Frederick Reynolds in Olive Wood

This short little razor came in an oversized set of plastic scales, the pair being far bigger than the 2” cutting edge required - an obvious retrofit. I decided to steal the plastic scales for another razor and make something that fit the Reynolds a little closer.

The scales are olive wood finished in several coats of Tru-oil then buffed smooth and coated with wax. Once the razor was fully assembled I gave the scales another light coating of wax. I don’t know if it was the wax or the mineral oil I used to coat the blade steel, but one of the two substances darkened the once snow white bone wedge. I coat my blades with mineral oil and have developed a habit of wiping any excess oil off my hands onto the scales themselves. After this experience, I may rethink this habit. This was my first time working with bone and the discoloration was a disappointment. The razor really did look quite handsome with the snow white wedge – sigh – but overall the off-white wedge isn’t all that terrible looking. Oh well, another lesson learned.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy.

Brian

Just beautiful!

I don't know anything about restorations myself, but I wonder whether it's possible to use some sort of clear sealant on bone to prevent the discoloration you experienced.

I wonder if a little bleach on a Q-tip might clean that bone up. Looks absolutely great the way it is.

Brian I've found that when I polish the scales with the brass wedge, I can't touch the wedge or the oxidation removed from the pins darkens and colors it like you see in this one. Great job though but I know what you mean after all that work it's sad for it to not be as you want!!!
Paul

I like this scales. well done.

Lookin good! Nice classic shape and beautiful wood.

Thanks, guys.

I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but tonight I plan to try some hydrogen peroxide on the wedge to see if the true white color can be restored. The use of hydrogen peroxide is a recommended step in the bone maceration process, so it makes sense that it can potentially be used to re-whiten bone??? We'll see.

Very nice looking razor. Great work!

Always a conundrum when they don't do what you want but all I see is that gorgeous olivewood :)

I think it looks fantastic. If you hadn't said anything about the wedge, I would have assumed that you had tried to find some bone to match the scales......either way, it really does look great!

That's a beautiful piece of work there. Very classic lines and well executed. Congrats! Please post your peroxide results.

Thanks again everyone. I tried applying peroxide but it did not work. When I get some free time one day I'll likely swap out the wedge for a new one.

I like the scales, that Olivewood looks great. Well done.

What has happened is that when you buffed it, the dirty material & other impurities you buffed off the scales was lodged into the pores of the bone wedge. Buffers do this. Any natural white or light colored material can do this. A lot of time I will use a dark or black material like ebony because of this. You could take a high grit sand paper (2K+) to just the wedge. It's just "covered" with darker stuff (dirty oils & waxes).