Thread: Can this bevel be saved?

I spend a lot of time on eBay, usually just watching auctions so I can get a sense of market value. But all that time means that I see a lot of junk and mistreated razors. I haven't started honing, yet, so I often wonder about the frowns, toe-heavy wear, and weird bevels that I see.

For example: can this old Wade & Butcher Celebrated Fine India Steel be made to shave well? It's certainly not the worst bevel that I've seen...not even close...but it happens to be the one I just saw.

Originally Posted by Dzanda

I spend a lot of time on eBay, usually just watching auctions so I can get a sense of market value. But all that time means that I see a lot of junk and mistreated razors. I haven't started honing, yet, so I often wonder about the frowns, toe-heavy wear, and weird bevels that I see.

For example: can this old Wade & Butcher Celebrated Fine India Steel be made to shave well? It's certainly not the worst bevel that I've seen...not even close...but it happens to be the one I just saw.

The link takes me to the store front?

Probably but it'll be a lot of work. You have a fairly deep chip at around 3/4" from the tip to hone past, and with the wedge grind that's a lot of steel to remove regardless of how you do it.

Then you have those big uneven flats along the spine and the bevel, which means that somebody already ground on it extensively and the master grind was not quite good either.
The possibility that somebody spend a lot of time with it and couldn't make it work is fairly significant, so I wouldn't take a chance on razor where the odds are likely pretty bad. There are plenty of razors in better condition, and I'd rather take a chance on something that doesn't show signs consistent with previous failure.

Oh! I had no intention of buying that razor! It's far too jacked up for my $$!

No, I was curious about whether the damage was repairable as a point of curiosity.

When I see a blade where the spine & edge steel looks "freshly" cut/honed(the steel shines more than the rest of the blade) I think of someone who found a razor with a ragged or chipped blade, then slapped it on a rough stone to remove the obvious & turn a quick profit.

Razor abuse,,,,,,,

If it can be fixed by removing of steel anything is repairable. That's the only thing we can do and adding steel is not an option.
The only question is is it worth it.

I mean at some point it's less work to start with a simple bar of steel and remove the parts that are not needed for a razor before it's hardened, then heat treat it, remove a bit more steel from the hardened piece and hone it.

Removing a lot of steel from the hardened object is, well a lot of work, and even though these old english razors are typically a fair bit softer than the later norms it's still a lot of work.

I dunno, I guess it depends on what you mean by saving the bevel. If you mean getting it to a state where it is nice and even the whole length of the blade, I would not think it worth the effort. If you can live with the unevenness and have the time to hone out the chip then it can be made to shave, I believe. The poor thing has it's problems for sure.

Bob

Not without regrinding, which in fairness is going to cost silly money for a razor that is not special.

I think it can be made to shave, but its days of attracting admiring glances are gone. It is one of the best arguments for taping spines I've ever seen.

What I've done in the past is take the razor to the buffing wheel using 180 then 300 grit greasless compound and remove all traces of the existing bevel then re-tape the spine use 4 layers of tape using a permanent marker mark the edge up both sides give the razor a few strokes on your 1K hone now this with give you an idea where you need to go.