I was working on my first ever razor restoration. I had an Ernst Wupper & Co. with tortoise scales that was in pretty rough shape.

I was able to salvage the scales with a good oil soak and some epoxy. I had the blade to a beautiful chrome-like finish. I was really proud of the work I had done, especially as it was a first restore. I was even thinking about entering this razor in the restoration contest.

I was going to re-pin tonight and hone it tomorrow. But... there was one little tiny area of pitting on the blade, barely noticeable, except for under the right lighting. I wanted this thing to be perfect... I started re-sanding from 320 grit, and was able to remove the pitting. I progressed up to 1500 grit and had the blade looking nice. Just a little of my top-secret polishing compound with the dremel and I'd be back to my chrome-like polish... Then disaster struck; the polishing wheel caught the edge of the blade and jerked the dremel chuck into the blade, tearing out a huge chip and cracking the blade severely. The blade is ruined.
I don't even know how many hours of work I had into this razor. Probably more than I should have, as I kept trying various shortcuts and then going back and doing things the right way. But, after all of that, I took my near-perfect blade and killed it by trying to make it completely perfect.

I will have to find a new blade for these scales, they are nice.

Oh, and the important question... Since I didn't complete the restoration, can I still enter my next attempt in the contest? Or, as this was my first attempt at a restore, am I out of the running?