Assessing 2nd Hand Straights From Photos

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Starting to get straight-curious and have been idly checking out prices of used Kropp razors on ebay. However, not sure I really know what I'm looking at. I think I understand a little about the general design: half-hollow, full-hollow, round point etc but I'd like your advice on checking the quality & usability of an old blade from a photograph.

* Discolouration ie shades of grey isn't an issue. Can be polished out.

* Small chips on the edge are nuisance value only: can be honed out.

* Pitting - which shows up as black spots & patches in photos? - doesn't affect performance unless it's near the edge. Small black dots near the edge could be honed out, like chips, but large patches of pitted steel will make it impossible to sharpen the blade.

* Some blades appear to have quite a large amount of wear along the spine ie a wide patch worn down by years of honing & stropping. It occurred to me that, after an extreme amount of wear, the edge geometry would change becoming more acute. Is this something to be concerned about?

Basically I don't mind a blade which looks a bit grotty so long as none of the flaws actually affect the performance.
 
I haven't really decided about a straight. A shavette arrived in the mail today. I understand they have a very different, unforgiving feel so if I don't like the shavette that won't necessarily put me off straights. But if I *do* like the way it shaves, it's odds-on I'd like a straight even more. I DFS'd my forearm with no nicks or cuts, just shaving dry with no soap, so that's a promising start.

If I saw a 2nd-hand straight at a good price which might look a bit tatty but had a fundamentally sound blade I'd definitely be tempted. Learning how to hone & strop would be part of the fun. I'm used to sharpening bushcraft-type knives (scandi grind) so I'm at least a couple of steps down the learning curve.

Bought my first DE razor only a month ago and that was such a revelation it's got me curious about traditional shaving methods in general.

Thanks for the advice :)
 
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