Possibly my best Bay deal yet!!

Printable View

03-10-2016, 12:18 AM
Russell1989

9 Attachment(s)

Possibly my best Bay deal yet!!

Good evening gents, I took a gamble on the bay on a W&B turned out to be the only bidder on it and it arrived today. I could see from the pics there was a small chip mid blade but nothing I can't work that out. The razor arrived today and all I have to say is WOW! Either someone knew what they were doing with a restore or this thing has been locked in a time vault! Here are some picks, maybe you guys can help me out to soo just how much work has been done to it but I cant even see any hone wear at all on it. Or if it looks like it might have been reground that would be appreciated as well. It is a full 7/8 all the way down the blade and the closest I have ever seen to a full wedge yet, very very light hollow, maybe an half a millimeter at most. Any way on to the good part, the pics!!Attachment 230947 Attachment 230948 Attachment 230949 Attachment 230950 Attachment 230951 Attachment 230952 Attachment 230953 Attachment 230954 Attachment 230955 What do you guys think?
03-10-2016, 01:40 AM
RezDog

It is a lot of work to take even a reasonably clean blade to a mirror or near mirror finish. How far are you thinning of going. It could work as a simple steel wool and polish clean and then to the hones or you could really go to town on that one. The big question is how much is enough for you. The scales appear to be pretty nice too.
03-10-2016, 01:48 AM
engine46

It doesn't appear to have been reground to me! Nice score. Sometimes you get lucky. Others may have been watching it & then when it was ending, anyone intending on bidding on it was distracted like my dog always seems to get between me & my computer right when an item is ending but I can also snipe something too. Sometimes people will get a phone call distracting them from bidding or the SWMBO all need something at the moment...........who knows but there are still deals to be gotten on eBay although many things have skyrocketed into oblivion!
03-10-2016, 01:55 AM
Txshooter38

Engine you have luck like me! Nice catch on the Wade!
03-10-2016, 02:08 AM
engine46

1 Attachment(s)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Txshooter38

Engine you have luck like me! Nice catch on the Wade!

Yeah, I saw hat FBU pop up for a steal & I didn't hesitate, I snatched it up before someone else did! It had 1 watcher on it but I wouldn't have clicked on watch. I clicked on BUY! The seller said it was 1" wide but in the pic it looked like a little over 1".

Attachment 230967

It's in transit right now!
03-10-2016, 02:11 AM
Russell1989

RezDog, i was actually thinking about a simple clean and polish for it, its in such good shape with virtually 0 pitting that I want to keep it as close to original as possible. engine46, I have been know to pull off a few snipes myself, including on that actually started a bid war in the last minute that more than doubled the bid up to that point (was for a Geneva with gorgeous art nouveau era scales). This auction ended at 6 a.m. pst on a Monday morning so perfect timing for watchers to forget haha. Yeah looking at old prices and talking to friends that have been at this longer than I, finding a good vintage blade for cheap isn't really much of a thing anymore, but Still can be much cheaper than a new Dovo or TI though, and you get to learn how to work on them as well :rock:
03-10-2016, 02:13 AM
Russell1989

I want an FBU so bad! That right there is the blade I lust after every time I see one! Also what part of The Lone Star State are you guys from? If that's allowed lol, I'm originally from south Texas myself.
03-10-2016, 02:19 AM
engine46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russell1989

I want an FBU so bad! That right there is the blade I lust after every time I see one! Also what part of The Lone Star State are you guys from? If that's allowed lol, I'm originally from south Texas myself.

I'm in the Houston area.
03-10-2016, 02:31 AM
Russell1989

Oh nice, I'm originally from Corpus but stationed up here in Washington. And gorgeous FBU by the way.
03-10-2016, 02:41 AM
engine46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russell1989

Oh nice, I'm originally from Corpus but stationed up here in Washington. And gorgeous FBU by the way.

