Newbie, is this straight worth restoring?

I have been shaving with a DE for a whole two weeks.
I think I'm ready to try a straight.

Ok, I jumped the gun, I bought this razor on eBay. Do you think it's worth getting polished and honed to shave with?

The edge looks good. I would say yup, ask a honemeister to look at it.

It's up to you what you want to have done with it. You could probably hone it and shave with it as it is. It should be a fine razor. It looks like it's in good shape to me. I don't see any rust, serious pitting or nicks in the edge. The tang stamps aren't marred and look to be in great condition.

You can certainly polish it up and even build a new set of scales if you so desire. A blade like that would probably polish up to a mirror shine on a buffer very easily.

Thank you for the advice.
It's a leap into straight shaving.
I actually like the scales very much. The only thing to do it obviously send it out for honing so I can shave with it.
Then I have to decide if I want to polish the blade for aesthestic reasons.

Oh yeah, I guess I have to buy a strop too.

PaulL said:

Thank you for the advice.
It's a leap into straight shaving.
I actually like the scales very much. The only thing to do it obviously send it out for honing so I can shave with it.
Then I have to decide if I want to polish the blade for aesthestic reasons.

Oh yeah, I guess I have to buy a strop too.

Click to expand...

A strop is a must yes!

I'd say it's worth it to get her shave ready (I really like how spikes shave) but not to have her fully restored.

It's off to the honemeister tomorrow.
By the way, I think this is a wedge, not a very hollow grind.
Looking forward to my first straight shave sometime next week.

polished up a treat - ive only heard good things about those spikes.

Good luck with the shaves!

Can you believe I paid twelve bucks for it, including postage?

That's a very good looking blade! I want to make my leap into straight razor shaving soon as well, I have shaved with safety razors (been away from them for a year, but very happy to be back) and after a few weeks with them, I would definitely like to try a strait razor!
I will have to watch e-bay for a great deal like this!

Sorry, I forgot to give you guys a status report.

Ray honed the razor, so I have confidence it's done right.
I have done five straight shaves with it. The first few I did just one straight pass and then did touch up with my SuperSpeed. I did one two pass with the straight plus touch ups but my face was sore. Obviously the technique is suspect.

Now I'm back to one pass every morning with the straight, then touch ups or a second pass with my DE. Till I get the technique down. I will say it's a steep learning curve, nothing at all like a DE.

keep at it, paul!

I'll be darned—I have the very same razor (also purchased in non-shaving condition as a honing project, still...uh...in progress)

Keep at it! Shaving with a straight is great!

Maybe a dumb question (my specialty):
Are those scales ivory?
If so that's a heck of a score!

Looks like a faux-grained celluloid to me. Nothing against Spikes - I'm looking for one myself, but I don't think they would be clad in ivory.

nice looking starter razor. great find!