Awesome Hobby

Well I just wrote a long thread, but my computer crashed as I was posting so this will be shorter for the sake of time.

I am excited about this hobby and am going to be focusing on the restoration side for the next few weeks and then shave with these works of art. I got into this because I like the idea of bringing back these timeless items.

Here are 3 purchases I made of fleabay and I would like your opinion.

JA Henckle's 401
Scales are trashed and I plant to replace them with handmade wooden scales (wood TBD)
Blade has some pitting almost gone via my hand sanding. I do have one concern with this razor which is a small 1/64" nick in the middle of the edge. Can this be removed with a professional honing?
Plans:
Hand sand progressively to 1500
Hand Polish with MAAS
Send out for professional honing.

John McColry- Sheffield
Blade is in great shape-I have no plans to mess with the pin. Scale has a big nick it in, but if I can polish it I would like to keep it all original.
Plans:
Hand sand to 1500
Hand Polish with MAAS
Send out for professional honing

Pirola- Soligen
Blade and handle are both in great shape. I intend to polish/sand both as best I can, I might repin since things are a little wiggly. I feel that this blade could look amazing cleaned up, but I have no idea how it will shave. I might try and rehond this myself after getting the first to back.


I'll try and post pictures of them all, but the last attempt didn't go well so I'll post this first. I would love you feedback on my plans and also your feedback on these razors.

Thanks so much, I'm excited to be a member of this community.

JA Henckle's 401
Attachment 91949

Pilorla-Soligen
Attachment 91951

John McClory
Attachment 91950

they look like they all have potential. don't worry about the 1/64 nick as you want to hone that much out anyway just to get down to some healthy steel. i bet these all turn out to be awesome shavers. good luck and enjoy!

Any other thoughts? Curious about how to restore the scales on these. I don't even know what they are made of.

ideally you would repin them so taking them apart to really clean up is better but i personally dont have pins or the tools to do a good job of it so i just soak them in hot soapy water scale first for a half hour and then give them a brisk rubbing with a microfiber towel to get the big stuff off. Then i will take some ultra fine steel wool 0000 and give them a rub down to reveal fresh plastic or wood or horn, whatever they are. Then i take some flitz or maas polish and again give them a good rub with the micro fiber. They should look new by the end of that. If they are horn you can also pre-soak them for a day or two in neatsfoot oil to re condition them. after that then do all the rubbing. wood is conditioned the same way but using lemon oil or cutlery oil. once you are fully finished buffing after the maas polish then put on a couple coats of RenWax to seal in all in good. Should look like new.

first looks like plastic, second black rubber, third horn.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by groovyd

ideally you would repin them so taking them apart to really clean up is better but i personally dont have pins or the tools to do a good job of it so i just soak them in hot soapy water scale first for a half hour and then give them a brisk rubbing with a microfiber towel to get the big stuff off. Then i will take some ultra fine steel wool 0000 and give them a rub down to reveal fresh plastic or wood or horn, whatever they are. Then i take some flitz or maas polish and again give them a good rub with the micro fiber. They should look new by the end of that. If they are horn you can also pre-soak them for a day or two in neatsfoot oil to re condition them. after that then do all the rubbing. wood is conditioned the same way but using lemon oil or cutlery oil. once you are fully finished buffing after the maas polish then put on a couple coats of RenWax to seal in all in good. Should look like new.

first looks like plastic, second black rubber, third horn.

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Thanks for the reply. I have a bunch of sandpaper but no steel wool. Is there a sandpaper equivalent grit to steel wool?

Also black rubber? That's very surprising. Was this common on old straights?

Any idea on the age of these, so many question- the history of these has really got me excited.
Thanks

it will smell like rubber burning when you rub it. that is a sign. it is really hard rubber almost like plastic. shines up real nice and when you rub it with micro fiber it comes off yellow onto the cloth. i would use 1000+ grits only. you can sand out any scratches too. the bolster metal caps will polish up quick with the maas or flitz. flitz is more agressive then maas and i personally prefer it during restore. i use maas once it is done between shaves to just shine er back up. get yourself a good soft microfiber towel and expect it to look like a mess when you are fully done with all 3. for the blades if you have a tumbler use that at first to get the heavy stuff off and just tape off the scales. Leave it in the tumbler with walnut and compound for a few days. This will greatly reduce the hand sanding needed.

actually looking back the only one i would recommend to re-pin is the henckels (first one). that looks like it needs more blade work to remove the rust and the pin looks ugly with a the big washer. i think you could really make her look nice with a proper sized pins and washers and really cleaned nicely. try to cut the pins off with flat faced wire cutters or carefully with a dremel.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by groovyd

it will smell like rubber burning when you rub it. that is a sign. it is really hard rubber almost like plastic. shines up real nice and when you rub it with micro fiber it comes off yellow onto the cloth. i would use 1000+ grits only. you can sand out any scratches too. the bolster metal caps will polish up quick with the maas or flitz. flitz is more agressive then maas and i personally prefer it during restore. i use maas once it is done between shaves to just shine er back up. get yourself a good soft microfiber towel and expect it to look like a mess when you are fully done with all 3. for the blades if you have a tumbler use that at first to get the heavy stuff off and just tape off the scales. Leave it in the tumbler with walnut and compound for a few days. This will greatly reduce the hand sanding needed.

actually looking back the only one i would recommend to re-pin is the henckels (first one). that looks like it needs more blade work to remove the rust and the pin looks ugly with a the big washer. i think you could really make her look nice with a proper sized pins and washers and really cleaned nicely. try to cut the pins off with flat faced wire cutters or carefully with a dremel.

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Yeah already took the pins our to the Henckle's. As mentioned that scales did break though, but that's alright.

Anyone else have more information on these razors? I am certainly interested in the history.

Thanks