First Ebay Purchased Razor & Subsequent Restoration Attempt

I purchased my first razor from ebay recently. It's a vintage Genco, and although I knew it wasn't shave ready, I thought I was purchasing something that would require minimum effort before I could shave with it. I was very wrong. Deciphering ebay photos is not easy, and I've learned a good bit about what ebay ads to avoid. When the description and photo just don't say enough, don't risk it. A poor photo can obscure details just as easily as a good photo can reveal them. Here is the razor I purchased, and if this photo was the one used in the ebay ad, I would have passed it by.
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I expected a razor that might need some slight honing, what I got was a razor with a good bit of pitting along the length of the blade. Although this is not what I was expecting, I did have a 1K 4K and 8K stones. Maybe this would be a "First Restoration".
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I'm fairly satisfied with the final result. I started by cleaning up the surface of the razor as best I could. Probably a bit unconventional, but I used an old sock that I had rubbed some FeOx paste on. I used that to sort of buff out as much of the surface oxidation that I could get. The two pits that remained are a bit deeper than was practical for me to get. The result of using the FeOx paste like this, was a near mirror finish of the blade. Is there any negative side affect from using the paste like this? Next the bevel was set with a 1K King stone. Actually, at this point, I actually was getting a bit frustrated, so my son actually set the bevel, and did a pyramid honing using the 4K and 8K. From their I did a nylon webbing strop coated with CrOx for 10 passes followed by 20 passes on FeOx. I repeated this three times. That got this razor from the pitted edge to cutting through hanging hair with ease. Awesome!

The shave with this razor was just as close as my Dovo, but not as comfortable. The feel of the razor is much different than the feel of my Dovo. The blade is narrower than a 6/8 like the Dovo, and much lighter. The sound it gives passing through hair is much higher pitched. I think the lightness of the razor requires a slightly different touch when shaving with it, and that may have been why the comfort level was not on par with the Dovo. Or it could have been inexperience at getting it shave ready. I may do another pyramid honing with the 4K and 8K to see if that improves the shave, but all in all, I'm fairly pleased with the results. Still need to dial it in a bit, but for a first attempt, I think it's not too shabby. Any tips or pointers are most welcome.

Very nice looking after the cleanup!!
Genco/Geneva razors are usually excellent, going from 6/8 to a 9/16 (my guess to what size that is) is kind of a jump, your angles could be off a bit. The same thing happens to me every time I use a 9/16-4/8.

You did a nice cleanup on the razor. Did you use any tape when you reset the bevel?

Nice first restoration.
It could be your angles or it might just need to be stropped on plain leather a few more times to smooth it out. I usually give a blade 3 shave sessions to see if the comfort is there or not.

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Originally Posted by feltspanky

You did a nice cleanup on the razor. Did you use any tape when you reset the bevel?

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We taped it initially but the tape was gunking up the stone.So in the end we took it off. I had a feeling that might happen, and it did. Any idea what brand of tape will hold up better?

I've had good luck with heavy duty electrical tape (Cellpack PVC) but heard good things about the 3M tape. I only get slight issues when I use an oil stone with the Cellpack, the top layer stops sticking to the lowest layers.

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Originally Posted by criswilson10

Nice first restoration.
It could be your angles or it might just need to be stropped on plain leather a few more times to smooth it out. I usually give a blade 3 shave sessions to see if the comfort is there or not.

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That's good advice. I hadn't thought about it until just now, but I used a different soap when I shaved with this razor, and it's a soap that unfortunately in the past has caused me some irritation. I'll give this razor a few more shaves and see how it does.

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Originally Posted by rodb

Very nice looking after the cleanup!!
Genco/Geneva razors are usually excellent, going from 6/8 to a 9/16 (my guess to what size that is) is kind of a jump, your angles could be off a bit. The same thing happens to me every time I use a 9/16-4/8.

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So my guess is that I'd need to tighten up the angle when shaving with this then? Closer to the face? Still 30 degrees, less more? Is it just a tendency to to widen up on the angle when using a much narrower blade?

