Totally agree, if it's an heirloom, and a very old one at that, I would let a pro take it on. If you want to learn and tinker with restoring razors, there are a million junkers to mess with. If you aren't interested in restoring more than just this one razor I wouldn't bother buying the sandpaper, metal polish, rods, washers, and the like to do it; you would still come out cheaper sending it off, and get much better results.