Dropped open SR, how bad is it? (I'm not very smart)

Welp, looks like I have joined the idiot pool. Dropped my straight last night while I was cleaning it with a towel. I stropped and shaved on my neck to test it out and it seems OK, but I started shaving last week so I'm not an expert. It is a vintage razor and I never fully inspected the blade when I received it from Maggards, so I'm not sure what is a new or old marking. I do notice one area of the blade that seems to be indented/nicked when I catch it at the right angle of light.

I posted some pictures in the imgur link below. I can also post more

Any and all help is appreciated!!

https://imgur.com/gallery/dVr9e

Edit: here are some before pictures to compare against. Don't want people thinking Brad may not have honed properly.

https://imgur.com/gallery/Ybnxm

Im a bit new myself but looking at the first pic shows a good size divit on the edge. I also see a couple fine chips lower down. Id say it needs honed but if you use it and dont feel an issue id say use it but know its in need of honing to correct it.

Hopefully someone else will chime in soon and most know more than I.
Good luck.

looks like the edge is folded / crushed from the chip down to the reflection at least
I'd reset the bevel and hone to finish
JMHO
Mike

Yup, looks like a chip, also there may be something about an inch up, under the second L in HOLLOW.

Look at the razor straight down on the edge, any shinny spots are where the bevels are not meeting, a chip or dent.

And/or, lightly run a Q-Tip along the edged, just the cotton part, it will snag on any chip.

It’s nothing, that a regular honing will not fix. Just don’t try to catch a falling razor, it’s not worth it.

When shaving with a straight razor, we mostly shave with the toe or heel, very little with the center. So, you may not have shaved with the damage area.

Honestly I am more concerned about the heel. The little ding in the edge will be very easy for someone to hone out. I am not a new person and I dropped a blade just last night. It happens. Be sure not to try to catch them when they fall. There are a few picture of that sort of thing in the cut of the day thread.

Yea, that heel needs correcting, I thought the edge looked a little wavy, figured it was the pic, maybe not.

Re-shape the heel, to move the corner of the edge forward and get the razor to sit flat on the stone.

Also, not a big repair, just a few swipes on a diamond plate.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I am going to send it out to Roctraitor (Sam) on reddit for honing and correction. Has anyone had experience with him? I take it all of the issues with the razor can be corrected?

In the meantime, what sites do you all recommend for buying a relatively affordable shave ready SR? I purchased the one in the pictures from Maggards, who I hear is a reputable vendors, but they are sold out of affordable 6/8 razors. I am looking for a 6/8 round this time around, but don't want to break the bank as I am still a complete noob and do stupid things like drop my razor :)

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Originally Posted by RezDog

Honestly I am more concerned about the heel. The little ding in the edge will be very easy for someone to hone out. I am not a new person and I dropped a blade just last night. It happens. Be sure not to try to catch them when they fall. There are a few picture of that sort of thing in the cut of the day thread.

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Your are lucky in that you did not ruin the razor and your only injury was a bruised ego.

I agree with RezDog that the biggest problem with the razor is the heel. Whoever honed the razor never got the bevel set properly at the heel. It looks like the shoulder of the blade might need to be ground down a little to allow the blade to lay flat on the hones from heel to toe. A similar modification has to be made to Gold Dollar razors to allow them to be honed. Another modification that could also be done is to round off the edge of the blade at the heel so it no longer needs to be honed. That is another modification some people make on Gold Dollars. Although Dremel tools are often used to grind down the shoulder, they are too hard to control to round the edge. I learned that the hard way.

Since you are new, I would recommend you send your razor to someone who is familiar with honing less than perfect razors and let them fix it properly. They may charge more than their usual honing fee since some extra work will be required, but then they may not.


If this were my own razor, I would make the repairs myself; but I would not feel comfortable working on a razor for someone else. There are a number of people on the forum that do have the required experience. Hopefully, one of them will step up.

I agree with what's been said. But knowing Brad, a member here, his vintage razors are shave ready.
I'd be surprised if there was a problem when you received it.

Don't know the reddit razor guy so he wouldn't get my razors, if you were happy with the edge Maggard put on why not send it back to him? Or pm me I,ll give you 3 names of REAL hone guys who might let you see how good an edge can be. Tc

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Originally Posted by RayClem

Your are lucky in that you did not ruin the razor and your only injury was a bruised ego.

I agree with RezDog that the biggest problem with the razor is the heel. Whoever honed the razor never got the bevel set properly at the heel. It looks like the shoulder of the blade might need to be ground down a little to allow the blade to lay flat on the hones from heel to toe. A similar modification has to be made to Gold Dollar razors to allow them to be honed. Another modification that could also be done is to round off the edge of the blade at the heel so it no longer needs to be honed. That is another modification some people make on Gold Dollars. Although Dremel tools are often used to grind down the shoulder, they are too hard to control to round the edge. I learned that the hard way.

Since you are new, I would recommend you send your razor to someone who is familiar with honing less than perfect razors and let them fix it properly. They may charge more than their usual honing fee since some extra work will be required, but then they may not.


If this were my own razor, I would make the repairs myself; but I would not feel comfortable working on a razor for someone else. There are a number of people on the forum that do have the required experience. Hopefully, one of them will step up.

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Thanks for the information, really appreciate any information I can pick up. On reddit, a user who goes by Roctraitor (Sam) is regarded as the go-to honemeister. Has this forum heard of him? Who would you recommend? I would like to send it out to someone who can do it right but also don't want to pay more than what I bought the razor for, $88. Also, what is a great site for buying shave ready razors, is straight razor designs still the go-to?

