Thread: J W Stutter razor: worth restoring?

Hi all. This is my first post. I am a DE shaver but have no experience of straight-edge razors apart from a dabble with a shavette.
I have just acquired as part of a gentleman’s shaving/toilet set (circa 1940s) a J W Stutter razor (marked Gentleman’s Razor on the blade and Shoreditch on the tang). I would like to know if there is any point restoring it for my use.



It seems fairly sharp to me but as (I hope) you can see from the images here, there is some marking/corrosion and pitting on the blade ... and a tiny jagged chapped area towards the back of the blade. Also, there is some rust on the tang. Although the scales (I think they are bone or ivory) seem in good condition, the razor is stiff to open and close, I assume because of rust.
My particular question is, do you think the razor is actually worth repairing, or is it too damaged (or a Stutter's quality’s not good enough... though I have heard of J W Stutter so I imagine it’s not a poor razor).
Ideally, as mentioned, I would like to restore this for my personal use ... to practise with. To that end, I wouldn’t be looking for a ‘mint’ restoration: I would just love to see it usable and brought back to life as it has so much more character than the shavette razor I have.
Many thanks in advance for any advice/information/suggestions you can provide.
Regards, Julian

It's not as bad as you think. Unpin the razor so you could clean the entire shank. 600-2500 wet dry sandpaper should get rid of most of it. Finish with mothers metal polish. When you hone it you may lose some blade height to get to clean steel. You won't know this until you get to that point. Good luck and enjoy.

That looks to be pretty nice and we'll worth the effort.

Pete <:-}

If you do it yourself it's definitely worth it, just the experience alone, but it will shave well in the end. Now sending it to someone may be a different story.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

If I was in your situation, I would have the razor made shave-ready (I agree that the razor won't need to be pretty) by someone who has experience in the field and then I would start learning how to shave with it.
Some of these old razor can provide excellent shaves given the necessary care and maintenance.

As far as the various suggestion to restore it yourself are concerned, I could not disagree more.

You told us you are a DE shaver with limited previous experience with a shavette.
Do you have necessary tools (stones) to work on a straight razor's edge and do you know what kind of sharpness to look for?
Do you know how to unpin (as one poster suggested) and do you have the required stones to set the bevel, restore and then progressively smoothen the razor's edge?
How would you strop the razor?

I don't mean to discourage you and believe learning to shave with a straight razor is a worthwhile idea, but what these gentlemen suggest is like for someone who wants to learn to drive to get bits and pieces of a broken down clunker with manual transmission and start by trying to get it running again.

If you want to learn to shave with a straight razor (which will take time, effort, a great deal of resilience, and you need to be prepared for the occasional temporary setback) you need a razor that you know is in good, shave-ready shape.

To that purpose, I would have the razor restored by someone who knows what he is doing and who can provide you with a razor that you know is capable to provide a comfortable, close shave.

If you were to try to restore the razor yourself and attempt to learn from there, I fear that your career as straight shaver will be short-lived and the razor will end up again collecting rust somewhere in a drawer, which would be a pity.


If you want to find someone to restore the razor for you, some members (hopefully not too far from you) may be prepared to do this for a token of appreciation, and there are also some professional services that offers such service for a fee.


Good luck and don't give up.



B

I do agree with beluga in regards to honing. I don't consider honing part of the restore process, as something can be restored and not shave ready.

But the rest of my opinion I stand by, hand sanding requires little investment (wet dry sand paper, a vessel to hold water, a old hand towel, and work gloves for safety's sake) and you don't have to start out by unpinning. Hand sanding takes time and effort but in the end you have something that [I]you[I] did, a bit of your soul is in the razor, all that pride will keep you shaving with your razor. And there is plenty of literature on the matter. I am not suggesting you do it blind. And a razor is no where near as complex as an engine, it is a metal blade, two pins, washers and scales. Will it take some patience effort and time? Yes, it will but so does learning to shave with a straight. And you should strop your razor before every shave.

I don't ever assume someone has the money to put into their first restore, in fact you can go read articles discouraging professional restores on just any razor. If it was an 8/8 from 200 years ago then I would say send it out. If it was a family heirloom then by all means send it away, but if you are looking for experience and to keep costs down then hand sand.

Hi ... many thanks for your helpful comments and advice. And apologies for the delay replying!
Tempted though I was to have a go at restoring the Stutter myself, as a total straight-edge novice (and DIY basket case) I decided to leave it to the professionals!
I sent the razor to The Invisible Edge, in Dorset (UK), where Adam Perkins was incredibly helpful, and advised the Stutter could be saved and made to look a bit more tidy, although some of the corrosion was more than cosmetic. He said that after the cost of the restoration I would have a better 5/8 razor for the price than most new entry-level razors, so I'm pleased with that.
I have included a couple of images.
Adam warned me the bone scales were very brittle and could break when the razor was re-pinned. In the event they did crack and, even though it was my call to go ahead with the re-pinning, Adam very generously included a new set of nice Redwood scales as part of the original quote price. Excellent customer service.
I haven't used the restored razor yet as I'm waiting for a strop and paste to arrive first. So to protect it in the meantime I've added a light coating of thin oil to the blade, meaning it might look slightly duller than when it came back to me.
The only downside is that, with it's new scales, the razor is too thick to go back in the original J W Stutter case it came in. Never mind!
Again, many thanks for your advice everyone.

Just one more image of the restored J W Stutter, showing the reverse side. The corrosion was worse on the reverse, as you can see from my original images. But after restoration it is so much better, with just some traces of deep-seated marks where the corrsion was removed.

That turned out very nicely. It is a smart man who can recognize their own limitations and make the appropriate decision given the options available, which you have. I hope you enjoy learning to shave with your vintage razor.

Bob