Thread: eBay 101

I would not take that, if you have to restore this, imo it has to be reground to make it look good, that's just me I guess.

Personal preference I guess. Imo, it's just aestetic on blades that thickly ground.

There are lots of opinions on wedges. If you ask some of the honemisters, they would prefer not to hone wedges and the size of the bevel on this one is a major reason why. Other people don't mine the extra work to hone them up. On the one in question here the hone wear and bevel can be blended in to the rest of the blade using greaseless compounds and then buffed to 'hide' them. Once you hit the blade to a hone they will re-appear unless you use tape on the spine. Due to the appearance of the bevel I would guess that several layers of tape would be required and the honing session may take a significant amount of time, it really varies between blades even of the same manufacturer. This blade isn't for everyone and if you sent it out to be honed expect some grunting from the honemister and a hefty price for the honing. Just so ya know, I have a few similar to this and they were real eye openers when it came to honing. They are shave ready now and the shave is silky smooth but I will always remember the journey to get them there.

Here is a razor a new member purchased off eBay. This is the only picture for the item purchased. Besides what you see in the pic the member said he talked with the vendor and that the scales were cracked. I did a print screen and pasted it into Windows Paint, then cup the image of just the razor and resized it. No photo enhancement other that resizing. What do you think? How much would a restore on this one cost? Other than cost, because I haven't restored for hire yet, I have my observations but I like to hear what all of you have to say.

Personally, I wouldn't be worried about the crack at the wedge pin, because those tend to remain quite stable with glue - I see that as aesthetic only and it doesn't bother me.

Tough to see hone wear and the edge, but it looks like there is minimal hone wear if any, and the edge looks ok - both are a gamble though.

As for staining, that darkness by the toe where the razor rests on the scales is usually pretty tough to get out, but since there is no etch there, it's doable if wanted. For the rest of the staining, I'd be pretty torn. If you try to take it out, you'll lose the black in the etch. Personally, I don't think this is a good candidate for a restore for that reason... unless you can tape over the etch or something. If you don't mind the staining, then the only real risk is the edge... and the whole back of the razor.

In my opinion this can't be restored without affecting the etch. There will definitely pitting marks left on the blade, because of the grind, which looks like full hollow but hard to tell from the pic. If there is minimal pitting near the edge then all is good, but one never knows until the black spots are taken care of. We do not know what's the condition of the back of the blade, and I'd replace the scales, but that's just my personal preference.
Based on the pic, I think the blade is possible be brought back to shaving condition.

It's not a full hollow. I have one of these, and it is between half and quarter hollow IMO.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

It's not a full hollow. I have one of these, and it is between half and quarter hollow IMO.

then I think this razor has good chances.

Since I've been at it awhile I am far more discriminating but early on I jumped on stuff that is cosmetically challenged. (Note the PC speak) I'm with holli4 on that one. I would take that and as long as the crack was tight leave the scales. I'd clean it up and semichrome the blade. If there were any tougher rust spots I would use 4O wool with a bit of Break Free on it. Hone it up, strop and get a smooth shave.

I don't have anything against full restores and if I had the skill myself I might go that way. I don't have the skill and it would have to be a very special razor for me to pay upwards of a hundred bucks to have an expert do it. YMMV.

Now that there is a few comments on the Mappin here are my concerns about this blade:

Only one pic so we don't know what's on the other side

The toe is in a shadow and appears to have some pitting. Removing that pitting may remove the etch.

The pitting on the spine is not an issue unless you want it gone, then it might be a bit of metal removal.

Can't see the type of grind but it dies have stabilizers which usually points to a hollow grind. Removing pitting from a hollow grind is limited by the amount of hallow and at best will reduce the height of the blade.

It appears that there is pitting along the edge but it is hard to see by the pic quality. This should throw up a flag. If it is pitting, honing them out will probably put the bevel into the shoulder stabilizer.

This razor may be brought to a shave ready state but may a bit less than a prime example this brand. The pitting, if not on the bevel will not effect the shave quality.

My concern is that the buyer is looking to have this blade restored for between $40 and $80. While a restoration may improve the appearance it may still not be a show piece or the total cost may surpass the selling price of higher quality examples of this manufacturer's work.

Something else to take into consideration: If a vendor on eBay or anywhere else has a lot of feedback/sales and posts a picture that does not show the true nature of the item being sold they usually are hiding something. High feedback/sales means that they have been at this for a while and should know how to represent their items in good quality pictures with all of their experience selling.