Thread: got this yesterday at antique store

What Bob said.

Originally Posted by BobH

If it has no makers mark I would not worry too much about that because I have had no trouble with Solingen made razors so far. Some shave a bit better than others but all have shaved well including the ones with no makers mark.

As for the scales gassing off, I really can't see evidence from the posted photos. That is not saying that they are not, just I can't see that they for sure are. If they have cell rot they will give off a strange odor iirc. Also the rust on the blade will follow the pattern on the scales. Give the forum a search under "cell rot" to help you determine what is what.

Bob

The couple of spots on the blade do not even meet up with the scales.I will check further there is no odor. Thanks.

Give the scales a rub with some wet n dri to see if they even are celluloid. They could be some other plastic variant but if they smell of camphor after rubbing they are celluloid & may present a problem.

What's wet n dri?

Originally Posted by jaro1069

What's wet n dri?

Wet/Dry sandpaper like what auto body shops use. Any fine sandpaper will work but go to a hardware store and get some W/D. It's worth the time and money.

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

Wet/Dry sandpaper like what auto body shops use. Any fine sandpaper will work but go to a hardware store and get some W/D. It's worth the time and money.

Ok thanks i didnt know you were referring to sand paper...

Some will pattern on the blade, mostly those of faux tortoise, and others with a dark and translucent pattern like Beau Brummel with the striped pattern, which so few survive. Most of the Bresduck lines are notorious for cell rot.

The marble, cracked ice and translucent will just rust all over eventually. It all depends on the formulation used to make the colors. And back in the day, who knows who was making scales for which companies. I am sure they were all trying to put out unique scale colors and designs.

Usually when you see multiple points of rust with scales of the type known for Cell Rot it is a pretty good bet, and worth passing on, unless you are buying for the blade and the price reflects that. Rusty pins are another indicator, not tarnished, yellow/orange rust. Some smell more than others.

It could be it was stored with a cell rot razor, but on that one all the indicators are there. It was probably a deeper red originally, you could sand the scales and clean up the blade and see what happens. Store separately.

Sometimes you get lucky. I have an old Craftsman in faux tortoise that was just starting to kick off and patterning a fine yellow rust on the blade. I took it apart cleaned the blade and sanded and buffed the scales. I coated the scales with several coats of Ren Wax and oiled the blade.

It’s been about 5 years now and is still rust free, it is stored indoors separately from other razors. I oil the blade every few months.