Thread: Merkur Restoration

A friend asked me to restore his late fathers Merkur vintage razor.
The original scales were cracked so they had to go. Shame about the Merkur sign because I really like that symbol .

I had free reign over this job so I designed my own scales to follow the contour of the spine. I used a type of Ebony which is dark brown with black streaks. Thinned by hand to about 3mm ish, I'm guessing

Being a hollow grind I thought I could get away with a copper wedge . The wedge had to be specific, allowing the spine and scales to sit parallel and I used brass pins,collars and internal washers.

The blade had deep pitting and scars on the spine, so I did the spine starting with 240 grit paper. The rest of the blade I started at 400 grit. Finishing the whole this with 3000 grit and then polish.

I had to leave a few pits because the blade was too thin to even get near them..

I have yet to hone it up , I'm still waiting for the oil to fully dry on the scales/ 2 coats of true oil and I will finish it with beeswax.

Lovely blade and I cant wait to test shave it.
Surprising to me is how cheap these blades go for . I think I want one , one day ..
Cheers guys. (sorry the pictures are so dark)