Thread: Good Idea while Antique shopping for razors.

I was at an Antique shop today and was trying to read the tang (Who Made it) on a straight razor. I think it is a Genco, but the Tang was hard to read because of the tarnish. I thought " Should have brought my polishing paste and a piece of cloth". So next time ya'll are out looking it might be a good idea to bring some paste and cloth to clear up the tang if it is tarnished and hard to read. It seems all my straights have had bad tarnish at the tang. Just a thought.

Not so sure about polishing the tang on something that is not yours.... yet...

Some people might not want you doing this?

Some vendors might have a kitten if you start to polish one of their items before buying it! If you can't see the engraving through the rust it might be best to pass.

edit to add: you beat me to it Chev!

I carry a small 10x loupe, a piece of chalk, and steel wool with me.
I ask permission before using any of it.
Some sellers say no, some sellers will clean the area for me, and some let me do it myself.
The ones that say no usually lose the sell.

A small loupe and a good flashlight will solve most of your problems. I hadn't thought about chalk before, but it's a great idea.

Originally Posted by criswilson10

I carry a small 10x loupe, a piece of chalk, and steel wool with me.
I ask permission before using any of it.
Some sellers say no, some sellers will clean the area for me, and some let me do it myself.
The ones that say no usually lose the sell.

that's the way I feel also. If they want to make the sale they will let me at least polish it enough for me to read it, can't read it? I ain't buying it.

Heavy rust and gunk will not clean with just polish and a cloth.

So when you decide that you don't want it the seller is stuck with a partially cleaned item that probably looks worse than before you started?

Originally Posted by mainaman

Heavy rust and gunk will not clean with just polish and a cloth.

I didn't say anything about heavy rust, just tarnish which is NOT rust. Also if I don't buy it at least the next person will be able to read it and might buy it. Either way I just plan on removing enough to read it, if the seller objects to it I won't buy it, and it will probably stay in his case for a long time. Btw, if I was a selling a vintage straight razor I myself would be cleaning it at least enough so that someone can read the maker and origin of it.

I never go looking without those, if the tang is so rusty I can't read it with the loupe i probably don't want it anyway.

Originally Posted by MattCB

A small loupe and a good flashlight will solve most of your problems. I hadn't thought about chalk before, but it's a great idea.