Thread: Razors that are past it.

This thread for me has been most enlightening, us newbs have learnt one of the many ways that razors may well be passed their best,

I for one was aware of frowns, and smiles and mildly miffed but when is a frown a scowl ?, what is the measurement from the blade edge to the line taken between heel and point ?, i now know that if you can see a pronounced smile it is worn, the spine should not have much more than 1-1.5mm of wear on it. also what is still retrievable by the owner with work and effort, may not be cost effective to have professionally restored,

But for me, if the case was yes it can be done and yes it will work, then the cost would be justified, but in the case in discussion Neil could not guarantee that after the work was carried out the blade would be usable.

I absolutely respect that advice. But it is such a pretty razor.

I spent 2 hours on it last night and now have the frown down to about 5-8 thou, with the blade place edge down on straight edge the feeler gauges are inserted into the "frown" and at the centre i now have the above gap, with even tapers to to heel and point,

tonight i will strop it for an hour or so and see how we do.

Thanks to all contributors on this thread for the following lessons.

Dont buy cheap of ebay * and expect a silk purse

and dont buy a pigs ear and expect it can be turned into a silk purse.

if you see a blade on ebay* look good and close at the photo's and ask for more photo's.

if you want a guaranteed good blade buy from a recognised dealer i think there may be some on here.

* other auction sites are available.

Originally Posted by bambi

Right guys the photos below are of two razors i bought,

The top blade is a german made razor for a french retailer,

The spine shows heavy wear from honing a good 2-3mm maybe a little more, and the blade has a frown, this is where the shaving edge is recessed towards the spine, a normal frown is a slight curve not a ruddy great curve like this one.

to correct this would not really be possible,

The bottom blade is of a kropp razor sheffield made.

This also has a pronounced frown and slightly heavy spine wear approx. 1.5 mm

i was unaware that this was not normal when i bought these blades,

But i have to say that both of these blades shave very well and are very comfy to use, all i have done to use them is

a bit of time on a 1000 grit, then onto the oil stone and then, strop for 5 mins a day for a couple or three days, about 100-200 strokes a day, then each time i use em a quick 20 stops and we are good to go.

So although these blades dont meet the shaving fraternity's ideal, dont be put off buying this type of blade and using it, i dont have the cash to go buying top notch perfect blades,

these blades are getting on for 100 yrs old a bit of wear is part and parcel part of its life history.

i hope this helps a little.

ahhhhh!!!!!!!! thats crazy you shave with those. you sir are a bada** =]

Hi Th vvti714, yup i does shave with those, mind you the top one is now greatly changed, it dont smile no more :^( well not very much any way,

Were bred hard up here in Gods country ( yorkshire),