Thread: Help with inherited razors

At this point I would simply clean them all with 0000 steel wool and mothers mag polish.

Strop might be a bit of a challenge but it is worth the attempt. First hit both parts front and back with saddle soap and water, with a soft toothbrush. wipe clean with a damp cloth. Do it all over again. Pat dry, roll up in a tshirt so it dries slowly. After a couple of days, rub the leather, front and back, with the palm of your hand with a few drops of neats foot oil. This will be a process, not an event. Rub for several minutes. Next day, repeat. Each day reduce the number of drops of neats foot by half. Continue the daily rub with only one drop, until your have restored most of the suppleness of the leather. Then every day, hand rub with no oil for a few minutes. The strop will either be usable, or it will be a relic for display, one or the other. If you use it, give it a good hand rub before stropping on it. Don't keep adding oil. You mustn't over-oil it. Well, if you do, it isn't the end of the world but it is a hassle to pull all the excess oil out. Maybe the easiest way to do that is pack it in clay-type kitty litter. (unused!) for a few days, then brush and wipe clean.

There are a lot of ways to do this but the common thread is that first the strop is cleaned, then a suitable oil is introduced but not excessively, while the strop receives lots of hand rubbing. Neats foot oil has long been accepted as the best oil for this purpose. Why use any other oil? Don't settle for second best, is my thinking.

Whatever you do, don't let any abrasive paste get on the leather! In fact I wouldn't let any paste anywhere near that strop.

Second and 3rd pics look like common sprinkling of rust from the 2 Boker's scales off- gassing. (on the right)
Might isolate them from the others. Never keep razors in a totally sealed container together.

One bad apple?

They actually look pretty salvageable for the most part.

Thanks for the strop information. Has this strop been flipped from outside to middle? All of the writing is on the inside. If so, is it a case of a barber using a strop for a time then flipping the side to use it some more?

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Nice collection!

When you do start removing the rust with steel wool and polish remember that those edges are still very sharp!
They will easily cut you.

Direct your stroke from the top/spine down to the edge or at an angle down to the edge.
Most of the people here have learned this the hard way.
Tetanus shot ?

All of what you showed so far are what you would expect a working barber to have. All good workhorse razors but not fancy museum pieces. That's not a bad thing unless you want to start a museum. If you intend to shave with them it's a good thing. All of them could likely be restored. I have several of the same razors you have in the pictures. That M Jung No. 80 I have in NOS

This one is in bone scales .The tang and spine were blued or blacked and it is a fine shaver. That might be a good one to have honed up to start with. Probably any of those Torreys would be good too. Their steel was really hard and holds an edge well. If it were me I think I would hold on to most if not ALL of them. If course I have a sickness so
Let us know what you decide.

Here are 6 more razors I have. I can't seem to get enough light on them to make their markings readable. From top to bottom they read U.S.M.C. FREMONT.O.USA CLAUSS// UNION RAZOR CUTLERY UNION CITY,GA// BISMARCK RAZOR WORKS GERMANY 513 BISMARCK REGISTERED// WADE & BUTCHER SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND// WADE & BUTCHER SHEFFIELD MAN'S FAVOURITE(on blade)// AUGUST KERN ST LOUIS,MO MADE IN GERMANY PAUL JONES.

Whoa! You say there is one that is marked USMC Clauss Fremont Ohio? Let me just say this to you. If you should ever want to depart with that one, I certainly am interested in bargaining with you about it. I have been looking for one of these for a very long time. Keep me in mind should you ever want to part with it!

Here are some more. Should I list their markings like I did in the last photo?

Those are some outstanding razors you have there!