different ships and another has the same on the front but the bottom has different markings.

Also, I have not found any new blades worth buying since my last ones. But... I have since been to the restoration workshop and revamped my Mappin & Webb blade (also polished it up on the buffer). I dismantled it and made my own scales (handle pieces) out of genuine buffalo horn and finished it up with brass pins. Pretty sweet. Check it out!

 

Blade is out and polished. Laid out the blade and traced out a scale design and copied it onto the buffalo horn. Both sides were glued together to have the same size when working with shaping it. Below I am sanding out the design on the horn. Then hand sanded up to 2000 grit to polish it and get the edges round. Then deep polished it with the buffer wheel. 

The final scales polished and then put together with the brass pins. 

Hope you enjoy the post! Leave me comments and share!

Edit May 1, 2012: New mugs, brush and razor!

This is a great razor I got for $8.00! It is a W.R. Case & Sons more commonly known as CASE knives. They used to make shaving razors and are now very collectible and worth lots of money. 

Straight Edged

My fellow gents!

My deepest apologies for being absent recently. I have undertaken a new job and have not have much time to write. But I assure you that my recent endeavors will satisfy. Recently I have been collecting vintage straight razors. As it is a new venture for me, I am getting use to what money to spend on the razors. My first one called "The Artist" by J.R. Torrey out of Massachusetts. The handle was decorated really cool but the blade was tarnished. I figured I can polish it out and sharpen the blade up. Needless to say, sharpening a straight razor is a lot of work. (A friend and I are heading up to a restoration workshop next weekend which will be really fun). I bought all the accessories needed, the strop and paste, shave soap, a hone, a sweet shaving mug from the 50s by Old Spice (just aquired another Old Spice mug as well), and I have about 6 brushes. The Artist however is not in very good shape and spend a little more than I should on it after trying to sharpen it up on the hone and strop. We will see how it turns out at the workshop.

My second and last razor I got was last week in Harrisburg, VA. I will be going back soon to get more from the store. This one is called "Trustworthy" by Mappin & Webb, Royal Cutlery Works, Sheffield, as in Sheffield, England. After some research and finding some fellows on a razor forum, I have learned that this is a high quality top of the line razor. They were contracted by the Royal Family to make razors, utensils, jewelry, etc for them. The blade was in perfect condition, covered in a protective oil to keep from rusting and the handle was made of ivory, not Bakelite. I honed it up a little and stropped it and needless to say the blade is way sharp and you can tell the difference between the two razors. I can't wait to continue my collection and learning the art of shaving like a real man.