Pics and debate on restoring old steel
https://sharprazorpalace.com/worksho...tml#post733610
I bought an old JRD Huggins straight razor last week, and I'm not sure if I'd rather leave the pits and patina or send the blade off for a full restore. I think the ugliness of the blade is charming in a historical sense, plus leaving it as-is requires no work or money spent. On the other hand, a full restore with new black horn scales and a shiny reground blade might look spectacular! (The pits are deep, so many would remain, of course.) I think the problem is that I'm having trouble imagining what the after pictures of a full restore might look like for this type of razor.
Simple opinions or photos of similar restores are welcome.
Oh, and for what it's worth, JRD Huggins was a flamboyant NY City barber in the late 1700s to early 1800s. He was also a poet, and wrote many barbering poems that also doubled as advertising. He called himself the Emperor of Barbers and was often written about in the newspapers of the day. Anyone who was anyone in or around Manhattan was seen spending their days lounging in his Broadway shop. He eventually published a collection of barbering and other poems in 1808 by the title Hugginiana. (It'll be my life's goal to find an original copy for my shave den.)
Thanx,
Christopher
