Is this razor worth saving?

[captaincaed]

I’m getting pretty practiced at restoring old razors in pretty bad states of repair. But this one may be my kryptonite. It’s a heavily worn wedge, with a very convex “bevel”.

Here is the wear patter, spine flat on a diamond plate. I have a feeling this may not be worth it.

Thoughts?

 

[Christian1212]

If you ever start regrinding razors you could keep this around for practice. It is going to be one ugly duck, angle might be off and tape can help some though. I personally would just re use the scales. Can maybe use the blade for any rust testing, odd experiments.

 

[ZeelandsRoem]

Depends what is your final goal. If you want it to be a 'beauty queen', this razor is most likely not going to make it. If you only want to shave, then it is usable as there is still plenty of steel left.

It is a wedge grind and even the first sign of wear will look a lot more intense if we compare it to a hollow grind. I would probably not call it 'worn out' as there is still life left in it. It depends on you if you want to exploit what's has left. Does it have wear? Oh yeah, absolutely. But I am sure many will disagree with my view on what's worn out and what's not, especially when I see hollow razors with 1mm wide spine wear being called 'worn out'.

We collect and desire 7/8"+ pristine looking razors and perhaps our perception on what's usable is being skewed. We tend to forget that many items still have life left in them even if they are no longer desirable.

If you don't want to use it for shaving, then maybe you can use it for something else: testing stones, polishers, grinding wheels, cutting other materials. I sometimes use straight razors for specific tasks in leather making.

 

[Gamma]

Define worth, define the goal.

Looks like a regrind attempt that went sideways during the process.

If the goal is to learn razor geometry inside and out, what is possible and what is not possible, what your limits are and whether or not you can overcome them, what extreme conditions may bring to what is an unknown end result, and so on and so forth, then maybe continuing the effort makes sense.

I had a Ramapo like that. Messed up regrind. Most jacked up geometry ever, convex bevel on one side only, not even sure how to describe the rest of it. Just a mess.
I got it cleaned up and honed and shave-worthy. Used it for a while. Never liked it and got rid of it.
But I had learned stuff I would not have learned otherwise.

 

[captaincaed]

I have almost entirely restored razors, none are show ponies. Almost all restored/refurbished from auction lots or inherited from relatives. I guess I have one looker but that’s another story.

If it’s decent steel, I like how wedges shave. Could be quite nice.

I don’t have any grinding machinery, so it’ll be tedious and I’ll run through plenty of abrasive. It would also be nice to cut a little bit of a hollow back in to ease future honing. I imagine the super wide bevel/full wedge I'll be left with will take quite a while to hone when the time comes. I don’t know an effective way to do so without a wheel or belt grinder.

 

[Legion]

I wouldn't bother.

 

[Frank Shaves]

I would not attempt to repair the grind without grinding equipment. I say this because I spent 2 hours each night for 3 days hand sanding one blade with 100-grit sandpaper last year. The razor turned out wonderful, but it took my 60-year-old hands about 3 months to recover. And this razor is way worse than the razor I sanded. But that's me.

 

[captaincaed]

I have 38 year old hands, but I also have access to a local professional sharpener who happens to be a razor nut. I may ask him for help with the rough work, then tune it up by hand.

 

[Frank Shaves]

In my 50s, I got tennis elbow in my right arm from lifting a bicycle on and off of a rack using one arm and then about two years later I did a number on my left elbow challenging myself to open a jar of spaghetti sauce. Took about one year to get over each injury. Wearing out your joints is not worth it, in my opinion.

 

[captaincaed]

No doubt. I’ve racked up some judo injuries, and months of pt is no fun when they flare back up.

 

[Frank Shaves]

Speaking of regrinds, this one broke my heart. I realize its a free world and your razor your decision, but I still keep asking myself why would someone take a Wolf stub tail is this condition and turn it into a hollow grind?

 

[SlimGem]

Speaking of regrinds, this one broke my heart. I realize its a free world and your razor your decision, but I still keep asking myself why would someone take a Wolf stub tail is this condition and turn it into a hollow grind?

View attachment 1832558

I just restored a stub tail over the weekend and got the itch to search and see what other stub tails have been posted lately, and I really wish I hadn't come across this post. Taking a wonderful piece of history and turning it into a common grind that could be had for only a few bucks is a crime.

 

[tanvir]

Speaking of regrinds, this one broke my heart. I realize its a free world and your razor your decision, but I still keep asking myself why would someone take a Wolf stub tail is this condition and turn it into a hollow grind?

Is it possible that the grind was done long time ago when the razors were $2.00 or so each and the grind cost was $0.25, to get "better shave"? Grind appear to be too good to be a hobbyist job.

 

[Legion]

Is it possible that the grind was done long time ago when the razors were $2.00 or so each and the grind cost was $0.25, to get "better shave"? Grind appear to be too good to be a hobbyist job.

Yes, the regrinds were usually professionally done. As far as they were concerned they were taking an old second hand razor with an obsolete wedge grind, and updating it with the latest hollow grinding technology to make it easier to hone and shave better.

The thought that they were somehow devaluing a nice antique never crossed their mind. They were upgrading it. Quite common.

 

[captaincaed]

It's hard to see history in the moment.

In other news, the local shop agreed to help with a rough regrind to straighten things up. After that I'll either work on a new hollow, or learn how to hone a true wedge. Either way it'll be an education.

 

[ZeelandsRoem]

It's hard to see history in the moment.

At that time, it was cheaper to regrind a wedge instead of buying a new hollow razor, so people were tempted to go for it. Even factories were regrinding the “old flat ground”.