Masamitsu Tokusei, JPN and R. Saito

10 Attachment(s)

Hey there!

Last year I brought some nice old Japanese straight razors back home from my trip to Japan. Now finally I found some time to remove the rust and make some new scales for them!

The Masamitsu Tokusei is a frame back that was pretty rusty. The worst spots are on the spine. Unfortunately during the cleaning process I broke the tip off by accident. So I cut off the tip and made a nice short straight razor out of it. I also thinned the tang a bit to give it a more harmonic look. Scales are made out of Bocote (at least thats what I think it is) with a bone wedge and brass rivets and pins.

Attachment 171664 Attachment 171665 Attachment 171666 Attachment 171667 Attachment 171668

The JPN is a very nice razor, however, it was in really bad shape. I removed all the rust with a bath in citric acid. I still have to hone it and see how much of the old edge I have to remove to get a new nice edge. I really love its shape, so I hope it will come out nice.
Scales are made out of cow horn laminated on some nice walnut burl. (The cow horn itself is too weak to hold its shape)
I really love the look of the wood being visible under the clear parts of the horn.
Wedge is again bone, the rivets and pins again brass.

Attachment 171669 Attachment 171670 Attachment 171671 Attachment 171672 Attachment 171673

And lastly the R. Saito, with a very distinctive shape. Its condition is rather good, only minor rust pitting.
The scales are made out of plexi with a inside lining of laminated paper. The wedge is, again, bone and there is also a spacer out of bone. It may look a bit weird, and I am not totally sure if it is good or bad, but the more I look at it, the more I seem to like it.

Here is a link to the pictures, I could not upload them.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gtv516axa...GLAGaI4gGuKa#/

I used to take out heavy rust pitting with sandpaper and such, but it is just too much work for a finish that is never perfect if done manually (especially the polishing). Also if you remove too much metal it can alter the razor's feeling. And lastly, the pitting is a sign of the razor's age and history. Its like a patina that shows what the piece has been through.

I hope you enjoy my restorations!

mori

You have given them a new life and respected what the blades have gone through. Nice saves mori. Let us know how they shave.

1 Attachment(s)

Finally captured the Saito. Took a bit! Nice work! :nj

Attachment 171686