Thread: What do do with this ebay razor...

Oh noes here is the auction, pictures are gone. SOLINGEN GERMANY STRAIGHT RAZOR w-Box - eBay (item 220374648843 end time Mar-13-09 14:01:02 PDT)


Any hope of making this a useable shaver, even if it has teh obivous spine wear?

btw, what did someone probably do to create such an uneven bevel and so much wear towards the toe?

bah, i all ready left positive feedback too last night when i was feeling happy.

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

Oh noes here is the auction, pictures are gone. SOLINGEN GERMANY STRAIGHT RAZOR w-Box - eBay (item 220374648843 end time Mar-13-09 14:01:02 PDT)


Any hope of making this a useable shaver, even if it has teh obivous spine wear?

btw, what did someone probably do to create such an uneven bevel and so much wear towards the toe?

bah, i all ready left positive feedback too last night when i was feeling happy.

for $11, just use it to experiment on extreme honing. Might pay off later when you see one you love that you need to revive.

Originally Posted by loueedacat

for $11, just use it to experiment on extreme honing. Might pay off later when you see one you love that you need to revive.

+1 consider it a challenge and see what you can do with it.

Or it is possible you have a warped or slightly twisted blade.
Look down the spine from the tang (looking down the barrel) to make sure the spine is straight. If you blade is twisted or warped there is nothing much you can do about it, however if you “re-profile” the edge (a nice way of saying breadknife), to get the edge straight, and then hone the blade as normal, you stand the best chance of getting a usable razor.

But I believe the word “breadknife” is a bit misleading because you will only put grooves in your hone if you do it that way.
Try this: Hold the blade at about 45 degrees and as if sharpening a kitchen knife “hone” down the high points on the edge so it will again be straight (of course you will try to do this evenly on both sides).
Avoid using water stones to do this as they are just too soft (even the Norton 220 grit is a waste of time). It is better to use a cheep grind stone (coarse or medium) suitable for kitchen knives (you can pick one up at the nearest hardware store or eBay for a few dollars) to re-profile the edge.

When the edge is straight you may hone on the water hones with slurry and frequently test for keenness until you have a shaving edge.
Bear in mind, the hone were on the spine and bevel will be much larger than what you have now, and if the blade is twisted or warped the bevel will be uneven, however so long as the edge is evenly keen she should turn out to be a good shaver.

Hope this “long wind” helps.

45* X stroke or rolling X stroke.

220-320-400 is the key to fixing the razor....
Starting with 220 grit sandpaper folded around the spine, carefully sand away the spine wear and by pressing with your fingertips against the existing bevel clear that up too... This will effectively erase the old bad stuff...
When you go back to the hones put 1 layer of electrical tape on the spine and hone as normal....

It has been a theory of mine for quite awhile that much of the toe wear we see on vintage razors was caused by years of an incorrect swooping and lifting stroke on barber's hones, Try it yourself and see what you think...

Thanks for everyone's advice on this from the forum to the chat. Jimbo, beberlin, and syslight answered a lot of questions in chat for me..


Well beberlin just posted links to the wiki..


I ended up accidentally sanding off part of the etching, so i said screw it and made it a mirror polish instead.


My problem though.... I cannot get this son of a bitch sharp! I breadknifed it and evened everthing out. So i dont know if maybe i just need to keep at it more or what. oh what a world.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

220-320-400 is the key to fixing the razor....
Starting with 220 grit sandpaper folded around the spine, carefully sand away the spine wear and by pressing with your fingertips against the existing bevel clear that up too... This will effectively erase the old bad stuff...
When you go back to the hones put 1 layer of electrical tape on the spine and hone as normal....

Could you explain this in a little more detail? Are you basically saying that you should sort of regrind the spine with sandpaper and shape it?

uneven hone wear simply comes from uneven pressure- more pressure at the beginning or end of the stroke, or putting unnecessary pressure on your gripping hand. Looks like whoever had this one might have had a peg leg.

Originally Posted by kenneyty

Looks like whoever had this one might have had a peg leg.

That was good for a laugh!