Thread: Good for a newbie ?

I saw this on ebay and thought it might be a good cheap way for me to get started in restoration of straights.
It's a 9/16" Faragon advertised with no cracks or chips and slight pitting. Not shave ready.

My question is, does it look like the toe has been damaged at some point and the edge then re-profiled ?
Would this make a difference to it's shaving capability ?

Sorry if my terminology is a bit "off", still learning
Bongo

I wouldn't buy somebody else's failure - if he could have easily make it to shave he would've. It's obvious he spent time with it, but then he didn't finish it. Probably because it wasn't worth finishing it, so you're getting a razor that's very likely verified to be hard to fix.

The line at the tip seems fine, the heel is where I'd expect an issue because the curvature flattens and looks like may be going to a frown. For sheffield wedge I'd expect more curvature there.
Also the hone wear is pretty uneven,

Why not get a full hollow razor that looks in good condition and work on it?

Thanks for your honest reply Gugi, I think I'll pass on this blade....

It'd probably be a 4/8 by the time you got the profile right - not that there is anything wrong with that....hehehe

Just my opinion, but for a newbie a good resto project would be a hollow ground with not much rust on the edge so that it can still be made shaveable, but there's a lot of really ugly tarnished ones that go for cheap to practice techniques on that you can actually shave with by the end.

As said above im not sure this is the best razor to start restoring with; reason being you want your first restore to come out good and see an obvious improvment from when you received it to when you start shaving with it.... Having a finsihed product that not only looks great but is usable will be satisfying, this will ensure you will keep up with your hobby rather then feel let down at the results. The blade in the pic has the beginings of a frown, and without expiriance its going to be difficult to get that edge straight to shave ready. of course this IMO, if you think thats the blade for you go for it, i can be done... just not as easily as others. I personaly recommend getting something w/ no rust but has a light patina and lots of meat on the bone for a 1st restore. This will allow you to get a feel for working through all the grits and you will be able to watch your razor go from a dirty old one to shiney one you can show all of us and get your well deserved kudos