Thread: Edgar Allen?

Just bought an Edgar Allen Co. Ld. straight at a local yardsale that my wife insisted we stop at. I paid five bucks for it. It looks brand new (after a light cleaning) , barring one small problem- a nick in the blade. Its quite small, possibly the original owner dropped it almost immediately after purchase and then relegated it to a drawer somewhere. I honed it with a Norton 4/8 for several hours last night while watching a Yankees game and it would appear that I barely made a dent in that steel. The nick is just large enough to go through the honed area of the blade, no visible cracks. Couple of questions- Is this a good quality straight worthy of the time it will take to hone the nick out? Should I try to locate a grittier stone somewhere to make this go a little faster or just take the long road and keep at it with the Norton? I'd really like to add this razor to my rotation if its worthwhile. Any help at all, gentlemen will be appreciated. Thanks!

I would suggest a 1k or even coarser depending on the size of the chip. Without seeing a photo it is hard to assess the condition of the razor in terms or whether it is of a quality to make it 'worth' investing the time to fix it. Chances are, if it is a vintage razor, it is a quality steel and worth doing. If you are going to be doing that amount of honing I would suggest 1 layer of electrical tape on the spine, at least until the chip is honed out. Circles are faster when it comes to removing metal but combine with x strokes and be careful to preserve the correct blade profile.

+1 on Jimmy's post. If the razor is vintage and from Germany, the US or England the odds are high that it is a good razor. Other points of origin have good razors but the track record from these three is very high.

If this is a hollow ground razor the chip may become a crack if shocked or stressed.

At worst, a 1 k is nice to have in case you knick one of your others....and it opens a whole new realm in shopping for new razors....

Thank you, everyone. I used the narrow side of my Norton to get the worst of the chip out of the blade. After consulting the WIKI, I'd say the photo of the damaged Fiodur straight (under honing a damaged blade) was almost dead on to what I had on my blade. Anyway, most of the chip is now gone. The next step is to buy a 1k. This hobby was supposed to save me money! Now, 4 blades, 1 strop, a Norton 4/8, two brushes, three aftershaves, 2 shaving mugs , and numerous other little items; I don't think the "It"s cheaper" argument is going to work with my wife anymore. Oh well.

Originally Posted by gadwaymc

Thank you, everyone. I used the narrow side of my Norton to get the worst of the chip out of the blade. After consulting the WIKI, I'd say the photo of the damaged Fiodur straight (under honing a damaged blade) was almost dead on to what I had on my blade. Anyway, most of the chip is now gone. The next step is to buy a 1k. This hobby was supposed to save me money! Now, 4 blades, 1 strop, a Norton 4/8, two brushes, three aftershaves, 2 shaving mugs , and numerous other little items; I don't think the "It"s cheaper" argument is going to work with my wife anymore. Oh well.

You could always try the 'you have to let the steel rest between shaves' arguement - it worked for me

Sounds to me like it's grown from a chore/task to a hobby. Everyone should have at least one hobby.