I would like a bit of Mentoring with My Project - and Some Opinions

I purchased a flea bay No-Name razor and dissembled it to restore. The blade is really MUCH better than expected.

I went through the first stage of rust removal and sanding, I wonder if I should go any farther to try to remove the pits?

May I post 9 pictures for your scrutiny? I would hope someone can help me decide if I need to continue or stop and Polish, Hone.

My feeling is this could be a darn good razor.

(Maybe someone can identify it. (Pretty sure its Sheffield).

I believe it's a 6/8 Half Hollow.

Dave

You dont have to ask to post pics, we love pics, post away!

Ok, Here goes.

First of all the pics are bad, No light and Tripod, and no Light tent. I am too old to focus manually anymore. (Hell of a photographer huh.)

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This is the Original Image of the Ebay No-Name Razor

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"All of the following images have been highly enhance to show the pitting and scratches,
the real deal is not this bad."

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Half Hollow I assume......

I hope someone can give me some guidance on this.

The blade is good steel, I think Sheffield? Maybe some of the Pros' can shed some light on the origin.

I'm sure I will need to scale the blade when finished.

Thanks for looking

Dave

Well im no Pro, but if all the markings on the blade are pits, you will have a very hard time getting pit free metal to hone this razor. if you can a good bevel on the blade free of pits i would continue cleaning the blade.

as above,do not waste any time on that blade until you run it over a stone and inspect the edge

Basically I'm with Martin and Pixel. The very first thing I do before I spend time, energy and money on a razor is hone it, strop it and find out how it does!

If I get a really nice shave, then I'll give it a go, perhaps send it to my favorite restorer! If it's nice but not spectacular, I'll do 100% of the work myself and basically all by hand!

I was very recently sent a Tally Ho that the young man had purchased and wanted me to see what I could do with it. After honing and finding the edge nice, I started with just some crumpled newspaper and some Mothers Mag Wheel Polish just to see what I had. I could see that that I thought that the blade would look nice without a near mirror finish, so I used some 2000 grit wet and dry. The only reason I used the sandpaper was because the FleaBay seller didn't know what they were doing and had used a fairly low grit sandpaper which left some nasty scratches. The blade had a nice etching and I wanted to make sure that it would be intact.The 2k helped 'hide' the scratches, and I finished off with the Mothers. The owner was very pleased!

With all due respect, I think that you got the cart before the horse! Finding out how it shaves, if that apparent pitting went so deep that it won't take a good edge could have been found out before the razor was disassembled and unfortunately having the scales cracked.

You can't go back in time! Take Martin's, Pixel's and now my counsel and see if that blade will take a good edge, if it does, have at it! :shrug:

If it can be saved, be sure to post pictures!!! Yes as previously said, we love to look!! :tu

Ok, I will take your advice and hone it to shave, No handle, Then I will have to ruin the edge again to restore (Polish).

Since I am already here and I can see the edge will be fine, (as I stated it looks worse in the photos than it really is), shouldn't I go ahead and work it?

My question is how far should I go, should I try to remove the pits or just go for the scales and shave?

Any takers on the origin? Does anyone one else know of a no-name razor of any quality?

Is this considered a half hollow?

Thanks a million for all the input I have received so far, this is a great place to learn.

Dave

Give it a try (hone) and see what happens...
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The least of your problems right now isn't about 'ruining' the edge, it comes with the territory! I do it all the time!!!

Your hardest challenge is when you go to strop the bare blade! The scales were there as part of the formula!

After honing and stopping then and only then, will you know how it will shave and how much effort to put into the restoration!

Now! As I said, I'm a firm believer in starting high and working low! If you can live with some pitting, so be it!

I don't believe that you stated what grit you had started with! Could you please include that information? That would help a lot!

You have a razor that doesn't look as if it has excessive or uneven hone wear, if it will take a good edge it's a good score!

Please keep us posted!

I did start with a 150 grit and progress to 1200 and buffed a little to see what I had, this is what you see in the photos. The blade looks very good. As I mentioned the pitting is not nearly as bad as it looks. I will had to build some scales and try the honing.

Thanks for the help.

How far you want to take the blade is really up to you, if you like a mirror finish or leave some pitting etc. I would agree that this razor is half-hollow, originally from Sheffield? more then likely, because there is no makers mark doesnt mean its bad but the honing will tell all! Keep us posted on your progress!