Thread: Grandfather's Razors

Hand-me-downs..

I'm not sure if it's kosher for me to post links to other forums like this, couldn't find anything in the rules or FAQ's about it so here it is.

The thread explains itself. Got some razors from my grandfather and I'm currently unsure as to what to do with them. I'm leaning more towards doing my best to restore them and start using them, rather than letting them sit there and rot. There is an interesting post in there from another user involving old celluloid breaking down and having negative effects on the blade.

Any thoughts from the folks here on the celluloid topic or on the idea of restoring them and picking up where one of my ancestors left off.

P.S. I tried just copying and pasting that post here but there's a 7 photo limit.

lucky guy.
Throw away the razor on photo 6 that has celrot.
In picture 7 and 9 I'm not sure, but the rest is quite good to restore. love the one on the first picture.
Nice barber stones also, you can say thanks to your granddady .... nice stuf

Great hand-down, there is a lot of potential there. Thanks for sharing.

I searched this forum for info on celrot, and it's much more heart breaking than I originally thought. Is there a way to know which of these handles are made of celluloid? I have no problems whatsoever with removing every single one of these blades from their handles if they are in fact celluloid. So as soon as I have a way to identify them, I will get to work. And rather than pitch the ones that have the rot, I'm going to see what kind of condition the blades are in after removing the corrosion. And who knows, I might make my own replacement scales. Or attempt to use them scale-less...unless that's blasphemy around here.

I doubt you have cell rot in those except for maybe the last 2 razors. It usually rusts the steel that is encased in the scales not that which is exposed. I would give all those scales the benefit of the doubt tho the last 2 razors may be a challenge to get a sound edge on
You seem to have a variety of scale materials there. Lightly sanding each will reveal what you have . cell will smell like Camphor . Horn will smell like wet dog & dust will be a light colour & bakelite will sand up a brown dust that smells odd, almost burnt. Catalin has a milky smell.
I would guess first razor has horn, 2nd ~ cell, third ~maybe horn, 4th ~ bakelite, 5th ~ cell ?, 6th ~ cell, 7th ~ horn, 8th ~ cell or maybe catalin, last 2 ~ cell.
btw I wouldn't go scale less. The scales counter balance the blades.

The one with the spiral scales is cell rot for sure. Do get rid of it, or at least keep it away from the others, because the gases can affect stuff around it. The one immediately below that may be salvageable since it has horn scales. Looks like red rust on it and it is the black stuff that is really deep into the steel. Nice assortment. Congrats on your inheritance and welcome to SRP.

Definitely some keepers in there - congrats!

BTW - I gotta say great choice of quote under your user name on the other forum
A lyric from one of my favorite songwriters and a picture from one of my favorite movies......

@Ryan: Thank you. I very much enjoy that singer/songwriter and movie as well. Strange how much in common you find out you have with others on forums where you share one interest or aspect of life.

Also, so far the only one that shows significant corrosion where scale CONTACT is made is the one with the red rust running through the center of the blade. The rest of the blades have evenly spread corrosion, or corrosion on parts of the blade that are exposed. For the heavily rusted ones, what would you suggest for a home restoration avenue of approach? I would like to get the blades in good shape and then observe how fast they may deteriorate thereafter to help determine which handles are safe to remain.

And to JimmyHAD and onimaru, I have removed eat razor from its cardboard box and place them alone in separate ziploc bags, to keep one from affecting another. And I'm aware this could cause exponential decay of any that are already afflicted, but this will also help me weed them out faster while also protecting the others. Thoughts? Slaps upside the back of my head?

Originally Posted by williamsld8

And to JimmyHAD and onimaru, I have removed eat razor from its cardboard box and place them alone in separate ziploc bags, to keep one from affecting another. And I'm aware this could cause exponential decay of any that are already afflicted, but this will also help me weed them out faster while also protecting the others. Thoughts? Slaps upside the back of my head?

LOL, Nahh, no slaps upside the head . Quarantine is a good idea & once cleaned up if the scales are an issue you can get tarnish or rust very quickly from the scales .
btw another thing to help identify cell rot is rust patterns mimicked on both sides of the blade.
Re home restoration read this Hand sanding a blade - Straight Razor Place Wiki
And G'luck