Thread: Please help!!!

My first guess was correct, those are no good. You really need to be careful with those, you may hurt yourself. I can take care of disposing them safely for you....I'll even pay the shipping just to make sure you are safe.

I knew I had come to the right place. Complete strangers so concerned for my well being. I think I will take my chances though.

It looks like most of those will make great shavers.
Are you going to restore them yourself?

That's what I was just wondering myself. I haven't the first idea of what I'm doing as far as restoring them goes. The handle, scales I gues is the correct term, on a few of them need to be replaced. All of the blades need polishing and honing of course. I am kind of curious of what the age of these razors may be. The Rodgers & Sons and the Wade & Butcher handles don't feel like plastic or wood, and they aren't ivory either.

first photo - the second from the left needs scales that fit it, the rest look good, and if the scales aren't warped should be good to go after honing. (the rightmost may be a bit iffy and the second to the right is a bit narrow, so probably better to start with another).
second photo - leftmost and the middle one have serious issues and will take some work to make them shave well if possible.
the second from the left has been cracked and i'd rather not take chances with it
the rightmost has been shortened, if the temper wasn't lost it shuold shave after honing, the second from the right is also a bit problematic but not as bad as the middle one.

i'd say go with the rodgers and the butcher (that one would need at least some sanding which you can probably do if you have more time than money)

Originally Posted by gugi

second photo - leftmost and the middle one have serious issues and will take some work to make them shave well if possible.

I've been staring at the photo for a few minutes, trying to spot the problem but I have been unable. I can see a slight smile on the toe in the right one, and a frown on the middle one, but I still feel like I'm missing it?

Jerwil - welcome to SRP! You scored some fine razors there. If you are going to try to restore those yourself, I'd recommend to put the eagerness away as best you can and make sure you are starting with the less valuable ones. The first pic has some lovely razors, you would not want to do damage to them. Perhaps the left one in the left picture, it has been shortened so won't be valuable. It looks solid tho, and could make a fine shaver. Save the wade and butcher for last.
Oh, and be very careful about the broken blade, put it away until later - there is a chance it could crack further so keep it until you know the security issues.

I'm offering an alternative point of view:
Don't bother restoring them at all yet. First just get one or two of them honed and usable (pretty or not, they'll shave the same) and then try using them. Not everyone decides they want to stick with straight razors, so see which side of the fence you end up on. If you find that you like it, then you can go ahead and invest more time and money in restoring them. If not, you can just pass them on to someone else to do it.

Some guests have all the luck.
There are fine specimens among which I would also like to get.
Good luck with it and treat them with respect.

Originally Posted by str8fencer

I've been staring at the photo for a few minutes, trying to spot the problem but I have been unable. I can see a slight smile on the toe in the right one, and a frown on the middle one, but I still feel like I'm missing it?

The problem is the 'frowns'.

Thanks to everyone that has responded. Here are some individual pics of what I think are the better ones. In order are the Dame, Stoddard, Wade & Butcher, and Joseph Rodgers & Sons.