Examples of an egg that can not be cracked.

I'm new to the restoration game, it's purely a hobby for me at the moment. But living in Alaska has it share of problems, not the least of which is razor availabilty. I just dont come across many of them in the thrift/antique stores and I find myself needing to turn to ebay. So without being able to examine the razor up close I have to try to determine through the available photographs if something is worth going for. I've got my hands on 14-15 good prospects, a few with defects that weren't obvious in the photos or that photos of the defect weren't provided or mentioned but nothing that looks impossible to deal with. I do expect to be burned at times, and basically won't bid on razors without enough photographs provided. I was just wondeing if anyone had any photographic examples of razors they got that they just couldn't make right. I have read alot of the red flags to look out for but did not always have photographic evidence of what couldnt be worked out, because I have seen evidence of some pretty amazing before and afters and wanted to know what are the deal breakers for you more skilled restorers.

I am no pro but I must say it all comes down to condition and what you are comfortable working on. You cannot sand much on a light razor so remember that when buying. Deep chips can hide cracks. There is a thread called eBay 101 where it goes through what many people look for. It is about risk and reward. There are certainly no shortage of razors that all they need is a good scrub with steel wool and polish, getting them back to where they were to start with.

I guess the main thing I wonder about at the moment is pitting near the edge. How much is too much? I assume piting near the edge is an issue when it comes to the edge you can achieve honing it, which I know this will probably just need to be trial and error. Since I'm doing this all for myself at the moment, time is not necessarily an issue in terms of working things out. I see in the forums steel wool is often a recommended place to start, although I never see videos where they use it. They seem to jump straight to hand sanding and bench buffer. So basically just a soapless sos pad is a good place to start? Will that affect blade etchings much?

Blades are made of harder metal than the steel wool, so you are not able to remove much metal at all. Mostly what happens if all of the softer material, black and red rust gets pulled away, leaving a pit where the rust was. 000 or 0000 steel wool is a good place to start. I use polish to aid in the surface cleaning and to lubricate the steel wool so it is not quite as scratchy. It will clean out the depths of most etches but would take a very very long time to a braid them enough to truly fade them. if you polish inside the etch it is harder to see but it is all still there and can be brought to contrast with any number of products like gun blue.

The most concerning thing I guess I see is pitting versus cell rot. I don't necessarily see the difference in most the ebay 101 pictures, and then recognizing heat damage is the other issue. I know a lot of old razors that were oiled and stored can have coloration that resembles heat damage. I guess its not such a bad thing to just role the dice and see what happens if the price is low enough on some of these.

Glen (gssixgun) always cautions to make sure the blade will hold an edge before spending time cleaning up the blade.

I don't always follow his sage advice unless I think there is a possibility the blade may be toast. Usually I will take a blade through 4k before making a decision. If the edge crumbles, chips, etc. then move on to the next piece.

If you are just starting to rehab blades, following Glen's advice is a very smart thing to do.

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Originally Posted by dickpicnic

The most concerning thing I guess I see is pitting versus cell rot. I don't necessarily see the difference in most the ebay 101 pictures, and then recognizing heat damage is the other issue. I know a lot of old razors that were oiled and stored can have coloration that resembles heat damage. I guess its not such a bad thing to just role the dice and see what happens if the price is low enough on some of these.

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There is nothing that can replace experience. Sometimes you just need to get your @$$ kicked to learn when to bob and when to weave. If you want to play the game you will win some and you will loose some. As you gain experience you will get better at spotting a good gamble versus a bad one. Dave is right and so is the man he is quoting.

Experience really is the best teacher.
At some point you will get a razor with obvious cell rot and from then on you will know what it looks like.
The same can be said for edge pitting and heat damage.
And still, on occasion, you will miss it in a picture.

I use the 0000 steel wool to just do a quick clean off of the blade. It will knock off the loose stuff and reveal any large cracks without scratching the blade up. From there, if needed, I will take 1000 grit sandpaper to any suspicious spots near the bevel that may be cracks. Then I do a quick bevel set to see if the bevel will take an edge or how much metal I will need to remove to start getting a decent bevel. At that point, I breadknife the blade and start doing a thorough clean up.