Thread: Question about some old straight razors I purchased

I have always been interested in antique straight razors and was able to pick four up at an auction last night.

Here they are:





This next one is my favorite but unfortunately has a huge chunk out of the blade. Is there any way I can have this fixed or will I just have to replace the blade?





I doubt I have anything of value here but wanted to make sure before I started reading up on how to restore them so I do not destroy something worth some money. Thanks for looking.

AndyC

Hi, Andy, and welcome to SRP! I'm as far from an expert on restoring blades as you'll ever find, but from pics of other blades I've seen here, it looks like your blade in the 3rd picture can be restored. Of course, it'll depend on if there are any fractures present on the blade itself. You may want to PM Lynn Abrams (SRP Founder and Master Honemeister) or gssixgun (Glen) with a better photo of the blade and ask his opinion.
See you in the trenches, buddy!
malpleleafalumnus

Welcome!!
They all should be fixable, hard to say for sure without better pictures, 1 and 4 look the best, 2 looks to have a lot of hone wear and 3 has the chip

I will try to get some better photos. Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it.

It can be honed out assuming the rest of the blade is sound. You will lose that much width in the blade though.

Welcome to SRP. IMHO, if you could fix it yourself it might be worth doing. If you send it out it will cost more than it is worth and either way, it ain't gonna be the same razor. Might be alright but it will be a 4/8 or less. I'd suggest put it away for now. If you intend to learn how to hone your own come back to it after you've gained some experience. The other two look like they would be worth having someone hone. Go to the SRP classifieds under member services and you'll find folks who do honing and resto for a nominal fee.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Welcome to SRP. IMHO, if you could fix it yourself it might be worth doing. If you send it out it will cost more than it is worth and either way, it ain't gonna be the same razor. Might be alright but it will be a 4/8 or less. I'd suggest put it away for now. If you intend to learn how to hone your own come back to it after you've gained some experience. The other two look like they would be worth having someone hone. Go to the SRP classifieds under member services and you'll find folks who do honing and resto for a nominal fee.

Which two of the remaining three are you referng to? I appreciate your input.

Originally Posted by AndyC

Which two of the remaining three are you referng to? I appreciate your input.

Andy, I said two but I should have said three. I would take a look at the bevels on those 3 without the chip. If there is no black corrosion or pitting at or close to the bevel that is a good candidate for honing. Also that the scales do not have any cracks. Particularly at the pivot. Those are the things I look for. If there is pitting or black corrosion at the bevel I always hone it down to bare solid metal as my next move. If pits or corrosion are too deep, at the bevel, the edge will fall apart like Swiss cheese as you remove metal. So check the bevels for that sort of thing.

From the pix it looks like they don't have hone wear and that is a good thing. The one with the faux bamboo scales .... I can't tell if that is some flattening on the sides of the spine or the flash. Anyway, a little hone wear is alright. It is just if it really gets heavy that it might be a deal breaker. I mean it will probably cost $20 per blade on average and then shipping with most who offer honing. Might not be that high, might be a bit more depending on who it is and what the razor needs. Only you know if it is worth that to you for each individual razor.