i have had this razor for about 5 years, i am not sure how old it is but it has ivory scales, and for my 7 months of shaving with a straight razor, i have been trying to get this razor back in the game. BUt i never was able to re gain the razor edge for 1/4 of the blade it was always dull, i must have spend hours on my 4k stone just trying to get that edge. Finally i went on Amazon to buy a norton 220/1000 stone but i was a bit pricy. So i found a King 250/1000 Grit Combination stone, for about 30 bucks, and after a few minutes on the 220 i went to the 1000 for about 30 minutes, 30 more minutes on the 4k, finally 45 on the 8k. I have never gotten a razor this sharp before, it passes the HHT test, and shaves like a dream,