Thread: Determining Junk on Ebay

Okay, so I might've waited a little too long before really diving into this question. As a matter of fact, I'm probably 8-9 ebay purchases too late to be asking this question; but, What particular things am I looking to watch out for when buying vintage blades online? I've read to be leary of excessive hone wear, pitting and the such, but just what does excessive hone wear mean?

I've had a dubl-duck on 1000,4000, and 8000 grit Nortons for two hours and can't seem to get it to shave worth a darn. And yes, I have honed other razors since my conversion this past September. Wassup?

I can't answer you question re. honing but as to what to look for ..... Really study the photos for any potential problems and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask the seller. I'd rather buy one near mint razor than four or five average pieces that will end up amounting to the same money. YMMV.

Here's an older thread than may help, but not on honing the razor. I was thinking of bring it back to life. eBay 101

Here you go...Excessive and uneven hone wear. It'll still shave, you just gotta figure out how many layers of tape you're gonna have to put on the spine in order to bring an edge. Oh and what you're looking for in this pic is that thick band of shiny metal on the spine of the razor. I believe that'd be hone wear

IIRC gssixgin did a thread or a sticky somewhere on what he looks for on eBay razors.
I can't think of where it is ATM.
If I find it I'll edit this post with the link

I'm still new, but, the hone wear will appear different on different grinds. A full hollow with the amount of wear in the pic looks like a lot to me. A near wedge with that amount of wear, not so much. I made a blade that is near wedge or near to a microtome and the amount of hone wear looks like ALOT. Truth is it has only been honed 2x.

Now my primary razor.

Originally Posted by Costabro

What particular things am I looking to watch out for when buying vintage blades online?

see : The straight razor - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Thanks christophe, I knew I'd seen it somewhere.
There's so much information here it's hard to keep track of sometimes