Thread: 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.

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".

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.

Originally Posted by feltspanky

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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?

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.

I'd love to show the pitting through the loupe, but haven't figured that out