Thread: Trending, a word I dislike

In my short time on the forum I am sensing a trend toward keeping a vintage razor as close to vintage as possible. It seems I am seeing fewer tarted up 19th century razors with mirror finishes and synthetic scales. Is this just me? I was thinking of an analogy the other day for this from the auto world. The world of the Hot Rod. Someone takes a car from another era and remakes it with modern materials. There is still a following for Hot Rods and there is a following for a spot on perfect vintage auto. All bets are off for customs, the maker can do whatever he feels like. Another analogy, antique firearms. How many of those do you see tricked out and how do they look compared with a masterful restore? I guess I am suggesting (with some pushing from behind) that rules that have been accepted for antiques for generations are not applied to razors. Why?

Some of us like to keep our razors as original as possible but then a lot of us still want to use them.
So then we will clean, polish and hone them up.

Some razors got serious corrosion problems and need to be taken apart, otherwise they're going to be totally destroyed.
Same if you see cell rot on the scales.

I've got some really nice old pieces that I will only try to keep from rusting, they do need new scales to be used but I don't have the heart to remove the old ones.

I suppose that in some cases you might argue that the original wasn't that good to begin with. I shaved this morning with PJM C-MON handmade. Its a fairly boring looking razor with flimsy plastic scales. At its finest, it was probably never a real looker. If someone were to give this one a face lift, I would see nothing wrong with that. While I don't go in for the most extreme looking razor restorations, I find nothing wrong with slapping on a new set of classy scales in a beautiful streaked horn or exotic wood or even acrylic. Who knows what anyone would have chose back in the day if they had the same wealth of choices we have now. I personally prefer my razors to at least conform somewhat to the original design just so they don't look out of place, but I can't really argue with some of the exceptional work I've seen from others. And while many of these restorations are not 100% true to the original design, I feel that many are better than the original design. I have a Joseph Elliot that has been reground and rescaled by Chris Maggard. The original never looked this good. I think its true to the original character of the razor but definitely polished up and adorned with scales far more luxurious than the original. Personal choice I guess.

I guess razors, particularly tatty ones are fairly cheap, the materials needed are easy to get, work with and install (in a lot of cases) obviously the quality of the finished piece is down to the craftsperson involved.
The space and equipment needed are minimal so it's not too expensive to get into and won't need an entire machine shop.

Blingy razors (particularly larger ones) will fetch good money on eBay, so if you can turn them around and make a few dollars, then someone will. That's my opinion anyway.

I used to object to acrylic full stop, but having seen some of the good, sympathetic restores done using it I can see that it has it's place.

I have a gold dollar on the way for use as a victim to practice on.

And as a final note, some people just seem to like the nouveau riche blingy, chunky gold jewelry look.

I guess it is all down to personal taste. I see nothing wrong with a good restoration that follows as closely as possible the original razor's look and materials. A few blemishes are not too bad. Most custom jobs I have seen are a little over the top for me but suit the users tastes which is as it should be.

Bob

I am 100% for using razors and doing what is necessary to preserve them. I believe there is an overlap of collectors and users, I'm not suggesting either is more righteous than the other.

What Bob said,keep the form fit and finish as close to orig as possible on the vintage blades.

+1 for Bob post. All down to personal taste, from the pictures below, some would choose the original, some would choose the custom.

In any other antique area you alter the item and you alter the price drastically for the worse. So why are we spending huge amounts for a Wade & Butcher with non period G-10 scales and stacked washers? It just doesn't add up.
Do we close a blind eye because its pretty? If that's the case were no better then raccoons, There drawn to shiny objects as well.
I was one of those who went for the shiny razors with the tricked out scales in the beginning, I'm now atoning for my sins and have been replacing those bight colored G-10 scales for period correct horn.
If your gonna have it have it right!!!!

Originally Posted by Tarkus

I was one of those who went for the shiny razors with the tricked out scales in the beginning, I'm now atoning for my sins and have been replacing those bight colored G-10 scales for period correct horn.
If your gonna have it have it right!!!!

Does a razor with G-10 scales Wrong! All a personal taste.