Thread: 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.

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.

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.

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.