Thread: Museum style resto

This razor is almost 200 years old. Look at the pins, scales. That's real antique. I'm not sure that it should be restored. Even very professional restoration. For restoration I can send two-three younger blades, at least 50-70 years younger.

It definitely adds character and shows age. I kept a greaves of mine unpolished for a similar reason.

That pouch is awesome! I would pay to have one of those

If it is at all possible to keep a razor in it's original condition, I will. I have a 3-bin set of drawers that I store all my to be honed/restored razors in. The top drawer is 'hone' only. The second drawer is for razors that have a little bit of rust or funk on them, and just need a little bit of cleaning. The third drawer is for razors with busted scales and rusted/pitted blades. I try to keep the top drawer as full as possible, and the bottom as empty. I don't want to feel as if I am defiling history by cleaning a razor that doesn't REALLY need it, but that's just me!

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Sorry, not a fan either...

Two reasons
One, you already did enough restoration to make it not a "Museum piece" so that sorta blows that theory..
Two, I would never ever in a million years stick a sharp piece of dirty rusty steel on my face, you guys are daredevils, to me, and I am not a germ-a-phobe, but that is like going to the doctor and having him use an old needle to give me a shot or going to the dentist and have him use antique tools with rust and patina in my mouth.. "Tattoos with a rusty needle done here"..
Nope I have seen what that black stuff looks like under magnification, and you all can have them all, I don't care what you guys say that thing would never shave my face... and please don't even tell me "But the edge is clean"

Hmmmmmm maybe that's why I started restoring razors in the first place

Now if it were going to go in a display that is different, but then I would have just stabilized it against further degradation and sealed it up to look at...


Hint: From a gun nut, you really don't want to store that in leather, more guns have been destroyed that way than any other

I see your point, and I understand. I think the razor should be pretty safe from germs. It has been sanded, then polished with Autosol, then Brasso. Brasso contains a fair percentage of ammonia, which will kill all the bugs (I hope).

I'm not planning to store it in the leather permanently. It will be in one of the boxes with all my other razors. I just thought it would look nice as an "accessory" which would look kind of period to the piece. I might make some more for travel purposes, though. They protect the razor quite well and "one size fits all". A lot of my razors have custom scales, so they would not fit in the travel cases commercially available.

I love my leather travel case for my razors for the same reason it fits customs scaled ones...

I actually wasn't thinking of the germs carried over after you cleaned it, I am thinking of the build up in the open spaces after you use it...
This is one of the biggest reasons I won't use "Rustiques" as some so quaintly call them... I am not afraid of old germs I don't want new ones going in those holes... Razor Rash ie: pseudofolliculitis barbae is just one... Just think on a microscopic level, and I start imagining all those flakes of skin and oils sitting in those rust holes...

I realize that many of you like old and historic razors, that is your choice, but myself I won't shave them, nothing at all wrong with collecting them and keeping them in original condition as found... but when people start talking about shaving them I get the heebie jeebies...

That is just one man's opinion there are plenty of people on both sides of this fence, heck let's really get the ball rolling and ask if you taped it when you honed it, and if you used a Coticule or a Norton

BTW I too think you did a great job on it

Hmmm... food for thought. It might not hurt to give all the "rustiques" an alcohol swab before or after each use...

But then, when you think about it, even a polished new razor would look like the surface of the moon, on a microscopic germ level.

I'd actually be more worried about germs hiding in old horn, bone and wood scales transferring themselves to the blade when it is closed.

Oh well, something's gotta git ya.

I think that razor looks great. To me, polishing that to a mirror would be like taking the statue of liberty back to a penny-brown copper. Perhaps that's what she looked like many years ago, but she wears her green well as an older lady.

Different strokes for different folks, I suppose. Whatever one's thoughts are on the degree to which something should be restored, I don't think there's much doubt that you did a top-notch job with what you intended to do.

After reading this thread, I realized that I have several old pitted razors on display, not as extreme as this one. I am reminded of a recent post where the poster got one which was perfectly rusted and made it look awesome! I, personally, would not come close to shaving with any of them, but I suppose it would be ok! We DO shave with the edge and not the face of the blade!(I Hope!) I would use Comet with bleach and an old toothbrush!

On the matter of germs: I am no biologist by any means, only a humble chemist, but I can't even fathom the number of germs we come into contact with on a daily basis. Sure, maybe the act of using a razor increases the chance that some of these nasty buggers will make it under your skin, but would it really be that much different than giving your neck a good scratch with your fingernails? Also, can bacteria/germs live very long on a razor? I know that my rotation is large enough that it could be 2-3 weeks before I even think about getting back to a razor another time.

There is an interesting argument here, granted I only so far have shaved with blades in shiny condition due to the fact that I have yet to take on the challenge of a blade beyond a certain amount of degradation. I personally am not as worried about the germs in the pitting since the blade could be sterilized before shaving. I would be concerned if there was a danger of getting rust in a wound if, heaven forbid, I should cut myself while shaving with it.

perhaps this is a discussion that should be moved to out of the workshop gallery and into a forum that may get us a reply from anyone with the education to offer more facts on the matter, if we have such a member on these boards. I would certainly prefer an opinion from someone more educated on such a subject.