Thread: Picked up some ebay razors, How'd I do? Order to hone?

Hey guys, So I bought some ebay razors to practice my honing. The purpose of this post is to find out if I purchased a "diamond in the rough" type of razor. With only the pictures that were posted on ebay ( I have yet to receive them) , my history/knowledge is quite limited since I cannot see all of the inscriptions. If anyone see's a razor and they know it's quality, history, or rarity, I would love to learn. I guess I am writing this broad post because I would like this information in hopes of prioritizing the order of razors I will attempt to hone. I don't want to try to hone my rarest/highest quality first and mess it up beyond repair. My plan was to save the red imp for last, since that one is my favorite. I always had case knives growing up Once I get the physical razors in, it will help my decision/history-investigation, but I sooo impatient!!
Genco straight razor with most of original box vintage antique neat handle swirl




VINTAGE/ANTIQUE - RARE - ROBERT LOW'S & SON STRAIGHT EDGE RAZOR NO. 1862



RARE VINTAGE STRAIGHT RAZOR AMBOSSMANN 101 F.lli LORENZI Italy SOLINGEN WITH BOX







VINTAGE GENEVA CUTLERY CO. STRAIGHT RAZOR & BOX




Red Imp 133

Congratulations! you've got some great razors there.

They all look to be in good shape with little hone wear. In terms of rarity they are all quite common and there are many on fleabay, never seen the Italian razor before though.
Like you said save your Red Imp till last. It will be a great shaver. You'll have to do some light sanding on the genco (top)to remove rust, cant see if the rust goes to the edge. As honing goes they should all be quite straight forward from what I can see.

Before starting read everything in the honing section of the libary. Do tape your spines, its not always required but as a beginner will help with hone wear.

Good luck.

The Red Imp looks like a winner!

[I think this might be Post 300 from me]

+1 on the first post.

Bob

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

save your Red Imp till last

Thats the hard thing, since it is arriving first!

I dont know how much experience you have with honing. Have you done any refreshing? This is by far and away the best course of action. Just maintaining a razor for a year or so will greatly help with the motor skills needed to keep the spine flat on the hone in smooth x strokes etc.

I really don't want to use tape Ill figure it out though

FYI I honed my first razor ever, the red imp. I got inpatient. The results turned out well!

That's a nice haul you got there! So you honed the Imp and said it turned out well...did you give it a test shave yet?

So, first use tape.

What hones do you have?

Second, use tape.

Read at least the first 3 threads in the honing forum.

Third use tape, you have some very nice razors there, that have gone almost a century with very little or any hone wear, would be a shame to put a lifetime of wear on in one honing or needlessly ruin any of them.

Oh and did I mention, use tape.