Thread: Hone wear on older razors

Is this something to be concerned with? I've been tempted to pick up an older razor but been put off due to the hone wear.

As long as it's not too much or terribly uneven it's nothing to worry about.

Remember that the old-boys didn't use tape as many do today, so finding a vintage razor without hone wear at all is not all that common.

Unless it is extreme it's more a cosmetic thing and won't affect the utility of the razor.

I think that people get too hung up on hone wear. The razor spine was designed to wear down as the razor was honed. If the blade looks like a toothpick then I'd be concerned. I've got a John Heiffor tucked away that cosmetically looks very average due to hone wear. The thing is though, it is a fantastic shaving razor. It is a near wedge of around 6/8. If I put it on ebay I'd be lucky to get $20 for it but it shaves as good as other razors I've paid a few hundred dollars for. I try to judge a razor by it's overall condition as opposed to a single aspect.

I guess I should have clarified that I'm not concerned with the cosmetics of the hone wear, but if the worn spine would cause issues of further honing down the road.

The spine should only wear at the rate it was designed to in comparison to the blade so it should not interfere with honing.

The thing I look for is uneven hone wear. Could be from a poorly ground blade but more likely from improper, heavy handed, honing. An example being where the point end is much narrower in width than the heel and the point end of the spine shows much more wear than the middle or the heel end. Then there is the 'frown' where the edge is beginning to take on a U shape and generally the excessive spine wear is more in the center and out both ways. You couldn't give me one of those for free.

Razor will work properly. I personally stay away from razors with hone wear but have shaved with them and never noticed a difference. If looks do not matter, you can save a ton when buying razors with hone wear.

I've just recieved an ebay wedge and its got a good amount of honewear, all I'm going to do is add a couple layers of tape and I should be good to go. Am not too concerned unless the honewear looks really uneven.

I really have a problem with Hone Wear. If you can see it on the eBay photo, I stay way from it.
There's some many nice razors that need a good home that done have the excessive wear.