You win some, you lose some...
But this time, I WON!!!
So, I bought a Genco pyramid 7 off the bay the other day. Nuttin' fancy, plain black scales, 5/8, round tip full hollow ground. I bought it with the intention of swapping the scales with a nice set from a razor my mother-in-law destroyed (read: tried using a 100 year old straight razor to scrape gunk off of some glass on the advice of my five-year-old son).
I think I coughed up may $15 or so for the razor. From the pics in the auction, it had no real blemishes to speak of, save a very minor line right where the blade meets the scales towards the toe when closed. I figured it would be easy-peasy-lemon-squeezey to clean that up with some Flitz or Blue Magic and the razor might also require a little time on the Nortons. The seller seemed honest and had good feedback overall, but by the description in the auction, didn't seem to know much about straight razors.
So, the razor shows up and out of curiosity, as well as an attempt to get an idea of what work may be needed to make it shave ready, I sterilized the blade and made a pass on my forearm. Arm hairs were popped like Orville Redenbacher, albeit not extremely smooth. So, I stropped the blade with 50 linen and 75 leather passes, lathered up and shaved.
One of my best to date. No tugging. No irritation. Baby Butt Smooth all over. Oh, and I was on about a four day growth to boot.
I'm super curious if was a new old stock blade. It doesn't appear to have any hone wear.
Definitely worth the $15 and an extremely lucky find!