Thread: pitting on edge

Well it didn't take long from this this thread .http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...zor-maybe.html

I ended up buying another razor. I was pleasantly surprised at the condition. But upon closer inspection, I noticed some pitting near/on the edge. I contacted the seller and he is more than willing to offer me a refund. It is a vintage Thiers Issard. I am pretty sure its at least a half way decent blade.

Is the pitting a big deal? Should I expect this from a vintage razor? I did a little research on this forum and I guess it's on a case by case basis. Here a a couple of pics of the razor in question.

Thank you for any help



Here is another pic with arrows. It has a couple of spots of pitting, but the coloed in arrow is the one I am concerned about.

There is no way of knowing for sure without getting it on the hones

You would have to be able to hone past the pitting and it can extend below what you can see as well as it can extend up as well. So when Glen says he can't tell without getting it on the hones that is a pretty concrete answer. It is hard to understand who knows how much around here to begin with, but Glen has a TON of experience at honing and restoring.

Thank you gentlemen. I don't think I am going to roll the dice with this one. I think I will take the seller up on his offer for a refund. Thanks again.

Yea, I'm afraid that pitting is a deal breaker, you'd have to hone that razor down to a 4/8" to get past it.
Just happened to me only on a cheap razor, pitting was at several places across the edge. Couldn't see it close enough in the ad.

That stuff looks pretty deep. I agree that it's tough to tell from these pictures. This is the kind of stuff you want to look closely for before making a purchase. Once in a while you get some nasty looking pitting that will surprise you once you get it on the stones. Ideally you want to clear the pitting from the entire bevel if you can, but you really only need to get a clean edge for a comfy shave.

Is pitting a big deal? Depends on where it is, how deep it is, and how much work you're willing to put into the blade. If it's shallow and not near the cutting edge, then I tend to view it as character and don't mind it so long as it isn't getting worse. If it's shallow and on the cutting edge, I just hone past it and move along my merry way. If it extends deeper than it looks, it could be a nightmare to hone past.

Should you expect it with a vintage? Depends on where you're getting it from. On blades from Ebay it's something of a fact of life. Old steel gets rusted and pitted, ebay sellers may or may not clean it up adequately. If it were sold as shave ready from the classifieds here for example, I might expect the edge at least to be free of pitting. Further back from the edge I wouldn't mind so much.

If you were expecting a shave ready blade, then I might take the seller up on his offer for a refund. Or maybe an exchange if he has a similar offering that's verifiably in better condition.