Thread: J R Torrey all cleaned up

Originally Posted by silverloaf

honesty is always good! glad to hear all sides. personally i feel its a disservice to a blade to leave it in a state where moisture and microbes can make inroads. its a historical fact that cutlers would regrind blades as the need would arise so as to preserve the useability. some of the razors we use today are examples of that fact, being useable still because someone cared enough to not let them degrade into rusty heaps a century ago.
and please, no one mistake what i say as promoting the haphazard regrinding and potential destruction of razors. i tend to gravitate to razors in need of saving, most need a lot more than this one did. i let the nice clean razors go to others, i prefer the rusty heaps. when i put care into cleaning them up it is always with the intention of passing them on and hoping they will be serviceable for much longer. it is a haphazard thing on my part, in my mind, if i remove active rust but leave the razor in a less than easy state of maintenance. there are exceptions. many, many exceptions. but with so many new users just getting started all the time i feel it is respect paid to these once neglected blades to give them the best chance of a long life possible. to do so i tend to give them a higher luster and strive for fewer blemishes because 1) fewer blemishes means less places for moisture and microbes and 2) a polished blade has less surface area (think- finer and finer ridges) than a less polished blade and thus does not show oxidation as readily and also has less surface for microbes to hide. take a look at the blades of yesteryear that were less finely ground vs the crocus finished blades. the crocus tend to survive much better and with less scars. not my opinion, its science. so everything i do is not for the sake of shiny, its out of respect for these old blades and my intense desire to see them persist. my respect just manifests itself differently than your respect for them. respect nonetheless.
and i appreciate those blades that we say "if they could talk..." but i tend to hear them saying to me, "if only i had some semblance of my former self..." but again, there are exceptions, many, many exceptions.

Well said, very well said.

As mentioned, each to his own, for me, I was just never able to imagine someone buying a razor 150 years ago and complaining that it was too new and clean looking , so when you say, "some semblance of my former self", that really speaks to me and my take on these beautiful pieces of history and art that we are privileged to use, and again as so aptly pointed out, for the inevitable limited time we ourselves have with these wonderful blades.

Thanks Silverloaf.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

OK. You started it. That is shined-up! This is original patina!

mighty nice!
well, il say this, the person who had my smith in their collection really took care of their straights. all original as in original spot free grind with crocus finish, not a reground and buffed blade. but i suppose if you polish away the slightest oxidation regularly then theres no chance to accrue a patina like your holley! theres room in my heart for both. i do think my smith is pretty amazing for surviving 125 years give or take with not but a few minor freckles. the finish is a truer mirror than i could ever dream of accomplishing.

Originally Posted by Phrank

Well said, very well said.

As mentioned, each to his own, for me, I was just never able to imagine someone buying a razor 150 years ago and complaining that it was too new and clean looking , so when you say, "some semblance of my former self", that really speaks to me and my take on these beautiful pieces of history and art that we are privileged to use, and again as so aptly pointed out, for the inevitable limited time we ourselves have with these wonderful blades.

Thanks Silverloaf.

thank you Phrank, I don't speak latin but if I did this is how I feel about people and razors:
boni pastoris est tondere pecus non deglubere
its easy to mame them, easy to love them, hard to care for them properly while we have them with us for such a short time.
beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
what im finding in light of the above is that its important to put forth more efforts on both fronts

I am confused, is shiny good or is patina good, if shiny has some specks of black is it still shiny? Should patina be as pure as shiny but in a shade of gray compared to the mirror finish? Does each caretaker of an 18th or 19th century razor get to do whatever he pleases with his razor, from a meticulous original restoration to a hellish stabilized blowfish lip?

One more thing, in general I think honesty has taken a back seat to: if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all. I thinks this makes for a boring site sometimes compared with some other forums....not shaving forums that I occasionally visit. But this site has a mist of 'we are gentleman' over it and that, I guess, is not a bad thing even though I am not one myself.

You did a fine job on this restoration! Now if you did the same work on an early 1800's razor my opinion would be different! Enjoy!

Originally Posted by WW243

One more thing, in general I think honesty has taken a back seat to: if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all. I thinks this makes for a boring site sometimes compared with some other forums....not shaving forums that I occasionally visit. But this site has a mist of 'we are gentleman' over it and that, I guess, is not a bad think even though I am not one myself.

I think there are many gentlemen and others here that know that honesty is dealt hand in hand with tact and respect for others opinions. I don't see it as having taken a backseat, but the opposite seems true sometimes. Tact takes a backseat to some peoples using honesty in a less than tactful way. We should all give our opinions, its what helps formulate how we each feel, sometimes my feelings may change because of someone elses opinion making me see things I may have overlooked on an issue.

I'll have to see if you posted in the What do you Do thread, you sound like you may have been a professor of linguistics or logic.

Originally Posted by silverloaf

I think there are many gentlemen and others here that know that honesty is dealt hand in hand with tact and respect for others opinions. I don't see it as having taken a backseat, but the opposite seems true sometimes. Tact takes a backseat to some peoples using honesty in a less than tactful way. We should all give our opinions, its what helps formulate how we each feel, sometimes my feelings may change because of someone elses opinion making me see things I may have overlooked on an issue.

Originally Posted by WW243

I'll have to see if you posted in the What do you Do thread, you sound like you may have been a professor of linguistics or logic.

hahaha, far from it! im "unlettered and ordinary." just speaking from the heart is all. "professor silverloaf"........... naaaah, just doesn't sound right!

Originally Posted by WW243

One more thing, in general I think honesty has taken a back seat to: if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all. I thinks this makes for a boring site sometimes compared with some other forums....not shaving forums that I occasionally visit. But this site has a mist of 'we are gentleman' over it and that, I guess, is not a bad thing even though I am not one myself.

Being a "Gentlemen" doesn't mean you have to agree with everybody at all, it means you can express your opinion to everybody using proper language. Its to easy for many to be the tough guy behind a keyboard expressing yourself in a gentlemen way makes you think before you type anything.