Thread: Dorko 66 just came my way!

Hello everyone.
For some reason have had some fantastic generosity and luck recently.
I have been wanting to learn to straight razor shave and have been researching it for awhile, and was ready to look to buy my first razor.
My father In Law got wind of this and gave me one he had at home that he used to use years ago, a nice Boker king cutter square point. I previously put a post on here about it.
It was advised it was better put away and saved until I knew how to shave with a straight.
Now my father In law has pulled another one out of the hat and given me this Dorko 66 round point he had stashed away.

Whats the consensus on using this as a starter razor and I would like to know who would be a good person to talk to about getting it restored or cleaned up as much as possible to be in the best condition it could be?

Looking at where it is rusted I would be a little concerned about those scales. Some of them start to break down and cause the metal to corrode very fast. There is a guy in Edmonton that has a shingle up in the member services area. He is probably your best bet in the west. Honing & Restoration in Canada - Straight Razor Place Classifieds

Yes, the discolouring/marking on the blade lines up exactly where it closes in the scales.
I thought it may have been put away wet or not cleaned and oiled before storage.

it is suspicious to say the least. I would think that you may want to either remove the scales or put the razor in the freezer to limit the off gassing until you can get it to someone to work on Sometimes its better safe than sorry, they also appear to be the cracked ice type scales which I believe is a big offender of cell rot.

It does look like cell rot, not to say it cannot be saved that will be up to who looks at it to determine.
If so that would be a great blade to start with.

That is/was a very fine razor depending on whether or not it has cell rot on the blade and if it can be saved. Given the worked spine and gold wash it might have been more expensive new than the Boker. Well worth trying to salvage it even if you have to rescale.

Bob

i would have no problem with rescaling it if that is what is needed.

Could someone explain or give me a link to what cell rot is please?

it sounds worse than rust.
reaction and deterioration from within the metal?

When the celluloid breaks down it releases gases that corrode the metal, it's irreversible and it is contagious so if you have a razor that you think may have cell rot you should keep it separated from any other razors with celluloid scales.

Originally Posted by Baxxer

When the celluloid breaks down it releases gases that corrode the metal, it's irreversible and it is contagious so if you have a razor that you think may have cell rot you should keep it separated from any other razors with celluloid scales.

Thankyou for the tip!

definitely looks like the tell tales of cell rot starting remove the scales clean it up & see
but either way once cleaned & honed both of your razors would be great shave with, don’t be scared of the square point most shavette’s are square also,
I started with a square point & your King Cutter has a slightly rounded square point not a sharp square if you know what I mean, so I would clean it up get it honed & use it while you workout the Dorko as it will need rescalling at lease I think and will take longer to get ready especially if you want to reclaim the inlay etc

but both are nice scores by the way for inherited blades