That time in life, got to teach the boy to shave time to restore another razor

Well, the title pretty much says it. My 14 year old son looks like a homeless Shaggy from Scooby-Doo. He has needed to shave for a good 3 months but I have been ignoring it. It is to the point now that he has got to start shaving.

So I figure he might as well start right. What he uses will be his choice in the end, a cartridge razor or a straight. I obviously hope he ends up choosing a straight but in the end the choice is his. So I got to digging around my cigar box full of razors looking for something that may suite him. Starting him off with a big 7/8 or larger may be a bit much. I did find a old Wade&Butcher 6/8 wedge that should clean up nicely so I grabbed it. Somewhere I have a Mach3 razor kit as well. I need to find it and turn a handle for it, then he can pick which one he wants. Have to turn a brush as well.

Those of you that have been around for a few years know me and have seen my work many times. For those of you that are new to the forums, good morning. You should be seeing more of me around in the future.

I decided to go with some Ironwood burl that I had laying in my cutoff's bin for the straight. I will keep the theme throughout the process and go with Ironwood burl for the cartridge razor and the brush.

The razor was not in too bad of shape. Your typical been ignored for 70 or 80 years. Who knows how old the blade is, probably a good 100+ years. The pitting went deeper than I expected. I had originally taken it to the wheels with some greeseless compound to clean it up. Once I had the rust off and the blade fresh I decided to go the extra mile and hand sand it. Stopping with just the greesless compounds and buffing left the blade to rough. If you are going to do it, do it right and a nice blade/scale combo deserves the extra bit of work.

Ignore the bayonette, that was a different restoration project but that was the only photo I had of the razor before I started.

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The blade is coming along. It needs more micromesh sanding before it goes to the buffing wheels. It will not be perfect, there will be some minor imperfections in the blade even after sanding. It would take some heavy sanding to get every little divot out and frankly, I just do not have that much time to throw at it.

The scales I am finishing in epoxy reson and going with a traditional shape. I dont want anything too large. More to come.

That's gonna be awesome for your son.
I'd be so proud to give it to him :tu
Mike

I'll be following the progress of the restoration with great interest. You won't be able to post too many pictures to suit me, or give to many details on the restoration process.

Joe

Would you be interested in adopting a 49yo?:angel:

Very nice-Here's another 49-year old up for adoption!

You should be adopting me, I am only 44. Scales are finished and I am about to start buffing on the blade. Updates later tonight.

Finished sanding, or finished all the sanding I was going to do. Ran it over a complement of compounds on the wheels. There is still some light pitting but it would take hours of work to get them out.
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The scales are finished in epoxy resin
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I decided to just get it finished and pinned it tonight with a Wenge wedge. Tomorrow I will turn a brush from the other block of Ironwood burl.

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Very nice, I hope my son will appreciate a straight when he's old enough
He's four now...

Beautiful scales-I keep wanting to try your epoxy finish. I have read a tutorial buried on the site somewhere, may try it soon.

Wow, that is striking. I'm in the same boat with my oldest son, but he is not getting one of those.

very nice,
I love the glass finish of the epoxy on a good wood.
he should be a very happy lad with an heirloom quality str8 in his starter kit
cant wait to see the rest of the kit when its done

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Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

Beautiful scales-I keep wanting to try your epoxy finish. I have read a tutorial buried on the site somewhere, may try it soon.

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I wrote that. You could say I wrote the book on epoxy resin finishes. There are a couple how to's for epoxy resin.

Turned the brush today and have the Mach3 ironwood tube glued up and ready to turn. I had to blow half the day working on my daughters car in the rain. Hopefully he will appreciates it. He will have a $400 starter kit when I finish. Putting a 22mm finest fan top knot in the ironwood brush. It will get finish tomorrow.

I can personally vouch for Dave's scale jobs. Don't hesitate to ask him to do a scale job for you.

I just read the adoption notices. I am only 70. Come and get me Daddy.............:beer2:

Love it...gorgeous work!

If you wondered about that bayonet, it was a Springfield Armory 1918 bayonet for a 1903-A3 Springfield rifle. There are not many of them left in their full length. After WW1 they were put in long term storage. During WW2 metal was in short supply so to save material the ordnance department took the surplus bayonets and cut them down to 12 inches for the M1 Garand so most were altered. This one was dripping cosmoline geese. They are literally dipped in a vat of liquid geese then dropped in crates. I spent a few days getting the cosmo out of the wood and restored it to its original condition. You can still see the armory stamps in the handle. Last time this rifle and bayonet were together the world was deep in war.

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Now back to straight razors....

Funny thing about those particular bayonets. I had an '03 made in 1919. Shootin SOB w/4 groove barrel. Paid $35 for the rifle in the mid 70's. It still had the original dated sling and proper butt stock junk with it. Bought a bayonet like you showed for $80 in the mid 80's. Cussed because they were SO expensive.

Sold the rifle for $600 in the late 90's, sold the bayonet for $275 a short time later.

