Hone wear judgment

I just bought my first vintage razor off eBay (see link)...there is evident hone wear...but I would like opinions that could be used by me, and other members, to help evaluate future vintage razor purchases. How would you qualify the hone wear on this razor?

http://photos.msn.com/Slideshow/View...24%26index%3d0

Use whatever description you think is appropriate...but perhaps a scale of 1-5 would be useful where 1 is new, 3 is 50% of life remaining, and 5 is time to chuck.

Also, how much life, in terms of either time (i.e. years) or number of remaining hones, does this razor appear to have left? How much will taping the spine extend life? Indefenitely?

Finally, does anyone have experience with a Zeepk strop? I know Zeepk is generally low quality...but this strop looks like it's top quality...what characteristic would differentiate a good strop from a low end strop?

Hard for me to say. I'd say the imbalance is more important than the amount with this blade. I'd guess that the wear was moderately uneven and minimal overall.

I would guess the blade has about 30-40 years left of use. Tape changes that equation.

I would be concerned about the amount of hone wear after its honed up too, because that might change my perspective. I would probably re-hone everything evenly, even if that wasn't the right thing to do.

Now, I'm going to crawl back from the big long limb I'm hanging on and go back to moderating! :)

Alan I love that you crawled out on that limb :roflmao

I would barely leave the ground unless that razor was in my hands, it seems to have an straight bevel even though the spine is slightly uneven, is the bevel sharp??? is it smooth??? is this razor going to take 20 strokes on the 4k or 100 until I can touch the razor I couldn't tell, so I'll stay right next to the trunk on this one :D

Now if you asked would I bid on this one??? the answer would be yes the scales look good from what I can see ($20) name brand razor ($10) so I would bid $20 and hope for the best... the cheapest scales from Classicshave run $10.99 plus shipping so any rusted broken bladed razor with nice scales is at least worth that....
That's 1 step onto the limb :nj

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Genco_Glider

Finally, does anyone have experience with a Zeepk strop? I know Zeepk is generally low quality...but this strop looks like it's top quality...what characteristic would differentiate a good strop from a low end strop?

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Can’t say much about the razor (somehow the link wont load in my browser) but here is my take on the strop.

One day it showed up at my doorstep rolled up in a 7x7x4 inch box.

The leather is a little “rough”, has absolutely NO drag on the razor, “dry as a bone” so there is no “flex”… think… cardboard box.
The linen side is some kind of man-made leather… like the stuff that makes running shoes, with the foam/cloth backing. Heavy drag on the razor… like stropping on rubber.

Check out the pix first the front view, the second the back view of strop and linen. Notice it looks much better on Ebay. Also notice the grains? A good strop should be nice and smooth...

It DID put an edge on my razor… but that's a long story, too long to post here.
Why I bought the ZeepK?...... don’t ask… also too long to post here!

Every one here will tell you “buy a TM strop” because it’s very good quality, I agree…. I bought a TM very soon after the Zeepk.

You can get a Latigo for a few bux more than the Zeep.... and it wont waste your money.