Have I wasted my money?

[Citizen_blue]

Hi all

I'm new to the whole straight razor thing and I recently bought an old razor off my ebay. However I have absolutely no idea if I've bought a pile of junk or a hidden gem. Does anyone know if this is any good and with getting sharpened or have I wasted my money?

 

[mr_houston]

It does need a good honing with some re-shaping of the edge.

Here is some info to consider. Is this your same razor?

Latest eBay find: Famex bagpiper & info on Famex razors

My latest 10euro eBay find was a Famex Bagpiper blade. It reminds me of a bagpiping friend of mine (and this B&B post) so I thought I'd clean it up and gift it to him someday. I guess I won't be able to polish up the face of the blade with the image on it without destroying the image (correct me...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[LJS]

It’s not a hidden gem, but probably can be fixed and made to shave. I can’t see the scales or the maker stamps on the tang or could probably comment more, but the blade has been honed very toe heavy and ideally would be corrected/repaired…..although as long as you can reach the actual edge when flat on a stone it may be possible to hone it and use it as-is.

 

[Doc226]

That’s got some issues.

 

[psfred]

Well, you probably didn't get a highly valuable treasure for nothing, but you can shave with that one with some work.

It's warped (very common with old razors I've found) and badly honed, likely on a narrow hone, but it had an edge and was being used, so you can get it sharp and shave with it again.

You might want to look for a better one though for staring out. There are a very large number of nearly or actually un-used straight razors out there, here's what to look for:

Little or no honing marks on the spine

Tiny or no visible bevel on the shaving edge

No rust on the bottom half of the blade other than occasional spots.

No cracks, obvious modifications (toe ground back is common from a chip there when it got dropped)

Un-restored, black "tarnish" is fine, what you don't want is someone "cleaning up" the razor on a power buffer or belt sander.

Obvious signs of warped razors -- bevel wide in the middle on one side and narrow on the other

Frowns and heaving honing on the toe (like the one you have). They can be made to shave well, but it's easier to start with one that isn't wonky. Many old razors were honed on narrow hones, resulting in frowns which are not fun to shave with.

Things that don't count really:

Perfect scales -- anything with celluloid scales is probably going to need new ones anyway, easy to replace.

Famous names -- all the Solingen German blades are good, so are any from Sheffield as a rule, or US made blades from Mass.

"Rare" razors -- most of them aren't, and there is no need to spend a lot of money on one someone bought cheap and "restored"

Very old "collectable" razors. These are usually very worn, most of them were wonky when made (by hand!) and will be difficult to make shave again. Nice of a display cabinet, but not for shaving unless one falls in your lap. There is nothing magic about the steel in very old razors, the steel from post WWII is much better.

Keep an eye on eBay, there are always some nice razors that don't attract much attention and can be bought for less than it costs to go out on Firday night and have a couple beers! Hardware store branded ones are as good as the "name brand" razors made by the same maker in Germany or Mass. or Sheffield.

 

[Gamma]

Whether or not you wasted money depends on what your goal was. You bought a razor, you got a razor. If you bought a razor that might be valuable, you didn't get one.

If you bought a razor to learn how to shave with, it's questionable.
There is significant wear on the spine and it is uneven. The blade appears to taper toward the toe. The edge seems to be 'into' the shoulder. All meaning, it needs work and will probably always look 'off'. It's not what I'd recommend to someone looking to start off, honestly. Learning to gauge shaving angles is more complicated when the blade is uneven. Can it be honed and made to shave? Probably. A lot depends on the condition of the steel, whether or not there is rot, how much if there is rot, and so on. If the steel can hold an edge then it can be made it shave.
FWIW, the question "Does anyone know if this is any good" is best asked before spending money, not after.
Learn first, spend later.