I'll know how gorgeous soon but I looked it over really quick & the scales are in great shape. They sometimes will have a crack or chips but this one appeared to be in pretty good shape. I saw one earlier (8/8) & I wasn't interested in it but it had a starting bid of $199 with minutes left on it so I just sat back & watched. I thought to myself, "someones gonna hit it in the last seconds" & when it was down to 2 seconds. I see it was one of our members who won it & I am so happy for him. They are always going up in price so sore power to him on his win! I like just kickin' back & watching them end sometimes. Then once in a while, one will slip under the radar with no bids & I'll go back to see if I missed something but usually I don't.
03-10-2016, 06:28 PM
Russell1989

There is one up right now that that is in reeaallly rough shape, scales completely broken at the wedge and the blade looks to have completely lost its smile and about an 1/8 inch. Salvageable to shaving condition but a lot of collector value to my eye is gone. It still has 3 days so we will see what someone is willing to pay for it lol. It would definitely take a ton of work and it would never be as great as it once was IMO.
03-10-2016, 06:35 PM
Russell1989

Also, I went with a moderat clean and polish on this one, left the spine and tang satin and what I would consider a near mirror on the blade faces (will post pics tonight) honed it up and shaved with it this morning, smooth as butter and silent as death!! Only had time for a 2 pass this morning because I woke up a bit late but it was the closest two pass I have gotten from any of my razors! Kind of makes me want to take the rest back to the hones to see if I can replicate it haha.
03-10-2016, 07:55 PM
engine46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russell1989

There is one up right now that that is in reeaallly rough shape, scales completely broken at the wedge and the blade looks to have completely lost its smile and about an 1/8 inch. Salvageable to shaving condition but a lot of collector value to my eye is gone. It still has 3 days so we will see what someone is willing to pay for it lol. It would definitely take a ton of work and it would never be as great as it once was IMO.

If that is the one still under $20, it looks rough! It needs a lot of work & you're right, it is probably missing at least 1/8" already from honing. It needs a set of scales & more. It'll be good for someone who wants to restore one or practice restoring one. It definitely needs some TLC!
03-10-2016, 09:04 PM
Russell1989

That'd be the one! Its actually my bid lol, if I do win it that's what I'd do with it but I wont be sad f I get outbid either. Mostly I'd just want to see if I was up to the challenge skill wise to be able to make it shave again. For what some of these FBUs are going for I'm almost positive someone will want it more than me. It'd be a fun challenge though.
03-11-2016, 02:36 AM
sharptonn

That is a heavy! Don't do much to it. All seems there?
03-11-2016, 02:51 AM
prodigy

Quote:

Originally Posted by engine46

Yeah, I saw hat FBU pop up for a steal & I didn't hesitate, I snatched it up before someone else did! It had 1 watcher on it but I wouldn't have clicked on watch. I clicked on BUY! The seller said it was 1" wide but in the pic it looked like a little over 1".

Attachment 230967

It's in transit right now!

Out of curiosity, what was the buy it now price?????
03-11-2016, 03:28 AM
engine46

Quote:

Originally Posted by prodigy

Out of curiosity, what was the buy it now price?????

As you know by now, I sent you a pm saying how much I gave for it. I could make a great profit on it, that's for sure!
03-11-2016, 10:23 AM
brandaves

Nice pick up, an excellent looking W&B!
03-12-2016, 03:24 AM
Ernie1980

Nice find! It is always nice to be the only bidder:)
03-12-2016, 10:14 PM
THORandODIN

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ernie1980

Nice find! It is always nice to be the only bidder:)

It sure is, picked upped a nice Wm. Elliot &Sons #21 this morning, only bidder also.
03-13-2016, 06:30 PM
Russell1989

Yes it is lol, I also got an old craftsman she'll and scotch horse hide strop the same way, it's in restorable condition and is currently drying between neatsfoot applications right now. I may have a bit of a problem, I'm sitting here restoring that but I know I'll never choose it over my kanayama that I got from a fellow member here.
03-13-2016, 11:04 PM
Russell1989

Quote:

Originally Posted by engine46

If that is the one still under $20, it looks rough! It needs a lot of work & you're right, it is probably missing at least 1/8" already from honing. It needs a set of scales & more. It'll be good for someone who wants to restore one or practice restoring one. It definitely needs some TLC!

Well I wound up winning that rough FBU, I asked for more pics of the blade next to a ruler and it looks to be 15/16 if not still full 8/8! And with the better pics it also appears to still have a good smile and even hone wear, we will see full detail of its condition when it arrives. Wish me luck, this will be the most intensive restore I have attempted yet!