I'll let you know.. Just purchased the 4000/8000
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Best advice I can offer is to tape it over with a good painters tape. Use a razor blade/x-acto knife to score the tape (score, don't cut or you'll mar the face of the razor) around the edge of the wash and tear off the excess. Then peel the tape off the blade and stick it on a cutting board. Lay new tape over it and cut to size. I'd do two layers if I were hand polishing, four if I were using any kind of power tool. Leave the first layer on the cutting board as your template. Wipe the blade with alcohol to clean it good, then stick your tape over the wash and polish away. If you need to replace your "sticker" you can easily cut more tape layers based off the one on the cutting board, and won't risk putting scratches in the blade around the gold wash (If you do, you'll never get them out without removing the gold).
Best of luck!
Just got the razor in the mail today. Its in as good shape as the photos show. There is some minor spots in the gold which will be interesting to deal with but in great shape. Pins are nice and tight, scales are clean and nick in blade doesn't look to bad.
I also got my waterstone from that company. The customer service is great. They even sent me a email asking about the product and checking to ensure I got it.
As soon as I effectively hone my other straight razor for the first time I'll start working on this one and post some updates.
First I agree -you stole it for that price,second unless your confident about your honing skills ,you might want a pro to clean it and hone her up as it so nice and you ll still be under $50,and practice on something that's not as pretty just my 2 cents
I picked up a norton 220/1k and 4k/8k set. It came with a lapping stone, honing tray and DVD for $119 at peachtree. So far they are entirely servicable.