Antique Store Find, asking advic?

Picked up an ugly old Geo Wostenhom & Sons Celebrated Razor with a carborundum #106 Razor Hone tonight. Although the razor is ugly as hell, the steel seems pretty solid and it passed a HHT without to touching the blade. I assume it was someones shaver in recent history.
They are both pretty cool to me.
I touched up the blade on the Carborundum, a whipped dog c12k barber hone, a pasted strop and then disinfected the blade. I'm gonna give it a shave in the morning.
So what do you guys think -- Keep it as is or make it my first restore project?

Attachment 190960

C!ran it and enjoy it for a while!
Richard

C!ran?

Is that I typo or slang? Or in reference to my Advic? typo. ;)

Looks like it has some hone wear, but I'd clean it up a little, shave with it a few times, and then restore it. Nice find.

If it shaves well. Restore. Looks like a very nice razor. Nice find.

Steel wool and WD40 will clean the blade and scales just fine. A paper towel and a coffee stir stick between the scales.

Sand with 1k, both the scales and blade will shine them both. Use some tape on the spine, looks like very little wear.

Polish, re-hone and shave.

Those scales will polish up nice. Nice find.

Looks like a good one to start with. The hanging hair test is a wide variable until you have calibrated it with know shave ready edges such as DE blades and pro honed edges. However if you feel comfortable trying it out I say give it a go, but wipe it down well with some rubbing alcohol first.

Rezdog,
I understand the HHT is a clue, not the answer. I cleaned the blade up, best I could, scrubbing it some toothpaste. Dipped the blade in boiling water and sprayed it with clippercide. I live out of a suit case m - th but can't wait till I get home to try it out.

Euclid, thanks for the tips. I'll give them a try if I can get a good shave out of her. That seems to be the prevailing advice -- restore it, if it is a good shaver.

Ummm, yes the razor has hone wear, but not enough to matter. Yes, it has some surface patina/corrosion, but can easily be cleaned up. You have a good razor there. That's all that matters. To whatever extent you choose, or are capable of, you have a good shaver.

Nice score clean it up and go for it

Once you get her cleaned up you will be shocked at how nice its going to look. Take your time and do it as advised, you should post pics once you get her cleaned and honed.
Some of the best straights I found didnt look shiny when I first got them. Time and elbow grease will erase years of crud/patina and you will have the pride of knowing that you did it yourself. Should be good to go for another 50 years give or take.

Well I tried a shaved with it, after disinfecting and touching it up with the barber hone(s) and paste as described above. Very different feel on the face with that heavy and thick blade. It got a comfortable shave but not a very close shave. Totally new experience.
I assume it will benefit from a proper honing and then I need to adjust my technique for the blade. I finished with a 2nd / touch up pass using a stand by no-name vintage blade.
Will run it on the hones (Norton 1, 4, 8k and c12k) this weekend and give it another go. If time permits I'll start removing the patina. May want to replace the scales too, they are a little rough but that can wait. One project at a time ;)
Thanks for all the input. I'm pretty excited to see how it shaves and cleans up. I'm loving the feel of that big o' blade in the hand and on the face.

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Originally Posted by Euclid440

Steel wool and WD40 will clean the blade and scales just fine. A paper towel and a coffee stir stick between the scales.

Sand with 1k, both the scales and blade will shine them both. Use some tape on the spine, looks like very little wear.

Polish, re-hone and shave.

Those scales will polish up nice. Nice find.

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Ha,ha, I use a coffee stir stick as well between scales when I don't want to take one apart!

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Originally Posted by stove

Well I tried a shaved with it, after disinfecting and touching it up with the barber hone(s) and paste as described above. Very different feel on the face with that heavy and thick blade. It got a comfortable shave but not a very close shave. Totally new experience.
I assume it will benefit from a proper honing and then I need to adjust my technique for the blade. I finished with a 2nd / touch up pass using a stand by no-name vintage blade.
Will run it on the hones (Norton 1, 4, 8k and c12k) this weekend and give it another go. If time permits I'll start removing the patina. May want to replace the scales too, they are a little rough but that can wait. One project at a time ;)
Thanks for all the input. I'm pretty excited to see how it shaves and cleans up. I'm loving the feel of that big o' blade in the hand and on the face.

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If the scales aren't trashed, put some neatsfoot oil on them & let it sit, then polish them with a rag. If they're rough, sand them & put some neatsfoot oil on them. You can also sand them & polish them up sometimes & they'll look good again. I like to bring old scales back to life as long as they aren't trashed like bug bitten or broken. Even if they have a crack in them, they can be fixed. You can get some shavings & dye them & mix with glue & fill in the cracks & sand them back down & polish them. If they are even broken, you can use CA & put them back together again & sand them & polish them up. There's more you can do to save old scales..........

Well, I wont be getting a job in photography or starting my own Razor restoration business anytime soon, but here is what it looks like today:

Attachment 191350

Attachment 191351

Not the prettiest razor, but she does give a DFS. Really different experience compared to my other razors. Makes very little noise and the weight of the blade really makes easy work of a day's whiskers. Almost a BBS shave.
I left the blade over night in a case tumbler with polish, scrubbed it with WD40 and 000 steel wool, MAAS and steel wool, sanded with 600, 1000 and 1500 grain and then lightly polished it with a dremel and MAAS again. Could probably get it a little better but don't want to do any more damage to the blade etching.
Honed it (norton 1, 4, 8k, c12k) and stropped it on a Crox pasted strop and then a 3" latigo strop.
All in all Im pretty happy. It's a great shaver.

Engine46,
Thanks for the Neatsfoot oil tip. I was going through my inventory of gun stock oils trying to find something that wasn't toxic to try. Was about to give tuttle wax a gp, but it's soaking in the Neatsoot oil now.

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Originally Posted by stove

Engine46,
Thanks for the Neatsfoot oil tip. I was going through my inventory of gun stock oils trying to find something that wasn't toxic to try. Was about to give tuttle wax a gp, but it's soaking in the Neatsoot oil now.

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It looks pretty good to me. I would keep those scales on it.

I think I will. They are growing on me.

Nice work. How did the scales turn out? I find neatsfoot oil works like magic on old horn.

The scales shined up a bit and look a lot better. I plan on giving it another treatment of neatsfood oil next weekend.

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Originally Posted by stove

The scales shined up a bit and look a lot better. I plan on giving it another treatment of neatsfood oil next weekend.

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You can also dab it on with w Q-tip like sharpton mentions or put some on a rag & wipe it one rather than soaking. I don't think it dries up. You'll love old horn as time goes. It's cool! I love making scales from it. I was working on a new pair last night.

I wiped it on with a rag and let it sit, to "soak in".

Color me Green with envy. that's a good looking razor for a antique store find.

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Originally Posted by rhensley

Color me Green with envy. that's a good looking razor for a antique store find.

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I like it too. I think it's cool!

Yea, I'm loving this thing. Here is a pic of the scales. Glad I listened to you guys ;).

Attachment 191494

Attachment 191495

They looked better but not this good when I put it away yesterday. The neetsfoot oil did magic while sitting over night.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stove

They looked better but not this good when I put it away yesterday. The neetsfoot oil did magic while sitting over night.

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It's looking better & better!!!! It's a beautiful razor.