Still the same angle, with less blade it's easier get the angle off. Smaller blades are like sports cars, turn the wheel to fast or much and you are in the ditch!! lol

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Originally Posted by Slurryer

So my guess is that I'd need to tighten up the angle when shaving with this then? Closer to the face? Still 30 degrees, less more? Is it just a tendency to to widen up on the angle when using a much narrower blade?

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I had a look at this razor through some loupes I received in the mail just a bit ago, and can see some definite issues remaining on the edge. Although most of the pitting is removed, I can still see some areas along the blade, within the bevel, and a few spots above the bevel where pitting is preventing a continuous blade. I'll definitely see if I can get edge past the pitting. Here's the loupes.
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I'd love to show the pitting through the loupe, but haven't figured that out :shrug:

Nice work on the restoration. Angle will vary with razor size. Also one thing that I noticed was that you pasted the razor 3 times to be happy with the egde. You should be happy with the egde off the 8k and then the pastes should smooth it out and add a little more. My suggestion is try to get a edge your happy with off the t8k before moving forward. Also a good stropping will work wonders.

Good that you got some magnification. Honing without magnification is like driving with your eyes closed. How will you know when you arrived and chances you will have a problem before you get there?

Depending on what you see, will determine your course of action. If you had pitting just on the bevel, someone put it away without cleaning, soap, skin, water and blood, oxidized and ate the steel at the edge. This will have to be removed to get to good steel or you will have a chippy edge. You may have remove enough, but if you see more chipping, you will have to remove more steel and set the bevel on the 4K.

Tape the spine, you already have excessive wear in the middle, probably from way too much pressure, and may ruin the spine before you get it set without tape or at least wear the bevel severely.

Tape breaking down on the stone is from using old tape, too much pressure or both. If the tape was in your garage, temptures can easily reach 100 degrees and cause the glue to break down. If you have to do a lot of bevel work and you are new to honing, use 2 layers of tape and check it frequently for wear. Once the bevel is set it can easily be re-set to 1 layer, if you wish with just a few laps.

Next time some 600 and 1000 wet & dry and a cork might speed a cleanup.

Once you do get it dialed in, Genco’s are great shavers. That one looks like a full hollow.

Some awesome advice. Thanks

To get photos through the loupe, you may need more than two hands, but it should be possible to take phone photos through it, but there may be a distance between the loupe and the phone. I've taken pics through optical sights with my SLR, so it's definitely possible.

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Originally Posted by Robbied

To get photos through the loupe, you may need more than two hands, but it should be possible to take phone photos through it, but there may be a distance between the loupe and the phone. I've taken pics through optical sights with my SLR, so it's definitely possible.

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I'll definitely have to give this a shot.

I've reset the bevel on this Genco razor and rehoned it. I can definitely see how loupes are invaluable in restoration, or anything beyond basic refreshing of the blade. Without using a loupe I would have no way of knowing if there were still issues remaining at the edge, or see potential issues further up the bevel. After resetting the bevel I did a pyramid honing on a 4K and 8K, followed by 20 passes on CrOx and 40 on FeOx webbing strops, followed by 60 on leather. I shaved with this razor this morning. In the end, the razor was just as sharp as before, and removes hair with ease. The shave was more comfortable than the first shave, but not nearly comfortable enough (I may be a bit spoiled by the Dovo). I could tell when looking through a 20X loupe that although I had honed out the large pitting, the edge of the blade was not as smooth as it should be. I could faintly see a very slight jagged edge. I don't see that when looking at my Dovo's edge. I assume that jagged edge is the result of very fine micro pitting along the edge still. There's still a possibility of going further with this razor in hopes of saving it, but for now I'm calling it a good learning experience. Ebay razors are risky. There is really no way to determine the state of an edge from the images you get. Best bet for Ebay is to find a few very well known razor seller and stick with them for your purchases. Does anyone have a few sellers they are familiar with?

Thanks a ton for the feedback while I worked on this razor. Extremely valuable information!

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Originally Posted by eddy79

My suggestion is try to get a edge your happy with off the t8k before moving forward. Also a good stropping will work wonders.

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Outstanding advice going forward! Would have saved a ton of time if I had done this. Thanks