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Yes SRD is the go to. But you may find one in the Buy/Sell/Trade area here on the forum.
Link is at the top of every page

Sorry to hear you dropped the razor. Most of us have either dropped a razor or dinged a razor.
I also agree the heel is the more serious issue. I would highly recommend you send the razor back to Brad for honing. He will send it back to you for round two. : )

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Originally Posted by lz6

Sorry to hear you dropped the razor. Most of us have either dropped a razor or dinged a razor.
I also agree the heel is the more serious issue. I would highly recommend you send the razor back to Brad for honing. He will send it back to you for round two. : )

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Yeah I believe everything was perfectly fine before the drop. I have some before pictures and I don't see the issue with the heel

Before https://imgur.com/gallery/Ybnxm

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Originally Posted by SRnoob

Yeah I believe everything was perfectly fine before the drop. I have some before pictures and I don't see the issue with the heel

Before https://imgur.com/gallery/Ybnxm

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I looked at the photo of the razor before the drop and the heel looks much better. The razor must have landed on the heel. Extra hollow ground razors, while they can be fine shavers, tend to be very delicate. You have to be very careful not to damage the edge.

If you were well satisfied with the edge (heel to toe) before the damage occurred, send it back to Brad at Maggard and tell him exactly what happened. You might want to email him with the photos ahead of time. Good luck!

The issue with the heel is that the edge is starting to lead back into the heel and that will cause the heel to lift up off the hone and cause a heel hook, and a wobbly edge. Correcting it at this point is super simple and any of the guys I know that hone would just fix that as part of a routine honing for a blade with that much wear. It is also in the pre dropped pictures. Due to lighting it is harder to see, but the hone wear on the stabilizer is there, and it is not a big deal, just part of the wear on the old girl.

Yea, dropping the razor had nothing to do, with the heel problem.

The heel squares off from honing, as the blade gets narrower and is then ridding on the stone, keeping the heel half of the razor off the stone.

Because the edge is not on the stone, the honer typically, uses more pressure, causing excessive spine wear over the heel, wear on the stabilizer and a wonky, un-even edge.

Correcting the heel, rounding it off, will move the corner of the edge forward of the stabilizer, taking it completely out of play when honing, making it easier to hone and a straighter edge.

It will also prevent a sharp corner and eventually a hook, if left unattended.

Here is what a repair would look like, the red circle is the radius that needs to be cut.

The green arrow is where the edge ends now, see how far past the start of the stabilizer it is and the, (Blue Arrow) is the wear where the stabilizer is hitting the stone. You can see it better, if you enlarge the photo.

The Red arrow is where the new corner will end, well forward of the stabilizer, and now the stabilizer will not touch the stone when honing, more importantly the edge will sit flat on the stone.

It takes less than a minute to fix on a diamond plate, just a few strokes and some blending, then hone normally.

It is fairly common, and I suspect, the cause of many honing issues for new honers on vintage blades.



Attachment 257351

In Short, Buy from SRD or here on the B/S/T.
Send it to someone. Back to ware you got it or to one of the great honing folks here on the forum. Stay in the family is what I say. Us being the family, and you cant go wrong! BTW, SRD is part of the family too. :beer1:

That razor should never have gone out the door with a heel like that. Just sayin' :shrug:

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

That razor should never have gone out the door with a heel like that. Just sayin' :shrug:

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I thought Brad was a well respected honemeister, could this have just been an oversight? Is it possible that I damaged the heel upon dropping it that it revealed something that wasn't obvious before the drop? I want to trust that I can get shave ready vintage razors and new Ralf austs from Maggards in the future, but what you are describing isnt sounding like that. Maybe we can get Brad here to explain what's going on?

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Like Euclid said, the hone wear on the stabilizer at the heel wasn't caused (or revealed) by you dropping it. If it just needed a quick scuff & buff cleanup and took a quick bevel it might've been a bit of oversight. That's another thing that happens to us all - no one's perfect. Considering you bought it from Brad @ Maggard, rather than dragging him here you might just want to contact him yourself and see what he says. Second what Rezdog said, easy fix and not a big deal. But it's much easier to fix this now, than a hooked heel later.

The bevel looks pretty even in spite of the hones obviously riding up on the stabiliser. So you can't criticise the honing, just that it hasn't been future proofed for situations like you just experienced eg dropping the razor.

There comes a point in worn razors where the thicker stabiliser raises the heel area off the hone & puts more wear on the toe. It obviously hasn't happened yet but the more aggressive honing it needs thru accidents will make it a reality. Like I said just not future proofed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SRnoob

Welp, looks like I have joined the idiot pool. Dropped my straight last night while I was cleaning it with a towel. I stropped and shaved on my neck to test it out and it seems OK, but I started shaving last week so I'm not an expert. It is a vintage razor and I never fully inspected the blade when I received it from Maggards, so I'm not sure what is a new or old marking. I do notice one area of the blade that seems to be indented/nicked when I catch it at the right angle of light.

I posted some pictures in the imgur link below. I can also post more

Any and all help is appreciated!!

https://imgur.com/gallery/dVr9e

Edit: here are some before pictures to compare against. Don't want people thinking Brad may not have honed properly.

https://imgur.com/gallery/Ybnxm

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As long as you didn't try to catch it your ok. Fingers and other parts of the body don't grow back.

I have never heard anything but praise for Undream's (Brads) work. If there was a problem with the heel from the get go, you should have called him straight away and allowed him to make it right. He has always been a stand up and reputable person, and a skilled honer