Thread: "Oh Fudge"

Well to start off I would like to thank everyone who makes this forum possible, without you I would not have found my new hobby.
So I'm the new guy in town, actually registered for the forum today. I am always browsing the forum for information and finding it quite readily. But this I'm not 100% sure about. I bought my first straight razor (and package) from Vintage Blades and had it pre-honed by Mr. Abrams. All was well and going fine for a few months, loved the shaves I was getting. Started to advance my stropping technique also....... but I guess I got too cocky. As I was stropping I dropped the razor, damaging the edge. (sorry Mr. Abrams) Its not too bad, it just seems like the edge is folded over a bit in some spots, (I can feel metal catching on my skin as I rub my finger from the spine too the edge, I can also see the damage) fortunately no chips. I ordered the Norton Waterstone package I found in one of the threads which will arrive Tuesday. Ive been studying all the information on honing for a few weeks and seem to get the jist of it, just need some personal experience now. But my main concern is how to start to get those "folds" out of the blade? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
and BTW, "only I didn't say fudge, I said the word, the queen mother of dirty words the F dash dash dash word"

Hard to know how badly damaged your razor is by the description.
Of course, it is up to you but you may want to send the razor back to Lynn to get it in condition and learn honing on a blade that has no damage.
As I think about it, you may want to pick up a razor off of this forum that you can use as a practice razor for learning your honing. There are often razors that run around $40 or so.

I myself would send it back to Lynn telling him what had happened and let him refurbish the blade, if you are new to this, why experiment and take the chance on potentially damaging the razor any further. I am not trying to belittle any skills you possess, I dont know your skill level. But Lynn could look at it, give an assessment of its needs, then correct it or extend advice so you can fix it. Pictures would be nice if you want more membership input/advice. Dont feel too bad, I did something similar a couple of months back and had to fix a couple of micro sized chips, and despite my Christian leanings the F-word seemed quite appropriate at the time.God bless and good luck my friend, welcome to the nieghborhood!

I whacked my first razor on a coffee mug before I even used it. Brilliant. Of course that was better than the time I somehow lost control stropping and whacked the edge on my thumb. OWWWWWWW. I thought it was dull, but try telling that to my thumb.

Welcome aboard Moose,
I am one of those folk who believe in doing everything yourself if at all possible. I have always sharpened my own straights, even though at times I would be better off using the services of one of the "gurus" of sharpening. If you have sharpened everything under the sun, moon,and stars you might want to go for it on the straights. More likely than not though, you would be much better off starting with a perfect edge. I recommend that you send it to Lynn for sharpening, then when it dulls you can give it a touch-up on a 12 K, Swatty, or pasted bench strop and leave the heavy duty sharpening till you are comfortable and proficient with the finishing steps.
Best of luck to you. Ken.

Honestly this could be a major pain to get out requiring the re-building of the edge from the ground up or even just a easy quick honing with your 4/8K.

I would be able to tell by looking at it under my microscope but from your description it doesn't sound good. I would also reccoment sending it out for repair, it could be quite the job too.

damn, looks like i'm going to have to send it back...... been using my old mach 3 turbo for the past week or so and its just not the same..... looks like i might use it for a little longer! I tried taking pics of the blade but i just couldn't seem to get a good shot that showed the damage.... that and i dont know where my digital camera is so i was using my phone. guess its not as good as i thought. well thanks for the advice, and the warm welcome of course!

Let us know when you get it back and how it goes.