SMF

Some bad people hijacked the web and took down the original SRP last week. The good news is that SRP is alive and still kickin'. The admins and mods were able to make a slight change to move the whole shebang and keep it going at full speed. They added one letter to change the spelling of the word "place" to become "P a l a c e" (spaces added here for emphasis only) and the forum is now called StraightRazorPalace. Well done, gentlemen. Lynn and Don are longtime SMF members. If you are a member of SRP you probably need to try to login at the new location.

I assume they forgot to renew the registration of sraightrazorplace.com, and someone swooped in and snapped it up. At that point it either become the best URL a Pakistani straight razor company could wish for, or it is offered back to the original owners for a large fee.
I can see why they thought adding just an 'A' was clever, but I don't care for the name. The original Yahoo group Straight Razor Place was an exciting place in the early days, inhabited by fabulous beasts such as the Chronik, Judge Carl and Ray Dupont (and such a wonderful story to be told about those three!)

Chris

A little more research shows that discussion of this matter at SRP is now strictly verboten, so presumably there is some embarrassment involved. Rumour has it that a person called Luke Webster has recently emerged in Mordor and may be behind the domain name snatch.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Wetshaving/com ... acepalace/
https://www.domainsherpa.com/luke-webst ... interview/
https://www.domainsherpa.com/luke-webster-dnseattle/

This guy was banned from SRP and they have slagged off his straight razors.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razors/1 ... lades.html
Now they do have Tim as a consultant, so they may be trying to be legitimate. I don't believe he would associate himself with anything shady.

It also seems he has bought classicshaving.com. I don't know the guy, but he seems to have a plan to do whatever he can to get rich off the back of the shaving community.

C.
...the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.

I can't respect someone who would use deceit to take possession of someone else's property. This obviously isn't the first get-rich-quick scheme based on the use of deceitful practices. Buying a company outright is not wrong, but stealing SRP is repulsive. I hope he fails miserably without leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.

I don’t look beyond SMF but this is both hugely embarrassing on the part of the owner, and incredibly underhand on the part of the domain poacher.

I hope they get it sorted (if they can).

Gareth

Lynn posted elsewhere that civil and criminal legal proceedings are coming soon.

In addition, someone else has posted that the crook (the new "owner") will ban anyone for life if they mention or try to discuss the situation.

Straightrazorplace.com is just a blank page, so I don't think anyone will get banned there. However, straightrazorpalace.com (note the extra 'a' - this is the old place reincarnated under the same ownership) has forbidden discussion.

C.

Looks like the king of the palace is ruling with an iron hand.

I'm flabbergasted. I can't believe someone could get away with this.

I see Vintage Blades and Classic Shaving have also been taken over by the same guy. Well, I won't be patronizing those places anymore.

Chris

Makes me wonder if this may have had something to do with Lee's Razors' unexplained departure.

Tim tells me he has had nothing to do with Luke Webster since 2013 or 2014.

C.

Straight Razor Place is back online now, under the original ownership.
http://straightrazorplace.com

Raze R. Blade wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2019 7:48 pm Straight Razor Place is back online now, under the original ownership.
http://straightrazorplace.com

I've just now registered with the new forum and made a couple of inaugural posts to get the ball rolling.

ive never been able to do more than smf. i visited the badger site once back in 2008(?) and im still trying to recover LOL

clive

For anyone who has an interest in straight razor use and maintenance, SRP is (used to be anyway) pretty much the hub where hundreds of like-minded guys from all around the world have been able to meet and discuss their common interests regarding straight razors. Probably not considered to be in competition with SMF (as are B&B and some others) for members.

But it's now called sharprazorpalace.com!

It is a brand spanking new website sporting everything the original SRP had except the sum total of all of the content that is now found, as you mention, at sharp razor palace. Would-be members must register as such, and the link is listed above. The posted information states that Lynn and a couple of other guys created the new one. Wouldn't it be interesting to learn what just happened!

For what it's worth, Robert Williams makes custom razors, and he is (one of) the administrator(s) of the new website. He has written a book on the subject of making straight razors.

That info is left over from the old site. Lynn has had nothing to do with this one.

C.

My mistake, I had not realised Lynn has found the energy to get back into it. straight razor place.com is the original and genuine, reborn; accept no substitute.

C.