Thread: predicting a razors potential

I was wondering how many of you tend to make a guess as to whether a razor's steel is up to the task of supporting a really top notch edge before you began honing?
I was just looking at an antique black horn scaled razor's edge with a 35X stereo microscope and thinking that this will probably hone up to a pretty nice smooth edge.
What got me thinking that was the fact that although the edge is very dull it lacks any obvious chipping or scalloping of its edge under the scope. Although it is not totally rust free, the rust that is there is away from the edge and has not etched out any deep depressions in the steel.
I have honed numerous old razors that have had a lot of bevel chipping and I can't remember a one of those ending up as smooth as I would prefer.
Any more when I see the chipping I imediately think this razor is going fight me all the way through honing and stropping and will probably never reward my eforts as well I prefer.
I start my analysis by brand name, country of origin, and condition, but have been fooled by those indicators of quality. Most brand names have produced razors of varing quality over their production years, some having been much better than others but not perfect in regards to quality control.
Do you guys have similar thoughts when examining an old razor?
Do you have any other indicators of quality, or a lack of a steel's quality, that can give a guy a boost in the right direction?

After restoring a few razors this is a lesson I have learned, I might have typed it here once or twice

Until you cut a clean shiny bevel there is no use in doing anything else to the razor, I do not judge a razor until I have cut the bevel, regardless of if it is in the restore pile or the honing pile, cutting that bevel set tells me everything I need to know..
Honestly when I look at the edge before I start work it is only to assess the edge to determine the direction I am going to need to go to get a Nice, Clean, Even, Bevel
Have I mentioned that it is all about the bevel

You can begin to get a feel for the different steels and the quality of those steels the more times you cut the bevel and the more different razors you cut the bevel on...

I've only had one razor, maybe two, disappoint me, and the more I think about it, the more I'm thinking it may have been my fault, not the razor's.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

You can begin to get a feel for the different steels and the quality of those steels the more times you cut the bevel and the more different razors you cut the bevel on...

+1...
I set 3 Dovos & a Dubl Duck yesterday. You could blindfold me & I'd tell you which was the Duck .
Not a slight on Dovos as they can be very good. Just that this batch all felt different.