Quote Originally Posted by chworby View Post
I hope it was only a $7 lesson - I guess I'll know when someone who knows what they're looking for looks at it. I'd like to get into restoring and do this one but I think I'll buy a really cheap one that's in really rough shape and make all my mistakes there. Any thoughts on that? I don't have a wood/metal working background - do most of you have that or just an interest in razors?
I think it depends on how far you want to go with a restore. I can clean up the blades pretty well with sandpaper (400- to 2000-grit) and have a basic honing set to sharpen razors, but I think I'm a ways off making the scales (handles). Check out "The Gallery" forum to look at some full restorations:
The Gallery - Straight Razor Place Forums

There's also an informative section in the wiki dedicated to repairs and restorations:
Category:Repair & Restoration - Straight Razor Place Wiki