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I'm trying to decide how much to restore this W&B. I'm going to start with a general cleaning. The scales (horn I think) have gunk in the usual places. I'll do some light polish work on the blade. There is a crack in the scales at the wedge pin on the show side, but the scales feel solid and the pins are tight. For now I'm not worried about the crack. For now I think I will stick with a basic clean and polish, hone and shave...
Nice razor, it should make a great shaver. It doesn't look like it needs much TLC. Congrats on your find!
Very nice too! I'd do the same, basic clean up, hone and enjoy the shave. :o
Nice razor! I think the KISS method will work out very well in this case.
It won't take much to get that one into the line up but I think those are most likely bone scales.
That should be a killer shaver. good find.
Looks in great shape. Scales are bone. A good cleaning and polishing should do on the scales. You might try rubbing some epoxy over the crack to fill it in and stabilize it. Blade looks like a good polish and hone will take care of that. Should be a good shaver. Good luck.
Thanks guys, I wasn't sure about the scale material. The backside scale is terribly thin so all I'll be able to do is clean them. I don't think I can sand them. And that's ok, it should look vintage IMO.
you can clean them up a little with ver high grit sand paper or 0000steel wool and then polish them up a little or wax them. Both ivory and bone are often cut very very thin, 2mm ish. I think someone in a thread has suggested toothpaste, I have not yet tried it.
+1 pretty sure they are bone and very beautiful at that!! I have used toothpaste on bone scales and it helped very little. Sanding them depends on how far down the stains go and have had little success with that too. On the other hand it takes many years to get that antique bone look and I prefer it to bleached whit brand new ones. Just my opinion though. Everyone's taste is a bit different.Quote:
Originally Posted by RezDog
I have some very similar sclaes on a Nowill blade - even down to the inserts. They were very dirty (second pic) when I unpinned them so a good soaking in a warm water and dish wash tablet solution lifted a lot of dirt and I finished with a tooth brush. Like yours , these were so thin I didn't use any abrasive. There was a slight fracture on the inside of the pile side wedge area that I filled with CA and then sanded flat - fortunately it's not visible on the outside.
http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/...psc4bc3b6d.jpg
http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/...psfcdb3bc3.jpg
Rob,
Those are almost identical to my scales. I am missing one of the twisted wire inserts. Not sure I can duplicate that and re-insert... I will try some 0000 steel wool and some mild dish soap to clean the scales and probably leave them alone. It should look vintage, right? I have shiny new razors...
If you have access to a local jeweller they may be able to insert some silver wire - I'm not certain, but it looks as though the shield and inserts on my scales could be silver.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChopperDave
I was also struck by how similar the scales are and it suggests that the blade makers and scale makers may have been different businesses - they are just too similar to be a co-incidence. Having said that, I have shamelessly copied other people's ideas when it comes to scale design and material.
I think your plan to use steel wool sounds good. I used a buffing wheel and, initially, they were a little too shiny - however they have toned down now. My Nowill blade still has a really comfortable edge and after about 4 years of using straights, I think I'm just beginning to understand how an older and softer steel feels slightly different to a modern blade.