Still kicking self in ass for selling rifle.

Beautiful work on the razor. All I ever used on ironwood was a buffing wheel. I still call that stuff desert stink wood.

That would have been a low SN 1903. Very dangerous to shoot. The early heat treating on the original 1903 (not the -A3 version) had bad issues and the bolts liked to explode in the rifle.

Dad has a Smith Corona build with a 6 groove. They only made them for a couple years. They got it back in the 50's from the NRA for something like $30. Still in the packing cosmo and original crate, never fired. One day it will go into my collection, but hopefully not too soon.

The brushe is turned and in finish. Bad phone photos. Once the finish has cured (another day) I will get some better photos. Very interesting block of Ironwood. Unique grain/coloring. I have used a few hundred pounds of Ironwood making espresso machine parts and never seen a block like this. Cut a couple slabs to make handles for a knife from the same block.

The barrel for the Mach3 razor is turned and in finish as well. It should all be finished in another day. Then I need to hone the straight. Once he decides on what he wants to use I will pick up a strop (I hope) from Don for him to use.

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Originally Posted by cannonfodder

That would have been a low SN 1903. Very dangerous to shoot. The early heat treating on the original 1903 (not the -A3 version) had bad issues and the bolts liked to explode in the rifle.

Dad has a Smith Corona build with a 6 groove. They only made them for a couple years. They got it back in the 50's from the NRA for something like $30. Still in the packing cosmo and original crate, never fired. One day it will go into my collection, but hopefully not too soon.

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Mine was made after the transition to double heat treat in 1917. ;) It was a righteous old shooter.

Got a 100% 1942 M-1 to replace it. It has the uncut op-rod. Don't shoot it much. Saving it for hard times that I hope never come.

I had a "red" handled version M1905 bayonet for a while but somebody needed it a lot worse than I did, they offered and I accepted.

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Originally Posted by Wullie

Mine was made after the transition to double heat treat in 1917. ;) It was a righteous old shooter.

Got a 100% 1942 M-1 to replace it. It has the uncut op-rod. Don't shoot it much. Saving it for hard times that I hope never come.

I had a "red" handled version M1905 bayonet for a while but somebody needed it a lot worse than I did, they offered and I accepted.

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I have high SN Springfield M1 Garand that I got from the CMP several years ago. It was produced in the last couple years they were made. Never fired. Nice shooting rifle but feel for the boys that had to carry that brick all day every day in the war.

Parts are all finished. Glued up the knot this morning, finished and put the Mach3 razor together yesterday as well. Photos to follow very soon.

That is fantastic. Makes me want to go hiking and see if i can find and ironwood laying around! I will also have to check out that finish of yours. Looks great!

Edit: Ok so it turns out i can't just go out and pick it up in the desert without a permit. hmmm

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Originally Posted by UAcowboy

That is fantastic. Makes me want to go hiking and see if i can find and ironwood laying around! I will also have to check out that finish of yours. Looks great!

Edit: Ok so it turns out i can't just go out and pick it up in the desert without a permit. hmmm

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I recall something that said you can only cut dead trees and then by permit only. It's funky stuff. Stinks to high heaven if your grinder is running any speed at all.

Yup. Ironwood is difficult to get and the burl is even rarer. I turn with it all the time. It is popular for my espresso machine parts.

Custom Wood for your Espresso Machine - Marketplace • Home-Barista.com

Did not get any photos. Was busy all day making some Macassar Ebony parts for an order and finished another knife. I will get photos tomorrow and post them.

Finished. Should make a nice shaving set. Hopefully he will appreciate it. There is a few hundred worth of kit right there.

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wow, that is an impressive looking kit, man! Your son is one lucky kid. I'm hopeful that he appreciates it!

It's cool to see you doing something like this (I'm new here). One of the reasons I want to learn the art of straight shaving is to teach my son once he is of shaving age. (he's only one now). I figure I have a good 13 or 14 years of practice, so I should be able to shave adequately by then! haha

Now that is a starter set to be proud off
Very nice work indeed

This is just utterly inspired and amazing, thank you for sharing and I'm sure your son will be the proudest kid around. I know I would be!

Wow... What a gorgeous set....

Still need to hone the blade. I was busy all evening making a fillet and hunting knife for a friend in some Macassar ebony. Once I have it honed and shave tested I will give them to him.

NNNNNIIIIICCCCCEEEEEE!!!...very impressive...I hope your son appreciates your work as much as we do...great job!

Beautiful work with beautiful intent!! I just recently taught my 14 year old son to shave as well. Not quite 'Shaggy' but the dirt stache had to go :) I gave him the option of choosing one of my straights or one of my 3 DEs. He chose a gold Gillette tech ball end. I gave him one of my brushes, some cream and a shaving mug. While I possess neither the equipment nor skill to create the heirlooms you have made, there's nothing like passing down something that we enjoy so much to the next generation!!!

Chris

Great kit! I hope my son will take up straight edge shaving as well, be it I'll have to wait for about 12 years for that :)