new bonafide razor from ebay

Hi,

I just bought a razor from ebay that is in pretty good quality, with the engraving "Bonafide" on it. From a thumb pad test, it feels less sharp than my other shave ready razor I use. If I look at it with my naked eye, it looks pretty straight, but if I examine it under a microscope, I can see microscopic cracks in the blade. I only have a 12k Naniwa superstone, so I was wondering if I will need to invest in another stone of lower grit level, such as 10k, 8k, or even 5k. Also, which stone should I start honing with in the beginning? I think the bevel is already set on the blade, I just want to bring it back to a shave ready condition.

If you could post up some pics it might help. But for an eBay blade I always start honing it from 1k up so I know the bevel is set correctly.

thanks meleii, so what you are saying is that you always set the bevel yourself when you get an ebay razor? i made pictures this morning, hopefully they will be useful.

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Yes unless I know the seller sells shave ready blades. Its just a preference for me to redo the bevel. That way I know the blade will be sharp to my standards, or at least to my capabilities.

I hope you mean microscopic nicks and not cracks in the edge. Anyway from the pics I tell much about the edge but the razor looks to be in decent shape with a small and fairly even bevel. There is a bit of hone wear on the spine. As you only have a 12K Nani you could try touching up the edge and see where that gets you.

Normally I put tape on the spine and do a bevel reset/honing so I know what square one was with a used razor, especially if it has a suspect edge.

Bob

Unless a blade comes from one of the reputable members here on SRP I always reset the bevel that way I know what the edge is really like and don't have to guess. There have been a few occasions the edge felt real good, I would check the edge with the microscope and if I saw no chipping I would just strop and shave....ended up with a couple good ones but that doesn't happen very often.

I have only had 1 razor from ebay that wasn't completely honed from bevel set and it is like NOS and I cant even tell if it has been honed before and all I did was touch it up after stropping to check it. If it has cracks or nicks setting the bevel again is a safe bet.

yeah, microscopic nicks, i can only see the nicks when using inspection by magnification. its a little intimidating for me to try and set a bevel, especially considering I only honed once before for retouching shave ready razor, but based on everyone's replies I got inspired to try it. i think that means that i need to purchase the rest of the naniwas from 1k up to 10k. still not sure whether i need to get an extra bevel setting stone such as king 1k or chosera. from what i read online, it looks like some people set the bevel with a naniwa SS, while other people prefer to have a dedicated stone for bevel setting only.

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Originally Posted by ecks

yeah, microscopic nicks, i can only see the nicks when using inspection by magnification. its a little intimidating for me to try and set a bevel, especially considering I only honed once before for retouching shave ready razor, but based on everyone's replies I got inspired to try it. i think that means that i need to purchase the rest of the naniwas from 1k up to 10k. still not sure whether i need to get an extra bevel setting stone such as king 1k or chosera. from what i read online, it looks like some people set the bevel with a naniwa SS, while other people prefer to have a dedicated stone for bevel setting only.

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I use the naniwa ss stones. If your budget conscious you only need the 1, 3 or 5, and the 8k. I have the 1, 5, 8, 10, and 12 and very rarely use the 10. I have 2 razors that I like the edge off of the 10 more than to 12.

I will second that you don't need the full set. Started with the naniwa 1, 5 and 10k ss stones. Of course have bought a few more since then.

oh okay, its good to know that you dont have to buy the complete set at once. is there any difference to how you would progress with the honing if you had a 5k as opposed to 3k, or if you had a 10k as opposed to 8k? it is probably more of a preference thing, but i am just wondering if you need to make more strokes with the greater grit hone but you are less likely to make a mistake, or something like that. thanks to everyone for the help!