Thread: Gone But Not Forgotten!

Hi All!

Here's the razor I received from a 77 year old Canadian who approximately 70 years ago witnessed his father shaving with his father's razor (granddad's) at the kitchen sink when the father dropped it and it hit the edge of the sink breaking a thumbnail size 'chunk' out of the blade.

He saw tears in his father's eyes! Years later after his mother and father had passed and he was clearing their home out, he found that they had saved the razor, the broken chunk and the box the razor was in. He held onto it for sentimental reasons. Granddad had came over to Canada from England and raised his family. He had died at a young age and the owner's father inherited the razor. The family story handed down is that Granddad had brought the razor with him from England!

Long story made short, through a chain of events I was asked if I could 'place the chunk back' so that his children, grandchildren, great grandchildren etc could see something from their heritage!! I accepted the challenge and about the last of January I received the razor.

I told the owner that it would not never ever shave again, nor would it ever close into the scales and he was fine with that! At one time this was a very beautiful Boker razor! It had some gold wash on the blade and the tang was blued. 99.9% of the gold wash was gone and most of the bluing and the owner OK'd polishing off what remained of the gold wash.

Here's some pictures to help with the journey!

Here's the AWCRAP!



Here's how I attached the broken piece back to the razor. I used JB WELD at both ends then after that had set I applied the JB in the middle and finally got it almost perfect before the working time of the epoxy was up. It is ever so slightly raised at the top and I could have sworn to GOD that it was flush when I was finished but all in all I think it came out very nice:



Here's how it looks now:



I had a friend make the display box. I've tried and tried to get the pictures to show how really nice it looks but No Go! It's got a beautiful gloss finish inside and out and the wood is much darker! The top is secured with two guide pins so it can be lifted of and the glass can be removed and allow access to the razor. There are vent slots cut into each side. I made 90 deg angled pieces of 1/16" brass rod and then polished them. The one is at the end of the blade to support it and the other two sit between the scales. That helps prevent any lateral movement. They are also close enough to keep the razor from rocking in them.



The owner has been so very patient and understanding this whole time! Once the razor had cleared customs in Chicago the USPS in all of it's wisdom sent it to New Jersey which is about as far away from me in a direct line running East to West as you can get in the StatesI do hope that the owner will be pleased when he sees it first hand as the pictures really don't do either the Razor or the display case justice!

I'm hoping to have it packaged and headed home with tracking and insured today! Padding and boxing it so it makes the journey in perfect condition is my biggest worry so far!

I hope all have enjoyed the journey!

Very nice job you did,, ,,,,

Interesting story Roy! Nice work on the razor, the display looks very cool, thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by Martin103

Interesting story Roy! Nice work on the razor, the display looks very cool, thanks for sharing.

Thanks my friend and Thank You for helping identify the maker of the razor!

Very Nice save Roy !!!

For some reason it actually makes me feel warm and fuzzy that the razor was saved for history's sake alone...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Very Nice save Roy !!!

For some reason it actually makes me feel warm and fuzzy that the razor was saved for history's sake alone...

Glen! You Old Softie!

Actually it really was very rewarding to do the work for the owner! He's not a member of SRP he's a machinist and Ray (walleyeman) who's also a machinist sent him to me. I sent the owner the link to my thread/post and he said that I did indeed have the history and family legend of the razor coming with granddad from England correct! Sometimes I luck out and get it right!

I'm glad that unless it's taken out of the display case no one can see how butt ugly it looks where I bonded everything on the backside!



I decided to try to 'seal' the wood by coating everything with the JB WELD. In hindsight I think I would have gone with my original idea of sacrificing a steel feeler blade as I later realized that I had some magnets that probably would have helped keep the chunk in place! Oh Well it's done and on it's way home!

The packing went very well and now I'm not too concerned about any breakage! The bad news is I used 90% of the bubble wrap that I'd horded for shipping razors back to their owners!

I just noticed the amount of 'Likes'! OMG!!!! Thanks Guys! I've never posted Anything that has come Anywhere Near to that Like Count! I hope you pass the link around for others to see as 'most' threads' die fairly quickly!

I'll restart this thread after the owner gets his heirloom and lets me know what he thinks of the finished product!

You did a very nice job of saving it, if only cosmetically, but I think the "likes" are in appreciation of what you did for the family in saving some of their heritage. You done good, boy!

rs,
Tack

Originally Posted by cudarunner

I just noticed the amount of 'Likes'! OMG!!!! Thanks Guys! I've never posted Anything that has come Anywhere Near to that Like Count!

Like, you are gonna' have to watch the movie Valley Girl in like honor of the like count And yes, that is Nicolas Cage.




Nice job on saving a family heirloom.

I'll say it again.

Ya done good, Roy!

Originally Posted by Wullie

I'll say it again.

Ya done good, Roy!

Thank you my friend from the Lone Star State! I'll be honest! This is probably the most stressful project that I've ever done for someone! I could just imagine the scales breaking while I was working on it or another chunk coming out of the blade!

While I got the edge of the chunk to align with the rest of the blade there were many tiny chips in the edge especially toward the toe! I could leave them or I could take them out! After a lot of thought I took them out! Can you imagine how stressed I was while I semi bread knived the blade!! I also 'rolled the edge from side to side while I did. I figured that way if someone was to handle the razor the edge would be rounded and thus totally dull! That blade and the JB WELD really came through for me!

I'll be so glad when it gets home and hopefully in the condition I sent it in! Then I can stop being stressed about it and concentrate on being stressed on something else!

I certainly hope it doesn't take the 'Round About Way' that it came to me! Really it took almost a month to get it after it was shipped!!! I've received and sent razors to my mate Tom in the UK and they usually take around 10 days!