Thread: Help with razor identification please

You all have brought up some good points. I look at this razor as a chance to learn a little about honing and see if I can make some progress. If I mess up, it was a cheap blade and I get to learn. If it works out with a good hone, then have learned that art and can try to clean and restore the blade. Again, if I mess up, not too big of a loss. Looking forward to this over the next week or so. Thanks for the interest and ideas, I'll post some better photos once I get a little work done after the holiday weekend.

Don't hone before doing a restore, you could lose a digit or an appendage. I would start cleaning it first and then move on to the hone.

Originally Posted by guitstik

Don't hone before doing a restore, you could lose a digit or an appendage. I would start cleaning it first and then move on to the hone.

+1!

AND you take a chance of messing up your honing work.

Originally Posted by guitstik

Don't hone before doing a restore, you could lose a digit or an appendage. I would start cleaning it first and then move on to the hone.

If I could politely digress: 'I' actually like to see what the edge will do before I spend a lot of time/money and materials on trying to bring a razor back from the dead.

I'm not saying that I hone to shave ready, but I like to see what the edge looks like when I get a bevel set. If I'm grinding away for hours then it's usually a lost cause. However I just finished up a W&B for a friend and I had spent about 3-4 hours getting the chips out and finally getting a good solid edge. It was well worth the time and effort!

Cuddarunner, I use a foam wheel on a 3" grinder that is non aggressive but will remove rust and clean up a razor in no time. That is my first step when I receive a "new" razor as it will show me how much work will need to go into restoring it. If I had that razor in my shop, my next step would be to align the edge with the spine and I accomplish that several different ways but mostly on an old oil stone that I have used for years, it's kinda like my touch stone for lost causes. It is at this point where I would see what the edge is going to do. It is basically semantics but we do it almost the same. If I can tell how extensive the damage is to the body of the blade, I can tell what the edge will do... In most cases, not all.

Wullie, is the penguin drunk again?

The edge looks pretty ragged - hard to see why from the low-res photos. If it is due to tarnish/corrosion, then even after it is straightened up there is the possibility of bad, crumbly, pin-holed steel way above the bevel, so possibly a lot (I mean a LOT) of metal might have to be removed.

If the markings are S. H. K. & Co then it was probably sold by S. H. Kress & Co. (after Samuel H Kress who started the empire in 1887) and who had a chain of cheap '5 and dime' chain stores from the late 1890s. Genesco took over the chain in the 1960s, but the early days of this chain coincide with this type of razor and handle material. The chain certainly had knives, penknives, etc, marked S. H. K. & Co.

Regards,
Neil

At the very least,see if you can set a bevel before any resto work and get to good steel.
May save you many hrs of needless work.

Thanks Neil, that is most likely what this razor is, an S.H.K and Co. I think I have some fine grit sand paper laying around, I will try to clean a little of it up. Even if it doesn't hold an edge, this will be a great one to practice cleaning up rust on.

Originally Posted by Kecklc

Thanks Neil, that is most likely what this razor is, an S.H.K and Co. I think I have some fine grit sand paper laying around, I will try to clean a little of it up. Even if it doesn't hold an edge, this will be a great one to practice cleaning up rust on.

You are very welcome.

And you are correct - if nothing else, you can get some practice and hopefully learn a thing or two from the razor which will change the way you see razors - with a little practice you get to pick more winners than losers!

Regards,
Neil