humpf.
I can see this topic from a lot of angles.
Angle one: If you buy something, it is yours. You can melt it, burn it, frame it, grind it to dust, or urinate on it...it is yours to do with as you please.
Angle two: Learning a new difficult skill is much harder to learn if you must simultaneously learn how to fix the damage done by the last guy(s) failed efforts to learn or otherwise do the job right. It is like the old mechanics joke, "I charge 30 bucks to fix this, but if you tried to fix it already, I'll charge 60". In simple terms, honing a NIB quality razor (that is not quite shave ready) is a much easier task than repairing one that has not been shave ready in decades...and was perhaps bouncing around in a drawer for the last few decades.
Angle three: It hurts to see someone take a nice vintage 7/8 smiling razor that has some rust, and hone it to a straight edge 5/8...but that hurt is *MY* problem....oops that is angle one again.
Angle three.one: A "cheap" razor can be a lot of things. If we are talking about how I define cheap (i.e. lacking inherent quality and generally worth LESS than the price paid) then by all means, grind away (but again...it is a darn shame that someone is trying to learn honing on a razor that will refuse to take a decent edge). If we are erroneously using the word "cheap" where we should be using the term "in-expensive" then there can be several possible outcomes:
Outcome A: If the guy buys an old German Imperial razor for $10, and learns to hone on it successfully, but breaks the scales in the process (like I did) and then makes some modern G-10 scales that look all wrong, but function well...I would say he (or I) escalated the value in his (my) eyes and did the world a service, because he (I) transformed a $10 razor-like-object that had no value other than what a tiny handful of collectors might assign to it into a viable shaving tool that now regularly sees the light of day and is appreciated in use, are you really going to argue that this is a bad thing?
Outcome B: If the guy snatches up a bargain on a highly desirable (at this moment in time) razor like object (let's say a W&B that has some surface rust) and fails to transform it into a usable razor and cracks the blade with his ham-fisted efforts. We might be collectively bummed out...BUT
We really ought to realize a couple things:
Thing One: His destruction of this razor only acts to increase the value of the other viable examples that still exist in the world. That is, for every razor destroyed, there are fewer that remain...and they are therefore rarer.
Thing Two: We are no more entitled to that razor than he/she was...in fact he/she is more entitled to it since he/she bought it while the rest of us were sleeping at the wheel.
Thing Three: Perhaps these events taught the guy a thing or two and he/she now appreciates the skills/value of qualified razor restorers a bit more...and that is a good thing for those of you that do this for money (weather a living or just supplemental income).
Thing Four: The "value" of this razor is somewhat trend related. That is, today all the guys on this forum seem to think that W&B wedges are the bees knees...but a few years from now perhaps they will command far less as the trends swing toward extra hollow, more delicate razors that arguably stood a greater chance of NOT surviving the test of time because they are a bit more delicate and there is a lot less steel to rust before the blade is gone. Sure, either way the razor is an old item that has intrinsic value (or cool factor) because it is old...but the simple fact is, it only is worth what a guy will pay for it when you try and sell it.
Thing Five: If you get worked up about this, you have the problem...because you are allowing a person you do not know, that you may never meet, that does not give a rip about you, to impact your well being...and that simply is not healthy. I am reminded of the wrinkled Simmons razor I bought for too much (before discovering that it was badly damaged). I repaired it to usable, but had to remove about 1/8 inch of the toe to remove the wrinkle in the blade. In my eyes I had a ruined razor that now could be used, but had ZERO collector value due to the extent of removal that the razor demanded...so I went further and added jimping to the spine that added value to ME. Then some guy on this forum comes along and scolds me for doing it. I shrugged...it is mine! I did care what others thought, otherwise I would not have posted images of it, but I sure don't care that someone disapproved of my actions.
Are you still reading my rambling thoughts and catastrophic run-on senences? Wow, I guess I should apologize now :D