Thread: Help Identifying before I spend money to restore

Originally Posted by kgo

Here are some photos of the razor. I unfortunately can't get my camera to focus without the flash being on and it slightly throws off the visibility of the razor. Do you guys think based off of the pictures that it would be worth it to me to have this razor restored professionally or should I just try to do it myself? I understand that it is basically just an estimated opinion. I'm not sure if this is even an older razor or just a newer one in bad shape but I like the look of the razor and hope for it to be older and possibly be a true gem in the rough

Most definitely I would restore it. I would seek some guidance and do myself if you feel up to it. Looks like it would make a decent razor.......it is not in the worse condition I have seen. Good luck.

Could this razor be associated with J.R. Torrey of Worcester, MA?

Originally Posted by Michael70

Could this razor be associated with J.R. Torrey of Worcester, MA?

as for it being in pretty decent condition I would think that it would be a good restore project as well but the last one didn't turn out so good because I am not very experienced with restoration of metal parts. especially not parts as small as a straight blade. In reference to it possibly being associated with J.R. Torrey, I have been wondering that myself. I am curious as to if it may be a blade from before torrey was started and torrey branched out or vise versa where howard's split from torrey. I have been really curious about this. if so it may be a unique razor that hardly anyone else if anyone else has. I have yet to see another one in a restorable condition. the other one that I managed to find anywhere was pure junk because it had deep rusting and cracks through the blade.

You could clean it up into a bit nicer of a state and then send it out for honing. Really all you need to do is remove the rust. You could do it with steel wool and wd-40, completely non invasive.

Originally Posted by RezDog

You could clean it up into a bit nicer of a state and then send it out for honing. Really all you need to do is remove the rust. You could do it with steel wool and wd-40, completely non invasive.

yeah I was thinking the same thing but I would like to get rid of the tarnish and get it back to a near mirror finish if possible. I talked to classic edge and they said they could do it for like $15-$20 additional fees over the cost of a standard honing/sharpening service which doesn't seem bad. Has anyone heard of howard specialties company? I found a small bit of information on this about a rotary strop that looked kind of like a cigarette roller but larger and was curious if this may be the company that made the razor but its kind of confusing as they were a company in new york and my razor says worcester, mass.

There were a lot of small cutlery companies and many many barber supply and hardware stores that had razors produced for them. There is a high likelihood that if it is a branded for Howard Specialties Company that it will be fantastic. You would be surprised at how much you can remove with steel wool and wd-40, you can use steel wool and polish too and get pretty deep.

Originally Posted by RezDog

There were a lot of small cutlery companies and many many barber supply and hardware stores that had razors produced for them. There is a high likelihood that if it is a branded for Howard Specialties Company that it will be fantastic. You would be surprised at how much you can remove with steel wool and wd-40, you can use steel wool and polish too and get pretty deep.

Looks like it's time to go get some steel wool and wd40 then and I'll attemp to polish it up with mothers afterward! Hope it works!