new project/toy

i bought an old straight off a friend of mine. it was a litle rusted but that was a simple fix. so now to my questions 1) does anyone here know anything about SALEMMARKOS&BROS thats whats stamped on it and its the only markings on the razor. 2) its stained up but on that im gonna wait till i can get pix to show you what im talking about. basically i want any info about the company and how to make the blade beautiful again. Oh yea i also got a union razor hone info on that would be appreciated as well

Markos & Bros razors were made in Germany. They don't have much intrinsic collector value, but it might be a decent razor.

There are literally hundreds and hundreds of now defunct razor brands out there. Many of them are no longer traceable.

It is unlikely you will be able to make this razor shave with the union hone. Mainly because it takes some time and practice to learn to hone, and you need to learn with hones that are known quantities, i.e., correct grit levels and properly lapped and prepared. Honing also take practice, and restoring edges is fairly difficult, an advanced honing task.

It took me 8 months of working on old razors several hours a day to get to a point where I can restore an old edge reliably. In addition, after working on hundreds of razors, I ended up discarding 10 or 15 which simply could not be made to shave (which is probably why they were in good condition!). Some of those were from very reputable makers.

My suggestion: Put your heirloom aside. Purchase a shave-ready razor from one of the vendors here, or from a honemeister, and use it to learn to shave. You won't be able to hone if you don't know how to shave.

Once you have learned to shave and have a good razor with a shave-ready edge, you will have some way of judging your progress honing. Then take out your heirloom and give honing a lash.

Just my $.02 worth.

Paul

thanks for the info... but the honing and restoration of the edge doesnt scare me i happen to do rather well at that as i have restored many knives to their original beauty. learning how to shave i know how to shave with a straight i had my first at the age of 14. just my parents decided to remove it from my possesion so i quit up until recently almost 10 years later. and i now realize that there are things that i didnt know then so i am learing a little but have good control over the blade. my main thing is i would lik to restore the rest of the blade as it was rusted and once i removed the rust i seen that t is badly stained. and i cant use the same methods i use to restore a knife blade to restore this razor i have already tried. i would like to know how to get rid of the stains. i do thank you for giving me the info on the maker of the razor and telling me that it would be n my best interest to buy a shave ready from someone here at SRP i appreciate that a whole lot. thanks for looking out for a "new guy" ummmm.... as for the edge of the razor it will already shave with what little work i have done to it. it still pulls a little but im going tomorrow and get some chrome oxide since i have heard on here that it cleas up an edge rather well. within another few days i should have the edge where it needs to be.... just need to pretty up the blade and scales.

Sounds like you are off and running!

Take a picture of it and post it here, we'd love to see it.