Thread: Is This Beautiful Boker Easily Salvageable?

The owner of a local antique mall had saved this Boker for me as she knows im into shaving. When I first saw it, I was blown away, itsa really pretty razor and I am familiar with Boker's reputation for producing great shavers. I really only have one very nice vintage razor in my collection so I was excited to see it was in such great shape. That is until I saw the chip at the heel. My question is: is the razor able to be brought back to shaving shape by removing the chip? I've definitely seen blades in much worse looking condition restored, but I wanted to get some knowledgable opinions before I go ahead with the purchase.

Thanks in advance for the help,
Chance

It'll take a bit of work but yes, that chip can be honed out and the razor will shave again

Originally Posted by Catrentshaving

It'll take a bit of work but yes, that chip can be honed out and the razor will shave again

Awesome, that is great news. What would be the best route to take in regards to having it honed if I do end up purchasing it? (As I do not hone, although at some point I hope to learn.) I know there are more than a few reputable sites that offer honing services, but I guess my question is: do they charge extra for issues such as moderate chipping, or will they even do stuff like that? Or should I talk to one of the fine restorers here at SRP to have them do it?

Thanks!

If you dont want that razor, I will buy it myself!

That said, most honemeisters will charge a bit extra for chip removal, and without a doubt, USE a PRO! preferably somebody here in SRP who has experience with this kind of work. Last thing you want is to have a heavy hand cause that chip to become a crack.

+1 on the advice above. Yes a pro can easily get that honed out, check out the vendors page for a couple of great guys that do work here. And ya if you don't want to fool with it, ill buy it in a heartbeat lol

Originally Posted by Catrentshaving

It'll take a bit of work but yes, that chip can be honed out and the razor will shave again

Too true.
The problem is that the chip will require an equal amount of steel removed from the whole edge. That will bring it very close to the stabiliser but if you send it to a competent honer that is not your problem. Just haggle a good price

Veteran honer + diamonds + chipped boker + work (to the third power) = nice shave-able razor

Expect to pay 2-3x the normal rate...so take that into the equation when negotiating on the razor

Since two members have already offered to buy it if you don't, my guess is the price is reasonable. The usual price for standard honing is around $20. Looks worth it to me.

From a practical viewpoint, you don't shave with that area of the blade anyway. What I do with a chip on the heal is simply take a sanding drum on an adjustable speed Dremel and carefully and slowly taper back to the stabilizer. Actually, I find that it often makes it easier to hone the blade with a bit of steel removed from that area since poor honing may tend to remove too much steel from the area forward of the heal, thus making the blade slightly concave, which obviously you don't want. IMHO, you don't want to remove metal down the entire edge of the blade, since that will alter the original geometry unnecessarily.

I could be mistaken, but isnt that a late model Boker, and not "vintage" ? Dremel = Ruined Razor No offense to Lindy, but most people simply do not have the skill set to work with the high heat generating masters of destruction!

I would attempt to negotiate the price, simply because I'm a cheap bastard.