Thread: Is it worth trying to save this razor?

Just got this of ebay. Didn't see it in the pictures, but there's some pitting that goes all the way down to the edge.





If it's not worth saving, then I can try and contact the seller for a refund, but I've already left feedback and the seller was completley unresponsive to emails, so I'm not sure if it'll happen.

Did the seller mention the degree of pitting in his description? If not you may be able to get eBay to get you a refund. If you did not pay too much you can try to hone it and see it the pitting affects the edge. You will not know until you try. Good luck.

Originally Posted by bouschie

Did the seller mention the degree of pitting in his description? If not you may be able to get eBay to get you a refund. If you did not pay too much you can try to hone it and see it the pitting affects the edge. You will not know until you try. Good luck.

I didn't pay much, but I think it was too much for what I got.

I'll try to hone it, since I was going to get a hone anyway, but even if I can get an edge on it, it'll be more expensive to restore than it's value. The scales are warped as well, and the pins are loose.

I've not had any problem once i honed/ground past surface pitting at the edge. I have one or two with pitting, maybe more

Learn on it. Don't fret too much, you are going to "waste" some money in this game.

If you feel seller was dishonest/misleading, by all means "open a case" and request a partial refund, or full. But if full, you'll need to send it back and lose the second half of your learning experience.

A lot of sellers don't have ANY clue about straight razors. An example is all the various dimensions they'll give you, when we only want the ONE.

What was it about that razor that made you make an offer?

If you are buying on EBay expect this to happen. I only buy from sellers who post good clear photos and ask questions if there is any doubt. Even then, something’s are not as represented.

On the other hand, I have got some smok’en great deals that were much better than I expected for what I paid.

EBay is a crape shoot as you cannot hold and examine the item until it arrives in the mail. Pitting and hone wear are two things I scourer photos for, if there is any doubt I pass… there is always another one coming on line soon.

All in all I am ahead of the game.

That razor does seem to have some deep pitting, it is not a razor I would have purchased. I would return it and buy better razors.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

The only part that matters for shaving is the tiny bit
that holds the bevel. less than 1/16 of an inch.

The pits in the hollow ground region are only interesting
if you cannot keep the blade clean enough to be sanitary.

Blades that are old and shiny tend to be trouble because
someone chose to not use it. Often it was ill tempered,
badly ground, would not hold an edge, too hard for old
school hones... no way to know except hone it well and
give it the old shave test.

There's no pitting on the actual bevel, but won't it reach the pitting in a few years? I'm not sure of the rate at which the blade width is reduced over time, as I only have a barber's hone for touchups, but I don't imagine this razor has many years left. Relative to some of the other vintages I've seen.

The razor is a Riteha, from Solingen, so the steel should be of a decent quality.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

What was it about that razor that made you make an offer?

If you are buying on EBay expect this to happen. I only buy from sellers who post good clear photos and ask questions if there is any doubt. Even then, something’s are not as represented.

That razor does seem to have some deep pitting, it is not a razor I would have purchased. I would return it and buy better razors.

I mainly bought the razor because it was cheap and it had some flaws, and so I thought it would be a good start towards learning to restore razors. But in the images, I only saw the rust, and some pitting near the spine. I didn't know that there was also some on the edge.



^^ Damn. I made the mistake of trying to clean up the razor before honing it.

Now that you have it -- hone it up.

The only part that matters for shaving is the tiny bit
that holds the bevel. less than 1/16 of an inch.

The pits in the hollow ground region are only interesting
if you cannot keep the blade clean enough to be sanitary.

Blades that are old and shiny tend to be trouble because
someone chose to not use it. Often it was ill tempered,
badly ground, would not hold an edge, too hard for old
school hones... no way to know except hone it well and
give it the old shave test.

Now a well used smiling blade may prove to be the
best shaver in the shave den.

At worst it makes for a practice razor.
Practice honing.
Practice stropping.... <-- this is important stuff.

Here first at the top of this forum in Red always

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...wers-here.html

Then here

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...er-2013-a.html


See what happens

Good Luck