I'm Bummed !

I know from this position it is bound to happen and it does. But I just had to commiserate with friends who might share my pain.
You do enough blades and you are gonna' get those that just hurt.

Case #1.
A beautiful CVH 32 in Ivory. Part of a 7 day set etched Tuesday. Cool.
Start taking before photos and with the magnification of the camera what catches my eye? I was looking at the edge and the small chip along it. But what is off to the side of the photo? A crack. Didn't see it without magnification. And it was deep. But it didn't crack at the chip!

Now during my tenure I've had at least 6 show up with cracks. Those blades are just so thin. I think I've done more shorty CVH's than restore.

Case #2
A big W&B. ( it's never the smaller ones ) Nice etch on the blade. Overall should turn out to be a winner.
Typical factory grind lines,,,other scratches but they'll come out. Sand, sand,sand.
A quick pass on the buffer to see just where I'm at and what scratches remain.
Wait.... That's not a scratch hiding there. It's a crack.
Oh for crying out loud.

Really? two in one day? I know the averages will bear this out. Over a given time they will show up. But why two in one day?

That's the email I hate to send. Guys all excited send their new purchases off to get cleaned up and I have bad news to tell them. Man, I hate having to do that. They're all excited and what to I tell them? Sorry but don't kill the messenger?
It drives me nuts having to see blades I love , and aren't mine, in this condition. I had high hopes.
Dashed.
Sorry...just had to let it out somewhere.

Oh man, that really sucks. It's one thing when its your own stuff, but another entirely when you gotta break that news to someone else.

I do prefer sending pretty pictures.

But if it's my blade,,OK. I've bought up to 40 at a time. No biggie , I can deal with it.
But when they aren't mine. Well they take on a whole new meaning to me.
Who knows what they went through to get it. Then send it off.
THAT is worse than one of my own.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mycarver

I do prefer sending pretty pictures.

But if it's my blade,,OK. I've bought up to 40 at a time. No biggie , I can deal with it.
But when they aren't mine. Well they take on a whole new meaning to me.
Who knows what they went through to get it. Then send it off.
THAT is worse than one of my own.

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This is a major reason I haven't taken up restoration for other folks. It'd tear me up to break something that doesn't belong to me, for exactly the reasons you say.

But man, it's not even like you did anything but find an existing (fatal) flaw.

Sorry to hear about them Mark. I know what you are saying. I bought a beauty that looked near new on ebay only to find when it arrived a hairline crack in the middle of the blade that went 3/4 of the way to the spine. The seller was very gracious and refunded my full price and told me to keep the razor. It is on the list to be framed when I get the time. Oh well, you gotta make lemonade sometimes.

I have not done any great number of restores, but I have found a couple of cracks once I started sanding. I have never had to tell anyone, because I am just doing my own stuff. Makes me glad it's just my own now too. That sucks, sorry your are in that spot.