I just inherited a razor! C. Schlieper (Katz Bros)

Hi guys,

Just a quick introduction. I recently inherited a razor, which was either my father's or grandfather's or both. They both died in their thirties. It is a Katz Brothers - C. Schlieper from Penang, Malaysia. I found it in my dad's stuff there.

Anyway, I got stuck into sanding away rust, patina and pitting and after quite a few hours I am now at this stage pictured. There is a bit of active rust on the tang under the scales and also a very small chip at the foot. I am currently on 240 grit paper after wasting hours on 400.

Attachment 82109

I have never shaved with a straight razor before except this one a bit. I sharpened with my king 1/6k which I use on my knives and stropped on some newspaper. I only did a couple of passes on my face and as it wasn't too sharp and was rusty etc at that stage, left it at that.

So, I am nervously restoring. Plan on doing a bit of research as I go. Not sure where I will get to. If anyone has any comments or pointers for the restoration, I would be greatly interested. I really don't want to take of the scales (fear), but think that I need to due to the rust.

Cheers,
Edna

Looking good so far, and should improve rapidly after 400 grit

Here's a link to that brand

http://straightrazorpalace.com/show-...ht-razors.html

Welcome to SRP. I don't know if you'll get a lot of restoration tips in the beginner's forum but have a read here:
Category:Repair & Restoration - Straight Razor Place Wiki

The scales look like bakelite & will likely be brittle so removal is risky but possible. It will have to be your call but a more thorough job requires un-pinning. Blade looks good so far.

Hi guys, just thought I would update my post. Cheers

Attachment 82419Attachment 82420

Great looking razor!

Sounds like it took a little more elbow grease than you anticipated but it paid off. You have it looking good now. Great job !

I had my first shave this morning. I had sent the blade to Oz for honing after a lack of success myself with norton 4/8. Received the blade back yesterday and had fun shocking my friend with the HHT. Scared me a bit too. He couldn't believe I was going to shave with it.

Anyway, this morning, I was excited and got up at 6am to shave, but unfortunately we had a black out so it was just not light enough, so I got back into bed with my wife ;)

Ok, at 7, still with no power, I decided to go for it. I showered and washed with l'occitane shower oil and applied my baby's conditioner (organic, natural etc) for a while and rinsed.

The lack of light was an issue as I only had one small window helping me out. Excitiement took over my rational brain. I face lathered with Proraso, with my $5 synthetic brush and got a really nice lather in my opinion.

I went WTG left sideburn to jaw (I am left handed) and really felt that was not enough. So completed the entire cheek. I then did a similar amount on the right side and flirted a bit my with moustache area and under the bottom lip. At this stage, I let good sense take over and finished with my Gillette Blue 2 disposable (ugh). I really felt I lacked vision, both due to the new hand position, the blade obscuring things & also the lack of light!

I decided to go a second pass, WTG, repeating the above and a bit of the left jawline. I truly felt that I had done enough and finished off with the disposable. Woohoo no cuts.

Anyway, I had a great time, largely thanks to Oz! So, a big thankyou Onimaru55. When I received the honed blade back, I just felt a strong desire to be able to hone and put a shiny edge on my blade just like you have done for me. The shave felt great, well for a nervous first timer & the heirloom nature of the razor really feels good to me.

I rinsed with warm, then cold and finished of with Nivea Sensitive balm, waited for a bit and then a bit more balm.

Although not a close shave, I feel I have progressed a lot in my learning. Significantly, that fear factor of the HHT, the anticipation of the first shave has now evolved into a more realistic experience of knowing more what straight shaving feels like & I have to say: it seems really good.

Thanks for reading.
Edna

Beautiful blade there, I myself am trying a similar approach with sand paper with little progress. I am assuming from your post we both just need to keep at it. Your blade there looks much better than the one I am working on, so nice work! Hopefully we both will have some nice shavers ready in the end.

As for the scales, if you decide to take them off let me know, I have the exact same problem with the blade I am working on.

Well done edna ! You mostly followed the recommendations for a good first shave & got just that ! Should only get better down the line.

That blade looked great cosmetically but the edge really needed help. I had to start at 1k. 4k would have been a challenge. :)
Ideally don't attempt the HHT unless using fine hair. A dry coarse bristle eg from a boar brush could damage a finished edge.