Thread: Any reason why a vintage razor can't be shave ready?

So i sent my razor off to be honed by a pretty reputable guy. I was surprised when he told me after honing my blade it would not pass his shave test. I am new to shaving but I have been told my vintage razor is a good quality one and its in pretty good shape. It's made in Germany and looked really good when I sent it to him. He was pretty quick to recommend having me but one of his razors if he can't get mine to "pass his test" he said he will work on it a little more and shave with it again in like 3 days to see if it is any better. Does this sound wired to anybody else. It seems to me that you can hone and sharpen anything to be shave ready

You didn't mention the brand, or the condition?...

What he said plus "Do ya have a pic" ?????

There can be "Brand" issues, there be "Condition" issues, and there can be "Geometry" issues so No not everything can be made "Shave Ready"

It doesn't take much heat to ruin the temper. I avoid anything that has been "cleaned" for this reason.

Yes, there are lots of reasons why a vintage razor may not be able to be honed to a shave ready state. The trick of course is knowing whether what you have going on is one of those reasons or whether you are just rubbish at honing. That is often where a reputable honer can either ease your mind or confirm your worst suspicions.

Just like a medical diagnosis, it is your razor and there is nothing wrong with soliciting a second or even third opinion if you are prepared to spend the money to do so. There are many pro honers out there - just make sure that if you do this you do your research and find a reputable one.

Good luck.

James.

What is shave ready for me might not be shave ready for you and vice versa. I've never had a razor that was honed by someone else and marketed as 'shave ready'.
However, after getting one or six vintage razors through various sources there were really one or two that truly were shave ready.

Someone who has just planned to shave with a razor might not get a good shave even with a professionally honed razor. It takes some time and patience.

There are some domestic lurkers who had asked me to hone their razors. I've said no at first; i rather borrow one of my razors first and if they are not happy with them, then there's no use for me to try to hone their razors.

blade was really pretty clean, it would shave the hair on my arm when I sent it to him

Thanks for the pic,,

From what I can see in the pic I don't see any issues, there could still be something I can't see but all the normal culprits have been eliminated with the pic..

Before I read it again,, it takes over 300F degrees minimum of heat to effect the temper, the edge needs to color shift before the temper is even in question, only inexperience or stupity can ruin an edge sometimes the combination of the two... That razor has no signs of these problems..


It sounds like the guy honing it is taking the correct steps, he has already said he would try to pull it into line, and re-test which sounds like a good plan to me... You said he was reputable, so it sounds like you did your homework, I wouldn't worry as of yet give him time to tweak the edge..

The make is a max mergenbaum 1000 from klon germany I didn't see any nicks in the edge at all but I am brand new to this. I was told that it was a good quality razor. Although there is not a lot of information on them out there

I'd do what Glen suggests and let this guy try again - we can all sometimes fall short on a honing job first time around. Maybe that is what happened with this person.

James.