Help restoring/ choosing between two vintage blades!

[Fixxx]

Hello all-
So I'm juuuuust getting into straight razors. I recently won two ebay auctions for very cheap vintage (in theory) straights. My plan was to give one of them to a professional to get shave ready, and try my hand learning to restore the blade myself on the other. My only concern is which one to do which with?? Any advice on the choice, and then how to go about it woul be much appreciated.

 

[ACorazza]

The first razor which says medium hollow ground has a frown and needs to have the edge reshape s to hone out the frown. The other razor looks to be in better condition so as long as it was not too expensive I would learn to hone on that. The reason being that you will probably cause excess wear on the first razor you try to hone but its part of the learning experience.

 

[Fixxx]

I picked both of them up for under $30 shipped. I probably got taken, but I'm new. I can always chalk it up to learning.

 

[ACorazza]

I picked both of them up for under $30 shipped. I probably got taken, but I'm new. I can always chalk it up to learning.

IMO that seems like a fair price and I don't think you got taken. It can be hard to find a usable straight razor much cheaper than that. Can you tell what the stamp says on the second razor. I can only make out the one on the first razor which seems to be BJ Eyre.

 

[Fixxx]

"Vadakin supply co" I can't find anything about the company. At all.

 

[Fixxx]

I have no idea if either of those are noteworthy. I'm assuming they aren't.

 

[ACorazza]

Never heard of that one but BJ eyre was an old company out of sheffield England. I have a larger BJ eyre which I love. Sheffield steel very well regarded and some of my favorite razors are sheffields. I may be wrong but I believe BJ eyre took over Greaves (another well known sheffield company) sometime during the mid to late 1800's. you can probably find some info on google if your interested.

 

[Alum of Potash]

Send the one on the right to be honed by someone who knows. Then learn to shave with it. Play around with honing the one on the left. You have nothing to lose there and will learn a lot from it IMO.

 

[Fixxx]

Send the one on the right to be honed by someone who knows. Then learn to shave with it. Play around with honing the one on the left. You have nothing to lose there and will learn a lot from it IMO.

Sorry mate, I'm on my phone so they're vertical. Which one?

 

[Alum of Potash]

Send the second one off (with the green background) for outside honing and play around with the first one with frown, marked "extra hollow ground."

 

[Brooksie967]

The razor on the right, the larger and nicer looking of the two, is a great buy for under $30. You shouldn't have any buyers remorse with this.

 

[Fixxx]

The razor on the right, the larger and nicer looking of the two, is a great buy for under $30. You shouldn't have any buyers remorse with this.

That makes me feel a bit better. I think I paid $17 after shipping for that one. I really would like to see that other one brought back to life. Nearest I can tell with my limited knowledge (see, google) its probably a late 1800's. at the latest, first decade of the 1900's. I just don't know if it's beyond salvation.

 

[Brooksie967]

Beyond salvation is a tricky thing to decide. Once you hone out the frown, you might be left with a razor that is 3/8 wide. Is that still useful? That's up to you! Some people like small little blades for shaving but mostly for 'detail' work. If you want it, it can happen.

 

[Fixxx]

I can understand that. We have similar issues in my industry. I guess my concern was, being able to ring it back to life while maintaining as much of the original "feel" as possible. If I'm destroying the shape and logos that makes this what it is in the process, then I might as well do it to a gold dollar. If that makes sense.

The question is always. "At what point does a restoration remove the aspect you are trying to restore. When does it tip the scale into becoming an entirely new build? Is that what you're looking for?"

 

[ACorazza]

The razor can be restored but it will be smaller than it is now. I believe many of these razors began life small at 4/8 or 5/8 so it might not be that much different and it will be functional but you need to decide if its worth it to you to restore it.