Thread: how to tell if vintage is worth buying

im looking at maybe grabbing a vintage sr lot from ebay. and im just wondering what some experienced people would say are things to look for when buying online from places other than srp classifieds

I have purchased and sold German, English, American, Italian, French and Spanish vintage blades. I look at the quality of the blade. How much work or condition is it in. Original scales in good shape increase the value. If you can restore the razors, you are ahead of the game, if not, you need to see the total cost to bring the razor up to your expectations. There are some very good razors for great prices. The main thing is to keep an eye out for the right razor. I really like Sheffield razors like Kropp and Bengalls. They shave great. Shaving blogs and ebay are good sources but buyer beware. Check the edge carefully for rust or pitting.

The list can be long depending on
Chips
Cracks
Rust
Frown
Pits
Blemish
Hone wear
Scale condition
Regrind
These are the obvious flaws.

Harder to see
Photoshop pics
Pics taken to hide some of the above
Refusal to send more pics
Denial of a possible flaw
Outrageous price
Outrageous shipping fees

Hope this helps

yea thats kinda what i was under the impression of. but i saw a lot of 12 for like $20 and was thinking even if half were worth it would still be a good deal. with that being said, what would go into restoring a blade?

Go to the Workshop forum here. There is a a ton of info on restoration

I was very fortunate with a few of my eBay finds but sought the advice of a mentor here before I pulled the trigger on them. Lately, I have found several others that he's advised me against purchasing. I finally tired of hassling him for expert advice over my RAD tendencies and figure I will purchase razors that don't need purchase advice and/or restoring once I'm able to.

For now, I live vicariously through guys such as 'rolodave' above. (He's an unabashed Bruno blade hoarder. )

For restoring it helps if your already outfitted with a garage full of bench style power tools, buffers mainly. Plenty of 1k to 5k W/D sandpaper. Some 3M marine metal polish and restorer. Small ball and peen hammer with a tiny anvil for setting new pins. Common parts like 1/16" brass rod with related hardware. There are several sellers on the bay that sell razor restore kits that have all the little washers and stuff, shop around though because some of those sellers are a lot more expensive than others for the same thing. I start all my restores with a heated 5 minute chemical bath in an ultrasonic cleaner, this will remove anything that is easy to remove, like mainly the grunge in between the scales.

And then for picking razors to restore I take a quick glance at the blade to look for any chips out of the edge or broken scales. Unless you plan on making scales or collecting a bunch of them for future use if those two things are ok then I will look closer at the blade for a rust free and straight edge. Then if that is acceptable I'll determine whether or not I want to spend the time sanding the rust out by hand, I do not use a buffer, makes the job several times easier though. Black metal is a bear to deal with by hand, I buy Matador 1.2k, 2k, 3k and 5k 11" X 9" sandpaper and cut it into 6th's. I've started to use disposable blue latex gloves to keep my hands clean.

Here is a good read from a few years back


http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...eb-2011-a.html

Read through this section;

http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...traight_razors

The best advice i could give you is dont buy "alot" from a seller that sells Razors, Not always the case but there either not worth restoring, cracked, chipped, 4/8 in width. Just my opinion, Ty