Thread: Latest find: old bone scale razor

Why do you think they're bone and not horn? Nice looking razor IMO. I like those straight scales and agree, sanding them and buffing them would bring them back nicely provided they're not significantly bug bitten.

Chris L

IMO...

This is an old and venerable razor. I, personally, would simply clean it up as much as possible without messing it up.

This old thing never had a mirror polish, so why knock yourself out trying to do that. Simply remove any active, visible rust and don't sweat the pitting.

Then try to clean up the edge and see what kind of a shave it gives you.

Good Luck!

- ignatz

I'd hand it over to seraphim and tell him to have at it! Make a Swedish/German chinese pointed notched fushion sushi pad thai thing out of that French razor. lot's of steel to play with there.

I agree with the majority here. If you can salvage the scales at all I'd go that direction. It's a very nice thing to have restored scales and blade and then get a smooth shave from it. There are probably as many approaches to restoring a SR as there are members here. The Wiki as well as The Forge section here have great tips as well.

Work on the blade first. Just get it clean and as evenly colored as possible, and with as few pits as possible. A simple repeated cleaning with MAAS should remove most of the rust and dirt (2 or 3 times using a slow speed Dremmel with a felt pad - BE CAREFUL NEAR THE EDGE!!!) That should get it very close to clean and shiny - but you never know, it just might go to near mirror shape.

If after a good MAAS cleaning you see too many pits then you need to hand sand it. Start with as high a grit as will remove the problems after a few minutes of work. Move to the next higher grit only after all the scratches from the previous grit are gone. End the sanding once you get to the highest grip paper you have (I normally stop with 2K grit paper). Many stop at 400 grit but I find I get a much more solid and pleasing finish by going to 2K. It's tedious but worth it. Also, hand sand it if you decide to sand. Using a 220 grit Dremmel flap wheel is tempting but I'd stay away from that until after you've restored a few practice blades. It's tough to look at a once beautifully shaped blade that now has a dime sized nick taken from it as a result of a Dremmel and a slip of the hand! I have a magnetized holder for blades that protect the edge - got it after the second beautiful blade was assassinated by a Dremmel and a loss of patience.

The scales seem a bit more difficult but not so bad really. Many folks have their own approach but for this one I'd probably start with a very high grit sandpaper (800) just to see what shape it's really in. If 800 grit doesn't work drop to 600 or even 400 grit. Fill any worm holes with epoxy or Crazy Glue (but be very careful with the glue and epoxy). After it's solid all the way across, sand lightly with high grit paper until it's all smooth and even. Now is the time to clean between the scales as well as to clean the pins as well. Use MAAS on it all and use a cloth, toothbrush and even dental floss to get to the tough to reach areas like inside the scales and under the spacer.

Make sure all the dust is gone and then go to it with a layer or two of bees wax followed by a layer or two of Renaissance Wax if you have it. Alternatively you can simply use MAAS (hand rubbed) followed by any type of polishing wax.

I'd tighten the pins prior to doing all that work though, just in case you ding the scales. That way if you do damage the scales you can fill that nick along with the worm holes.

As I wrote, many more may chime in with their approach but that's the approach I tend to use with a SR that looks like that one. It's a nice looker in disguise - restore it and it will give you many great shaves I'd think.