Thread: Trashed Torrey redux

I purchased this 6/8 Torrey off of the bay and was pretty bummed when it showed up with dremel rash. Apparently, the seller decided to do some clean up work AFTER taking the auction pictures. After the seller refused to return the "shave ready" razor and accusing me of the damage, I ended up filing a claim. Having been issued a refund, I ended getting to keep it and it ended up with the other junkers that have accumulated.

I pulled it out the other day and said, what the hell, and started sanding away. To my surprise most of the damage came out with crafty sanding and polishing and it actually turned out looking pretty decent.

Before:


After:

Wow! That did turn out pretty good. Well done!

Did you do the sanding by hand? What grit progression did you use, and how much time did it take?

A beautiful razor. And free, but for the aggravation.
I wonder what went through the seller's mind to make him do that? Doing you a favor? Did he think his pictures misrepresented the razor and he had to make it better? All he had to do was drop it in the mail.
The ignorance in play is frustrating, I see so many razors that I would have liked to bid on but they are ruined by buffing. They don't understand that their untouched vintage razors are worth more as is to anyone who collects and anyone who is in the know will pay more for them in that state.

Thanks, I probably spent about 5 hours on it, maybe a little more.

I started at 220 which may have been a little much, then 400, 600, 800, 1000. Mothers polish was the last step.

A cork screw and a 2.5x 1.5 flat wooden plane is needed to form the sand paper over certain areas. The mothers polish cuts pretty fast so I also like to do it by hand.

And yes, thankfully this has been my only bad eBay experience.

It would be better if the seller does not touch the razor. Everything is good in moderation. The result is razor ready pleased.

I only have had to contact eBay once with a problem razor. I to was given a complete refund but when I was refunded the money I sent the razor back. each two his own but I couldn't keep it if I got a refund.

That turned out really well. Very nice. I always see razors and other items where people will take sandpaper or a multitude of other items to try and remove patina or even grease and end up scratching or damaging the item more than just leaving it be. Just some metal polish would have worked alot better than taking something coarse to it. I was looking at an old .22 rifle once and was wondering what happened to it when the elderly lady came over and said that she took a scouring pad and sandpaper to it to remove the horrible patina that it acquired over the years since her late husband got it. Well it turned out the patina was the bluing and she ended up destroying it and didn't even know it. More often than not I find it better to just leave things alone. Especially if you don't know what you are working with.

I did very politely offer to return it and cover the shipping myself initially. The seller immediately turned nasty and so I was done.

I was given a curtesy refund so I don't think the seller lost out either.