Thread: Thin like ivory? Wade & Butchers

Originally Posted by altus

That crime!
Smile blades with the cutting edge straightened....

Yes that's a shame. What's worse is that blade looks like it has a frown also.
Scales look to have a grain like some ivory.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

People need to get over this Ivory fetish,Even today Ivory is not rare.Ivory may not be the best material for scales IMO.
Ivory is nice stuff,but it is hard to work with and hard to maintain long term.
Ivory is hygroscopic,small changes in humidity can destroy it,Thats why 75% of Ivory scales are cracked because they have not been maintained properly.
Ivory moves alot,it cracks, it warps, it swells.I have taken mesurements and can tell you Ivory can move as much as .004 in two days going from a humidty change of 25% to 80%.
To me a fine set of perfect,orig, horn scales are far nicer than any Ivory scales.
Collars,wedges,thickness,a rough finish on the inside mean nothing,Ivory is Ivory,are the scales orig to the razor?? is no way to tell with vintage blades and old ivory.I have sold alot of Ivory,to people that rescale Hejis,mostly 32s,than they sell them for big bux.is so easy to tell a re-scale but people still buy them.
On the topic of repairing cracked Ivory scales.if on the wedge end,is usually no issue,if on the pivot? forget it,you cannot repair it.
Have ranted at lenth,mostly OT,sorry,bedtime now

I know it is not the best think for scales but it is pretty, I have a fair number of ivory scaled razors and personally think their balance is not usually right they are just too light for bigger blades even with a nice chunk of lead as a spacer.

Wood scales are silly but I have a good number of them as well.

my all time favorite scale material is horn it just seems to last forever with almost no maintenance.

jim

I dunno......I am an ivory fiend! (and a horn fiend, bone fiend, silver fiend, aluminum fiend and a pearl fiend, etc and so forth!)

[QUOTE=sharptonn;1208354]I dunno......I am an ivory fiend! (and a horn fiend, bone fiend, silver fiend, aluminum fiend and a pearl fiend, etc and so forth!) [
WTF No love for Tortoise??
Am fond of Ivory also.

You guys obviously take care of your stuff !

Good Lord Bill and Tom - Those are magnificent razors!

Originally Posted by nipper

Good Lord Bill and Tom - Those are magnificent razors!

That's what I thought! Not much of an ivory fan, I agree with pixelfixed that it's not that special, but those blades are magnificent!

I've got to agree with Pixelfixed.

Ivory *is* nice and pretty. It doesn't take much effort to make it look gorgeous, but it's a pain in the butt to keep in good condition. I never go out of my way for a razor just because it's in ivory scales because 9 times out of 10 I'd rather have the same razor in good horn scales.

Horn is durable as all get-out, extraordinarily repairable, and lovely to touch when it's clean and polished. Plus it's easy to maintain.

That said, tortoise has all the benefits of horn, it's rare (and technically banned for sale on eBay), it's stunningly beautiful when it's polished up, and it'll keep thousands of tiny beetles happy if you don't keep it away from them.

That said, I do disagree about repairing cracked pivots.







It's not as invisible a repair as I'd like, but it's structurally sound after a good deal of use.

Thx guys, a couple more Pacydermoids.A very early JMP imperial #14 and my little Rodgers.
As far as pivot cracks,if you can see them,it is bustedJMO

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Thx guys, a couple more Pacydermoids.A very early JMP imperial #14 and my little Rodgers.
As far as pivot cracks,if you can see them,it is bustedJMO

I have to go with Zak, just in my experience. I've had success with pivot cracks in both horn and ivory with superglue, especially for ivory because of the bonding properties of it and cyanoacrylate (superglue loves ivory). Especially because I don't buy into the scales needing to be so tight that they can support the blade open - as long as they're tight enough that the scales aren't swinging around, it's fine.