Older German Hoffritz Straight Worth Using? Info?

[ramsa]

Found a cool older black scaled Hoffritz in the wild, and while it has some very small edge chips on the blade, I hope to hone them out for a usable razor. It's marked "Germany" so thinking it's pre-WWll? Dovo?
Anyway, it's a heavy 7/8" blade, and while not a cosmetic beauty, I have started to really like the size and feel of it.
As a beginner, should I keep going down this road, or is this more of a "wall-hanger"?
Anyone know the background of these razors?
Thanks.

~

 

[Charun]

I'd give it a quick polish and a good hone and see how she shaves.

Apparently Hoffritz was a seller rather than manufacturer (seems they also had a shop in NY), but (if the internet is right) they were considered rather upscale store, so i'd think that they probably wouldn't sell the worst crap.

 

[ramsa]

That's the plan. I just checked out a post on basic home refurb here on B&B, and grabbed a chunk of emery cloth that took the majority of rust/nastiness off. The edge looks pretty darned good, so maybe with some TLC and hone it won't draw too much blood.

I love the history of the old companies making cutlery and tools and guns... Have more digging on that end to do. (Hoffritz branded D.E. razors were supposed to be a favorite of James Bond - 007...)

 

[Lmarkow]

That looks like it should clean up nicely!