Thread: newbie question about restoration/honing

Hey guys - First post, but I really feel like I've been around a while. I've been trolling around for a while & have really appreciated the advice I've read. I've switched off aerosol & have a tony miller strop coming soon. It's already making a difference, but I want to get rid of my cartridges. Which leads me to my question.

There was a local auction featuring a lot of straight & safety razors. I ended up paying ~$70 for 9 or so razors of various hefts and sizes (as well as condition) and a couple of safety razors. Several were marked "Sheffield" which I've read is a higher carbon content than, say, stainless steel. And even if that weren't worth anything, I'm looking at this as a set of blades to see what I like & what I don't like.

I took ~4 of the blades to a knife sharpener to have them honed. I got them back today and tried the HHT, which they all failed miserably. We're talking significant force needed behind a hair before it cuts. So I learned not to send a razor to a knife man.

So anyways, I'd like to eventually shave with the things. I know there are a few people on the classified section offering honing service, and I figure I'll send a few out to get restored/honed. I know better than to ask for advice on which honing service is "best".. I expect they're all superb. What I'm more looking for is if anyone knows a honing service that also likes a good restoration challenge. I figure I'll send maybe one garbage blade alone with a nicer blade or two just to see what kind of results can be obtained. Some of the blades have some pretty terrible discoloration/pitting.

And in general, I'm curious if this is a reasonable way to start out. I think I was fortunate to get so much potential for so cheap (and why I don't mind getting them restored... <$10/blade seems like a steal).

Thanks in advance.

Glen does restores and honing too.

His handle is gssixgun, and from what I have seen/heard he does one hell of a job.

He is also a really nice guy too. PM him and see what happens.

About a month ago I received a razor from a member who had taken his razor to a knife guy. The blade he sent me had a frown with a tooth in the middle, you could actually see where the knife guy had the blade on his belt grinder. It all worked out alright in the end, but just a reminder, a razor is not a knife.

First, welcome to SRP!!!
I think you have a good idea with trying out some of the guys in the classified section. I think you also learned a valuable lesson about sending your blades out to a knife sharpener without destroying a really good blade.

Everytime I see a thread like this one a shiver goes down my spine, with visions of huge uneven grinding in the bevel.....

Pics of the blades would really, really, help of course.....

Welcome to SRP .......

Thanks for the tidbits so far.

One of the things I found really curious about this guy was that he said he had a leather belt to put on a belt sander sort of machine that made the honing go a lot quicker. That kinda made me hopeful that he had more of an idea about what he was doing. He was also showing me 12k grit stones he had in stock! Lesson learned, though. I'm yet to test the chef's knife I also had him repair. I really hope he did a better job with that.

As for pictures -- I got a few before my camera battery gave out. Apologies for hard lighting and poor focus - I'm using an LCD as a softbox and don't have a macro lens.









Larger images are at this directory and I do take requests. I'll post some more when my battery recharges.

Last one gets 2 pictures. It's my favorite. It seems to sing and is the shortest one I've got. Unfortunately, it's twin is has no handle.

The pics dont show any damage, but I can garuntee you the edges are not right and that those razors need to be honed. They look to be good ones and well worth saving.

A few more pictures now that my battery is back:


If anybody can tell me what the tiny razor in the middle is for, I'd really like to know. I can't figure it out.



I really want that spot removed. It looks like it is above the metal, but I've read not to use standard metal cleaners/abrasives. I suppose that'll be one of the restoration jobs.



I really like this guy & his twin. Very light/small.

Looks like you've got some potential diamonds amongst them. Those Torreys are beautiful!

Nice score on those blades. Does not look like any serious damage was done. I am sure that gssixgun or any of our other vendors could do magic with those blades.