Thread: Freddie might be no good

You every feel like you just polished a turd? Not sure this one is worth finishing with the hone wear and pitting on the spine. Might be a shiny wind chime.

If I think a razor has too much pitting, rather than leaving it at a high polish I will give the razor a nice satin finish. The satin finish can hide quite a lot of, but not all, imperfections in the steel. I get my best satin finish by taking the steel up to the highest polish level possible, then taking it back to a satin with a VERY LIGHT wiping motion with fine grit paper. There are different techniques to get a nice satin finish. Lots of trial and error to find what works best. But before I put any resto work into a razor I always hone and use the razor to make sure it can take and hold an edge. Those Freddies are usually well worth the effort.

Yeah, what Mick said. No need to over harp. Mirror finish is for flawless steel and shows every flaw but then you know that already.

As far as the hone wear, you can always work the geometry. The numbers are what they are but you can fudge it with tape or narrow the blade width to accomodate loss of spine thickness. I wouldn't normally recommend that though. Tape on the other hand is your friend and can compensate for spine loss very effectively. The only trick is keeping track of how much you taped if you have to do touch ups, which you will eventually. A lot of us keep journals on this kind of stuff.

The previous all applies of course if your concern is purely functional. If your concerns are cosmetic, you can always sand it out. For instance, in your second picture near the toe the spine is flattened. (Perhaps this is what you are referring to?...)You can round that back out and, if done carefully, you should maintain the same spine thickness. Before I did any of this though I would bone up on the geometry principals, find a good bevel angle calculator and make sure you have good, accurate calipers.

Also, bear in mind that the wear you see may not be abuse but rather repair...of sorts. Remember that these things were made by tradesmen by hand without computerized machines and likely not even measured. They worked largely by eye and feel. The more restoration you do the more you recognize that there were lots of imperfections. Interestingly though what could be considered a blade fataly flawed in production may have gone to market as a fully functional razor if finished and honed by a skilled finisher, someone who had years of experience and did that day in and day out. It's amazing how much ingemious compensation you find once you start tearing into these nifty little utilitarian works of art.

Again as Mick already said, or eluded to at least, the real test is honing it. Try doing a test bevel set and see what that shows, then make your decision from there.

Some of us are really particular (obsessed?) about the final finish and appearance of the blades we restore. Others are happy to bring a really good shaver back into a rotation.

If you want to sell the blade, then I can see why the hone wear and pitting concern you. On the other hand, that blade has a wonderful shape and looks as if it still has a lot of good shaves left in it. I think it would be a shame to relegate it to the wind chime pile.

It is mostly functionality I am no where experienced enough or good enough to restore a razor and put it out on the market and take the chance at selling someone something that is not functional. I would not want to do that to someone.

Originally Posted by Cattleman02

It is mostly functionality I am no where experienced enough or good enough to restore a razor and put it out on the market and take the chance at selling someone something that is not functional. I would not want to do that to someone.

Then hone it up and see how it shaves. I wouldn’t mind having it in my razor drawer.

I took a closer look at your pics. I’m pretty sure that razor is a “rattler” or “faux frameback” and what you think is excessive hone wear may actually be how the blade was originally ground.

https://sharprazorpalace.com/razors/...r-rattler.html

Can you supply a photo end on from the nose?