Thread: Gold Bug ~ Friodur ~ Engström ~ Greaves ~ W&B > finally done :-)

Holy smokes, those are beautiful. I can't wait until it's my turn to send a blade in!! Very nice work, Max!

Stunning as usual Max.

Not only do you never dissappoint - I always, always, ALWAYS look forward to seeing more of both your craftsmanship and your photography. Both your gorgeous restorations and your amazing SOD shots never fail to make me drool.

OOOOooooo those is Pur-de Mad Max...


Now I understand, Shutterbug's comment today on one of my threads.... hehehe it all makes sense now becasue you and I just have to follow each other along If one of us does 5 razors the other has too also....

The Gold Bug is "D one", and damn can they shave... love the Look !!

Great work again Max.

Originally Posted by olafurson

All that's more pretty than any one man deserves.

That is a fact! But I am so proud of Max's artistry, I'm happy to confess that those Fab Five are mine. I just couldn't be happier how they turned out. Thank you Max.

To truly appreciate these, you have to see pics of what I actually sent Max to work on originally, a truly mixed bag, a few pretty raw. I lack Max's photography skills for the "before" pics, but you'll get the idea of what Max is capable of doing.

All but one were eBay or flea market finds. The excellent Greaves I bought off the SRP classifieds from Holli4pirating, and it was one of the best shavers I'd ever put to my face until I dropped it and broke the scales clean off it. Heartbreak. Max took these raw materials, and created what you see in the original post. Refer back HERE to the first post for the "After" pics. I almost can't believe the transformations.

First, the original Gold Bug. Amazing razor, but the factory scales were a flimsy, misaligned bad dream that didn't do the paper-thin blade justice:




Next, the Greaves & Sons Sheaf Works. All I sent was a blade:




Next, the Engstrom. Good basic steel, but rotted horn scales that couldn't hold the blade:




Next, the Friodur. An eBay special, good raw material, but the he scales were "mystery wood" with a finish that flaked off every shave. I had also chipped the edge, and the original honing was nothing to write home about :





I've hit my picture-per-post limit, so I will save the W&B for the next post, showing before and after in one post.

Finally, the before and after of the big W&B. A $15 eBay special before I cracked the scales trying to tighten them, and got so mad I just pulled the scales off and put it in a drawer. Here's what Max did with it: the straight razor equivalent of a fully restored '60s muscle car:

Just love 'em. The lines, the flow. It's music for the eyes

Thou shalt not covet, but dang it I'm jealous.

Originally Posted by Maximilian

Here you go Lee

I don't think the owner is willing to part with his Gold Bug That razor is just amazing. A full hollow singing blade. I love that sound when I strop. Haven't seen many like that one either....

Hehe... I think it is probably better that way. I promised SWMBO that the Engels I picked up from you was the last "major" razor purchase I would make. Of course, that was last year... end of last year.... but last year nonetheless.

I can't believe how many times I have come back to look at that Gold Bug today. Got any pics showing the wedge?

Originally Posted by Shangers

I can't believe how many times I have come back to look at that Gold Bug today. Got any pics showing the wedge?

Thank you!
Max has already shipped the razors, and the only remaining pre-Max pictures I have on hand of the Gold Bug are pretty awful. But, a poorly-taken picture is way better than none at all, I say. I love this razor.

This shot is the closest I have to the blade wedge in profile. I will post a clear dead-on blade profile close-up when the re-scaled razor arrives. This shot was taken several months ago when I was trying to learn how to take light box pictures and learn white settings, against a black background. The color and exposure are honestly screwed, but at least I got the focus correct.

The razor width is either 13/16ths or 7/8ths, and is the most paper-thin profile of any wide blade I've ever used. The spine isn't much over 1/8 inch, the bevel is so narrow it's almost invisible. As Max said, it makes a very prominent (and pleasant) metallic singing sound when being stropped. The razor originally arrived to me via eBay dead mint, never even honed, for around $65.