Vintage razor help

[Old Man Army]

Gentlemen,
I am very interested in vintage razors and learning how to restore them. I've read comments about excessive hone wear, pitting, rust, chips in the blade etc. What does a newbie need to know to avoid buying worthless letter openers?

Thanks for the help,

Old Man Army

 

[mdunn]

Pitting on the edge can make it crumbly, and not take a nice edge properly, so avoid that.

Uneven hone wear can be (though is not always) indicative of a warped spine, which is worth avoiding

Chips in the edge will need to be honed through, so keep in mind that you will loose some width, and increase the size of your spine and edge bevels to do this

Cracks are to be avoided, some wedges with cracks can be fine, but it's a gamble

Hope that helps!

 

[Luc]

This might help: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/inde..._for_when_buying_a_second_hand_straight_razor

Before you buy anything, I would suggest buying a shave ready straight and try it first. It will give you an idea of what "shave ready" means and if you like it!

 

[Old Man Army]

Thanks guys,

Luc, I should have known there would be information about what to look for on the site. I intend to send a razor to Larrry at Whipped Dog so that I can start out right. I will be sure to post with all of the gory details.