Thread: eBay Purchases - Restores for fun!

I'd try to hone them.
Start with the one that has somewhat of a bevel. Go at it with a 4k and work up.

Nice finds by the way

Yeah I like gugi ' s idea. Get one honed with just a bevel set and then the other try to set yourself. I was actually just thinking about this today and trying to explain it to a friend the feeling you get from the hone and the razor when the bevel is set. It's like it just all the sudden clicks and there is hardly any resistance on the hone and when you do arm hair test the hairs should pop eeasily. Not just shave but pop off with out having to put pressure. But get one that is just honed up to the 1k level and fully set bevel and you will see what I'm talking about.

In all honesty honing is not hard. The hardest part is knowing when to stop. 90% of the work is really at the bevel set. Most people go either too long and waste steel or more commonly don't go long enough and never really get a truly set bevel because they are afraid of taking off too much steel. But as long as you are being consistent and even in your strokes and pressure taking off a little too much steel is ok. Just test constantly for a set bevel using tpt

Here is what I did. I had 1 already in use (honed by Glen) when I bought a couple 2 or 3 or 6 ( I don't remember now) I then went out and bought a King 250/1k and a Norton 4/8k. I learned on that set up for a year. Now I have a few more hones than I need but I use them all. I also have a couple more razors than I need but I used them all at least once :<0) All depends on you and where you want to go. All the above advice is great but ultimately it depends on your funds and confidence. The one thing I would say is if you try it on your own and screw up, when you send it out to a pro he can tell you why you screwed up and give advice on how to proceed. Another thing I didn't see mentioned is , find someone to give you hands on lessons. That is worth the most value for learning.

"they weren't expensive, so its no big deal if you mess them up"

Where does this logic come from? I don't understand it at all. If I found a Van Gogh at a yard sale for 20 bucks does that mean I should not worry about damaging it when fitting it to a frame? If my friend drops the ming vase I bought for 10 bucks at a flea market, does he get to give me 10 bucks because that's all I paid? Both of those razors are fine pieces. high quality and good condition. I would at the very least follow Gugi's advice. Why risk ruining fine blades when you can pick up a 5 or 10 dollar junker with some wear on it to learn on?

Originally Posted by Magpie

"they weren't expensive, so its no big deal if you mess them up"

Where does this logic come from? I don't understand it at all. If I found a Van Gogh at a yard sale for 20 bucks does that mean I should not worry about damaging it when fitting it to a frame? If my friend drops the ming vase I bought for 10 bucks at a flea market, does he get to give me 10 bucks because that's all I paid? Both of those razors are fine pieces. high quality and good condition. I would at the very least follow Gugi's advice. Why risk ruining fine blades when you can pick up a 5 or 10 dollar junker with some wear on it to learn on?

Well one that's not what I said. I was saying that they are inexpensive and have no personal meaning to him so they are fine projects. Unlike van gogh, these razors are not one of a kinds nor worth millions so moot point there. Also unlike your oracles these are made of steel and not pottery and canvas so I think as long as he is careful he will not ruin them, which I said.

Would you rather learn to drive in a 1982 Toyota that breaks down every five minutes or a nice well kept used car or a brand new $100k car. The broke down car will do nothing but frustrate you and the super expensive car will make you nervous to drive it while the one in the middle is reliable and comfortable.

Why learn on junkers. If it can be honed then it's not a junker. It's a "noble", as someone put it, razor in my book.

A junker is most likely going to have issues that a novice hone will not be able to figure out, then get frustrated, then give up all because he was told not to try to hone a good twenty dollar dovo because it's a van gogh painting.

Update - I got a set of Nortons (220/1k, 4k/8k) and Naniwa 12k in the mail earlier this week. Lapped them up and jumped into honing last night. Shave test this morning was bloody, but great feedback. Actually, I think I got a solid bevel on the Boker and a decent edge, just not very clean - so I'm going to take it back to the 4k/8k for a bit and see. The Dovo needs a bit more work, but I think the bevel is actually ok, just needs a lot more work on the 4k to bring the edge around.