Thread: How far is too far gone?

When purchasing a vintage razor, as far as hone wear, how much wear is too much? I figure substancial wear effects value. Is there a piont of no return? I see really rare razors that probably shave ok but are heavily worn. I guess it personal preference.

The pros can hone darn near any razor,to me it get to the point of sorta like buying a car with 400K miles on.

It just depends how much the hone wear bothers you. If it's been properly honed, a razor will still be functional with quite a bit of wear on it.

As to value, a razor with little or no wear will be worth quite a bit more. The supply is lower, and they are less likely to have problems that need major correction.

Originally Posted by wyobarbershop

When purchasing a vintage razor, as far as hone wear, how much wear is too much? I figure substancial wear effects value. Is there a piont of no return? I see really rare razors that probably shave ok but are heavily worn. I guess it personal preference.

I recommend protecting the spine of the razor with a strip of electrical tape while honing.

There can be quite a bit. It mainly hurts the looks and the value. Tape on the spine during honing will help, and protect it.

Too far gone is something you know when you see. But there are other factors to consider, as well. When someone shows me a razor I think is finished, for example, my first question is usually "does this have any sentimental value to you?" If yes, that will extend the razors life.

I'll go against a few posts here and say don't tape the spine when you hone it. When a razor is made, it has a correct ratio of spine width to blade size for it to sit on the hone to set the proper angle of the bevel. When you tape the spine, you screw this up and the more you hone a razor with tape, the worse the bevel angle gets until you have a razor that looks OK but you will struggle to get a shave ready edge on. So what is too much wear? Whatever you're comfortable looking at and that still still produces a shave ready edge is still good. I've got some old wedges with what some people would say is horrible hone wear. I think they still look OK and they still shave well so I'm happy to hang onto them.

I have an old Bresnick hand forged that is honed at the toe so bad it is embarrassing. If I knew then what I know now I never would have bought it. But you know what? It's in my rotation and gives a great shave.