Until today I haven't enjoyed a new razor. I have been buying and learning with old Ebay special blades for quite a while now. 3 were shave ready and at least one really was while most were in a sad state but came back to useful life. I have bought some from the usual other sources of old razors some of them in remarkably fine condition and have honed every razor I own with the exception of the ones I just received and I am stuck.

I have a seven day set of JA Henckels #53 5/8 razors which have never been honed. They have some kind of factory edge which will strop up to a sad level of sharpness I won't put on my face. Some of them had residue of an oil or rust preventative but they are all pristine save for some darkness near the pivots on a few. Only one or two have even the light circles indicating they have been opened a time or two over the years and the scales look like they have never been handled.

Ever have a birthday cake which looked so good you just didn't want to cut it? I am inclined to hone one and send one out to be honed. I can shave those two and save the others. I feel conflicted about taking something old and using it up. Or is this just another Escher label issue? In other words is preservation important OR do those of us who collect these items do so primarily to use them? I am inclined to believe from my simple investigations to conclude the latter. Unless someone stops me with a compelling point of view it would seem the virgin steel is about to be wed to a course old stone.

Photos to follow.