Good Restoration candidates

Hi All,

How can I tell if a old razor will be a good candidate for a restoration? I was at a gun show over the weekend and there was a Henkles straight for 17 bucks. Looked really old, no chips, ect.

I bought two old straights from ebay and Josh helped me sharpen one of them and the other he said was not worth spending too much time on.

So, how does one tell if theres too much wear from prior use to know whether its a good candidate or not.

Anybody have close up pics to help point out what to look for?

Have a great day and God bless.

Thanks,
kelly

I look at the amount and the uniformity of hone wear.
A flat greater than 1/16" on the spine is probably getting up there in terms of wear. It might still be a good shaver but you probably won't use or like it as much as others over time.

It's common to see a lot of older blades with much heavier hone wear at the toe, and this also shows up in the profile of the edge.

One with more hone wear in the center on one side of the blade and one or both ends of the opposite side is a sure indicator of a warped/bent blade.

Other than that - look for evidence of hairline cracks, corrosion/pitting that extends to the bevel, frowns, and of course any nicks.