New shinny, but what is it?

SWMBO is really supporting me in the new “hobby” of mine. How do I know this? While being snowed in this weekend she gave me an early Valentines Day present. She may have just wanted to keep me occupied because she was getting sick of me, but either way I owe her big this year. So what did she get me? A razor that she carefully sought out on flea-bay, and I have to admit she did a good job. It’s a George W. Korn, it looks to be in good shape - these pictures actually make it look to be in much worse shape than it is. Any info on it would be helpful.

This happens to be my first real SR - for the last month I have been moving from my mach 3 over to a shavette. I am trying to decide what to do with it. I could just clean it up enough to shave with or I could strip it all the way down and try for the mirror finish. If I do that I am not sure how much I like the scales (I also don’t know if they are original - they look too new). Maybe I should replace them with something like the $9 replacements over at whipped dog? Any wisdom, tips or info that would help me with this razor is greatly appreciated.

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So this is what I'd do:

I'd polish the blade but not the tang. I'd leave the tang with as much of the patina as you can but remove the rust at the pivot. You could also try and force a patina on the tang after cleaning it. I'd polish the actual blade to a mirror finish. You'll need to ensure you remove all the rust from the edge; it looks like you'll need to remove a fair amount of metal from the edge (based on the photos). I'd use tape.

I'd remove the scales, I don't like them. Vintage red or blue scales would look nice...

PS, love the shape of the toe, sort of a Spanish point?

It looks like a George W Korn. Made in Little Valley, NY which is the home of quality US made razors. It looks to have very little hone wear so if it's free of cracks and a pitted edge, it should end up being a good shaver.

Carl, other than preserving the stamps on the tang, why leave the patina on the tang only?

No real REASON, I just think it'd look cool...

Decided to sand down the whole thing. Blue scales from larry at whipped dog came today.I still have some polishing to do. I'll get some pictures tonight.