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Thread: When do you know?

  1. #1
    Senior Member ironsidegnr's Avatar
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    Default When do you know?

    Mods, feel free to move this somewhere else.

    I love razors. I build scales, hone, and do general restorations.

    Most of what I do is just for me, I advertise and do some work locally and have great results. I've restored and sold around 20 razors. Never for profit, just enough so that I don't take a loss. Most razors are kept original, some have custom handmade wood scales.

    I like working locally, it gives me the option of fixing any problems that may occour immediately so as to preserve a good relationship with anyone that I deal with.

    My question is this, when does one know when to 'branch out'. I'd like to sell some of the things that I build here. Call it insecurity, call it lack of confidence, but we here are a community of aficionados. We appreciate perfection and have a love for creativity. I'd hate to end up in a situation where someone was disappointed or feeling mislead in any work/services that I offered. Seems to be a 'sticky' business, and especially difficult to manage online.

    And now, let the discussion begin. (Please pull no punches)
    Through the mud and the blood, to the green fields beyond.

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    At this point in time... gssixgun's Avatar
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    After a bit of discussion with the Mod team we have decided that the other posts that followed the OP were just pushing the envelope of the "No Sales Talk" on the open forum policy and were deleted..

    The mods think that it perhaps is however a valid question the problem is the direction these threads take and this one did..

    SRP has gone to great lengths to contain Sales talk and Advertising to the Classifieds and the Vendor Forum, we would like to keep this thread open, and try and continue the dicussion...


    I am going to try now to get it underway, and if everyone can stay away from advertising then we can keep it going...


    The simplest answer to you question is you don't decide when it is time to offer services, the membership does.. When you start showcasing your personal restores in the forum, you might start to get PM's and E-mails with a simple question "I have Blank razor I saw what you did to yours and I was wondering if perhaps you would consider working on mine"
    Then comes a moment of truth, do you want to accept the responsibility of working on somebody else's razor, there is quite a bit of difference here to.. With your razor you are picking and choosing the razor to work on and the direction of the work.. Basically you have control of the outcome.. When you change to professional status, things are a bit different, you have to now fit their vision to your abilities..
    Don't forget about the risk involved here too, one false move and you can destroy a razor, then you have shipping to contend with too and those risks, now imagine the razor is a Heirloom.. To the Post Office, intrinsic value is nothing and old razor is just an old razor and it doesn't matter what it was insured for you won't get that amount..
    My suggestion is always to do a few restores and either put them on E-bay or up in the Classifieds and see what happens..
    People will start to talk about your work all on their own, you also don't want to ask them to post feedback either that is considered to be a bit shady on this forum, and anyone that has done it in the past is no longer a member here..

    Basically do the work you love to do, post the pics, explain what you did how you did it, and see what builds from there

    I hope this gets things going in the right direction, as we are opening the thread back up

    Thank you for your understanding

    The Mod Team


    If this turns back into Sales and Advertising the thread will be deleted ...
    Last edited by gssixgun; 09-10-2012 at 04:47 AM.
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    Heat it and beat it Bruno's Avatar
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    For one thing, it is my opinion that you HAVE to be able to hone the razors you restore.
    I've been told that there are people out there who restore razors and leave the honing to someone else.
    Which is silly.

    No matter how good you are at metal working, a razor needs a certain geometry in order to be honeable. This can be remarkably subtle at times. For a razor to be restored, it needs to be useable and honeable. If you cannot hone, you have no idea whether this is true or not. All you know is that you just turned a rusty lump of steel into a shiny lump of steel without having a clue whether it will work as a razor or not.

    It is only when you can hone a razor after restoring it that you can call yourself a restorer imo. Because that is when you discover if the bevels will develop properly, or if the tang has enough clearance over the stone, or if the spine / edge alignment is correct, or if the spine wobbles on the stone. Etc.

    The same goes for people who -make- razors. I've seen skilled knifemakers turn out very mediocre razors not really worthy of that classification: wide and uneven bevels, sloppy grind, uneven spine, and as able to take a good edge as a potato. At least 2 only had a pre-heat treatment grind and where just shinied up (imperfectly as well) on a buffer). The problem lies in delivering a bad product because the person in charge simply does not recognize the flaws that are blatantly obvious to anyone who ends up honing the razor.

    So my advice: as soon as you can properly hone razors, starting from a very blunt razor or one with a ding in the bevel, and you can restore razors properly, that is the moment when you can 'safely' start working on other people's razors. It helps if you have a history of posting restoration pics so that the people can see what you are capable of.
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    This is not my actual head. HNSB's Avatar
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    Default Re: When do you know?

    To me, a good interim step is to start buying eBay razors, restoring them and reselling.

