Thread: Badly Damaged Pearl King

I was given a razor by a friend. I am new to the strait razor world and had kind of given up for a while or so. Anyway I am curious about this razor I got. It says Pearl King on the handle and First Class on the blade. It's made in Germany. I do not have any photos but will post some soon. I tried researching it on the web and found this.solingen pearl king first class straight razor on eBay.ca (item 120500250394 end time 07-Dec-09 20:24:46 EST)

Mine looks exactly like this razor except mine is not as rusty but has some very very bad chips in the blade. They are to the point I don't think it can be repaired sadly enough. Any suggestions? Who's the expert 'round here that could tell me if it is salvageable? Is this the caliber of razor that you would even attempt to salvage? Thanks for any help guys. I will put up some pics as soon as I find my camera.

Hey there! Nice looking razor.

From what I've seen, there is some pretty nasty stuff that can be fixed. I've even seen guys here re-shape a cracked or entirely broken blade.

It may require quite a lot of metal to be removed in order to get to good steel on your razor, but it could probably be done. If you have a razor that is, for example a 6/8, and the chips are really bad, maybe it has to be ground down to a 9/16 or a 5/8. But there's no reason you couldn't use it once it is.

It really depends on how much effort/money you want to spend on it. It would very likely be cheaper to buy a new blade in better condition. But if you really want to use that one, there's no reason why not.

All that said, I'm a newb, so I am not the one you're looking for. I'm just telling you some of the impressive stuff I've seen people work with on SRP. Although I'm sure with pics they could better determine if it's worth saving or not.

Have a look in the Classifieds. Members there offer various services like re-scaling, honing, repair, etc. And I'm sure plenty of more knowledgeable folks here will get back to you as well.

If you could post some pictures that would be very helpful!

Whether chips can be honed out depends on how bad they are, and whether there is any cracking in the blade. Cracks at the toe may mean you need to cut the blade down, but cracks at the heel can be fatal unfortunately.

Chipping can be honed out on a low grit stone (325 DMT or something) with tape on the spine to avoid excessive wear. Larger chips may need to be ground out. Massive chips can also be fatal as well.

Rust can be sanded off and polished out so long as it is not too severe, though you may still end up with some pitting afterwards.

Members like GsSixgun (Glen) are expert restorers and will be able to offer additional advice and information!

Could you post some pics so we can take a closer look?

Good luck!

Here are some pics of my blade. Is she salvagable. If you look close towards the tip of the blade there is a triangle shaped chip. There is a crack that extends a few millimeters north from the tip of the triangle. I figure if it has to be cut down there is still enough blade to shave with as long as the chips can be taken out. The other question I have is, with this blade not being of sentimental value is it worth having repaired? Is it of a good quality? I know nothing about this knife. including it's value. Any help is greatly appreciated. And anyone out there wanting a challenge to take a crack at fixing this blade let me know.

Unfortunetly , the blade is toast . The scales don't look bad , though .

Toast? As long as the crack radiating from the front chip is the ONLY crack there is, it can be cut down at that point and perhaps rounded (or left as a SP). Those chips can be ground down without losing a TON of real estate, it's not like it was a 4/8 to begin with. It's a shitheap, but not toast. It's doable, IMO, but not nearly worth it. For the money you would spend on this blade that you have no attachment to, you can grab a razor from someone on the forum and be in good standing.

I agree with Dave . . .It's Toast! If you tried to salvage it by cutting back the point past that crack you would be into the logo on the blade and, esthetically, it would look terrible. Unless there is some sentimental attachment, I would look for another vintage razor in good condition and go from there.

Regards - Walt

With no sentimental value, I would say just cut your losses. It's sad to see a blade "die" but really, I think it would cost more to fix it that it would to just get a new one.

Check in the Classifieds here, lots of excellent blades come up for sale (although you may have to buy them fast, sometimes they go QUICK!) that won't cost a whole lot.

If you plan on doing any restores later at some point, like suggested, I would save the scales. Not sure where you live, but the easiest thing is to go to Walmart (back in the craft section where they sell stuff for making jewelry) and pick up a pair of flush cutters like these pictured below and cut the one side of the pivot pin off, remove the blade, and save the scales for a later date