If the Pumas are so revered, how much would you pay for this blade?
- Thread starter Big_Fuzzy
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Looks in top condition, I'm no expert but I'm sure it would sell on ebay for around 150GBP, probably more. If its going for anything under 100GBP it buy it.
Those marks will come out. Pumas are one of the brands currently fetching a premium price. Unlike some of the others, Pumas seem to have always been in demand. With that in mind, I wouldn't go above $225-$250 if I really, really, really wanted it. But I think $185 or so is a fair price for both the buyer and the seller (assuming the seller knows what he/she has).
Not much. That blade is warped and has an excessive amount of hone wear (uneven wear at that because of the warpage).
Just shows what a difference having experience makes when buying vintage straights.
Please forgive my ignorance
Warp is pretty slight. I doubt eBay buyers would even care about it (certainly not enough to seriously drop end price by much). But I think $250+ is a little optimistic. I'd expect $125-175 frankly. You don't see big, shiny puma's all that often, but the one's I have seen have never broken $200.
I quick glance at eBay shows a razor very similar to yours with a far away pic (shows no damage, but far away) and a promise of "little surface rust, no chips or cracks" ended at $100.
I quick glance at eBay shows a razor very similar to yours with a far away pic (shows no damage, but far away) and a promise of "little surface rust, no chips or cracks" ended at $100.
Good eye!
Is the blade warped because the bevel is not visible at the bottom (toe?)? That's all my newbie eyes can see... but hone wear? someone educate me please!!??
The bevel is visible the full length of the edge, and much thicker than the OP would hope, however the giveaway for the warped blade is that the bevel in the middle of the blade is much wider than at the heel and toe. If there were an obvious frown in the blade then it could be chalked up to bad honing, but since the frown is pretty mild then the most likely cause is that the blade is warped. In this case the other side of the blade would likely have more wear on the heel and toe and less in the middle. It could also be that the spine is not ground parallel, which is a quite different problem but can cause similar uneven hone wear (the angle of this shot isn't conducive to evaluating the hone wear patterns on the spine). The amount of wear even at heel and toe leads me to believe that this razor has probably seen enough use that the shiny surface is probably due to lighting and MAAS, which also means that those two spots (a) are possibly bigger than they appear (reflections minimise the appearance of spots) and (b) they probably won't come out with more MAAS. A useful corrollary of (a) when evaluating ebay photos is that if there are bright reflections on the blade and you can still see nicks in the edge (no matter how faintly), you'll probably need sandpaper and a depressing amount of elbow grease to fix them.
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Thank you! It's visible once explained!! (though the extrapolation only comes with experience, it appears!)
Can you tell that there is actually a larger bevel at the middle than at the ends? It seems hard to tell with the lighting in that photo. I know that when I hold some of my blades under light, certain parts of the bevel look a lot wider than others. Only when I move it around or get just the right angle do I get to see the whole bevel.
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No, you can't tell for certain, especially not from one photo, but assuming that what appears to be in that photo is really there is a safer choice than wishful thinking. Sometimes you gamble on a razor like this and win, sometimes you lose. Myself, I don't think it's a good bet. It's easier to lose at gambling on ebay than it is to win, so I prefer to play the odds cautiously. Others will certainly differ - somebody will buy that razor after all.
One reason I don't think it's an optical illusion is that the shape of the bevel looks exactly like you get from a warped blade, and the curvature of the edge matches what I have seen on blades with that type of warpage (slight frown in the middle of the blade, slight smile at the ends - hold a straight edge up against the photo and you'll see what I mean - it comes from the middle getting too much hone wear on one side and the ends getting too much hone wear on the other). It would be awfully coincidental for a quirk of lighting to produce these effects so perfectly. Could happen. Just doesn't seem terribly likely.
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Henry's not kidding, you really have a good eye. Thank you for sharing your some of this with all of us
I would have never guessed this on my own.
- Thread starter
- #14
Henry's not kidding, you really have a good eye. Thank you for sharing your some of this with all of us
I would have never guessed this on my own.
Try being a potential buyer!!!
I also add my thanks, looks like Ill be giving this blade a miss.
Depending on what he's asking for it that may be an overreaction. It's not worth big bucks despite the shinyness, but it could be worth acquiring for the right price and the right buyer. It'll just be aggravating to hone, and you'll constantly be fighting the blade's geometry in order to get a consistent level of sharpness along the entire edge, and fighting the blade's tendency to develop a frown.
But his price is probably based on the shiny though. Shiny usually sells very well.
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