    That will get you a lot of experience and customer feedback without the risk of destroying someone else's razor.

    Oh, and don't expect to get rich on it - the barriers to entry are pretty low, and the market is saturated with guys that do razor work.
    It is a good way, IMO, to offset some of the costs of being a razor nut.
    Last edited by HNSB; 09-10-2012 at 07:26 AM.

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    Senior Member tbert33's Avatar
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    Default Re: When do you know?

    As well as what everyone else has said above (and i think its hugely important that you can hone) i think you also have to be completely honest and detiailed in all of your listings. For me as a buyer i will always buy from someone who has a detailed description in their ad. If im made aware of any issues before i buy it may not stop me from buying. Its when an ad shows little or no detail that will stop me from parting with my cash.

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    Incidere in dimidium Cangooner's Avatar
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    Excellent advice guys - thanks very much.

    I have got into restoration because a) I'm fascinated by these things and b) I'm an avid woodworker who currently does not have access to a large workshop, so small-scale projects like this are perfect. I have also really enjoyed discovering what it is like to work on horn and other scale materials too. I also recognize fully that I am a *long* way away from working on other peoples' razors and so have focused entirely on ebay and antique store finds, and really for my own enjoyment rather than for sale.

    Bruno's point about honing is very well taken and is the main reason I recognize I am far from working on others' blades. I'm still learning this process (and thoroughly enjoying that learning!) and while I can put a good edge on a nice straight blade without bad hone wear or general wonkiness, I'm still a student of the art form in most real-world situations. Until I have that figured out, I'm more than happy doing my own thing for the sheer enjoyment of it.

    And while I've said this before it bears frequent repeating: THANK YOU to all here who have so generously and freely given of your knowledge, skills, and experience. It is very much appreciated!

    It was in original condition, faded red, well-worn, but nice.
    This was and still is my favorite combination; beautiful, original, and worn.
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    At this point in time... gssixgun's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cangooner View Post
    I'm more than happy doing my own thing for the sheer enjoyment of it.
    That right there is the most important part of this forum
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  12. #8
    Learning something all the time... unit's Avatar
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    Default When do you know?

    Quote Originally Posted by gssixgun View Post
    snip...

    Then comes a moment of truth, do you want to accept the responsibility of working on somebody else's razor, there is quite a bit of difference here to.. With your razor you are picking and choosing the razor to work on and the direction of the work.. Basically you have control of the outcome.. When you change to professional status, things are a bit different, you have to now fit their vision to your abilities..
    Don't forget about the risk involved here too, one false move and you can destroy a razor, then you have shipping to contend with too and those risks, now imagine the razor is a Heirloom...

    ...Snip
    Fantastic points. While I am nowhere near offering services here, I have been rapidly approaching it on knife forums.

    Be VERY careful. Expectations can vary radically, and most people will expect that you take as much interest and pride in their piece as they do. Think about this...

    I would suggest that you better do it for love and not money...because when you make something a job, the enjoyment can get lost pretty quickly.

    Having recently received an heirloom...I can tell you it is something that money cannot buy.
    Last edited by unit; 09-10-2012 at 04:49 PM.

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    Historically Inquisitive Martin103's Avatar
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    I did a few restorations but mostly honing, all for myself, until
    a few months ago i traded razors with members here and from other forums, just basically ship a dull razor and you do a complete honing.
    It was a great experienced for me to have somebody critique the edge, one wasnt so good but mostly had some good reviews about my honing. I felt that all razors were definately shave ready and i test shaved with all of them and i was happy with the edge. Maybe you could do the same and find out where your honing stands. You hear all the time about different types of blade and different shaving methods, and everybody like a certain thing as far as honing i just dont know how a honemeister gets all their customer happy.
    Last edited by Martin103; 09-10-2012 at 04:51 PM.

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    Senior Member ironsidegnr's Avatar
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    Wow,

    What an outstanding group of responses. I agree with what most of you have said here. I do this because I love razors and detail work. I sell things not for profit, but to keep myselfe shaving at a 'break-even' level.

    Think for now that I'll just expand what I do here locally, which is fix up razors from the Bay re-hone and sell them off. Of course, I'll still be making scales...that's just too much fun to quit.

    I have 7 more razors on the way, let's see how this turns out.


    On another note, I have learned EVERYTHING that I do to razors from the people on this forum. The overwhelming generosity and knowledge base of the people her is inspiring. I try to 'pay it forward' when I get people into this hobby/obsession now as well. I've had an outstanding response from everyone that I deal with, and it would seem that in my local area this little hobby has started to gain a small following. Hopefully it'll develop into a huge one!

    Thanks again everyone for the answers and opinions.

    I'll be seeing you in the classifieds soon.
    Through the mud and the blood, to the green fields beyond.

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