I may be a little off here but I kinda like the way vintage razors look with very little sanding. Something about seeing some of the "patina" that only vintage razors have appeals to me. Anyone else feel the same?
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I may be a little off here but I kinda like the way vintage razors look with very little sanding. Something about seeing some of the "patina" that only vintage razors have appeals to me. Anyone else feel the same?
Lots of us like patina if it's even and not blotchy or rusty.Especially when the contrast of the honed bevel is real shiny.In fact,we have a couple of clubs dedicated to these types of razors.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ina-arena.html
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...rustiques.html
I do. I have polished out a bunch of blades but there are still a bunch I like the way they are. The patina does add some allure to them and brings thoughts of who the previous owners may have been.
It would be a disservice, in my opinion, to take a blackened but unrusted old Wostenholm or W&B Sheffield wedge in good horn scales, and try to mirror polish the blade. I like them as they are. The few experiments I have done with trying to renovate them detracted from their historic appearance, so I don't do anything with them now but clean up surface dirt and rough corrosion.
I feel the same... I've bought more than one razor with the intention of polishing it up and dressing her up in fancy new scales... only to decide that I prefer the original look, patina and all.
At this point, the only razors I will rescale/restore are ones that have no or completely trashed scales and rust. I've come to appreciate the beauty that comes with age...
For me, it sort of depends. I have seen nice patina - uniform, appealing pattern - but I have also seen some that are just ugly (IMO, of course). I could look at a given razor and say "I'd like to see that one cleaned up" or "You'd be crazy to change that," but I couldn't make any blanket statements.
That makes sense.. The ones with patina that I have are very nicely even and still clean looking.
I guess i just haven't come across any really ugly ones yet. Ugliness would still be ugliness... get out the sand paper!
On a moment's reflection, i'd have to agree with Dylan; it would have to be the right patina.
ha ha ha, now I'm laughing because this thread has reminded my of the one time I tried to develop an artificial patina by a soak in vinegar.... Epic fail! I forgot that the razor was in there, soaking, and by the time I came back to it, all the little pits I couldn't sand out had gotten bigger, and the whole thing looked really crappy.
Chalked that one up to experience....:banghead:
I saw a post recently where someone had "mirror polished" a straight razor. In the before pictures, deep rust pitting was visible. It was not surface rust. In the after pictures, true the blade shone nicely. But, the pits of rust could still be seen. It was much less visible, and in fact most newbies would not even notice them they were so small.
This illustrates my biggest reason for preferring the natural look. Nothing has been hidden, either purposefully (not too often here, I don't believe) or inadvertently during refurbishing.
i'm the opposite when it comes to razors.. i love the way my artist club looks are futuristically surgical and precise.. the brushed metal and the molded handle really do it for me.. the same with my merkur de.. i just love the looks..
but i love a nice patina on my clothes and other items... i have a pair of ray ban wayfarers that i've had for about 6 years that has really developed some nice wear.. they look as if they have character and have seen some times.. not like everyone else in los angeles with their shiny new pair.. they just look like they saw katy perry wearing a set and ran out and got some.. i also love the worn look and frayed edges on my denim jacket and my doc martins.. i feel classy wearing older clothes.
I bought this old Greaves the other day at a flea market. Cheap. If the "patina" had been better distributed, I would have left it alone, but it just looked like a stripe of crap.http://lh4.ggpht.com/_e96GWMBYR-E/TF...0/IMG_4336.JPG
I think the Patina bell curve starts or ends with me :p I really love a natural splotchy often pitted patina. The above razor would only need wiped down and honed for me to love it :)
Ditto, I'm still wearing the same sunglasses I got 10 years ago, most of my clothing is 10+ years old, most ALOT older... I was just in the bicycle shop looking at new gear for a touring bike and was more interested in the vintage bike being repaired than all the new tech bikes on the floor... Ya I'm hopeless :pQuote:
Originally Posted by vthomlinson
See I can't stand the thought of old rusty steel on my face, hence why I started restoring blades in the first place...
Even one ugly water spot!!! I hate it, I want bright shiny steel, dont really like mirror but many do...Give me a bright high gloss satin and I am in heaven...
Old cruddy scales drive me nuts too, how you can leave those little bug bites in horn and still use the razor is beyond my comprehension...
Personal preference I guess but to me I see pits under all that, and to me pits are BADDDDDDDD...:D
To each their own, but I like to see the razor in as new a condition as possible, I personally LOVE facorty NOS condition myself, I think those are the perfect razors...in fact I would say the bulk of my personal razors are as close to NOS as I can get them....
Now I bet my bottom dollar that the first thought that comes to mind is "Well of course Glen thinks that way, he restores razors"
BUT
It is actually the other way around, "I restore razors because, I think that way" :)
PS: Stimpy in my eyes I see your Greaves buffed out to a high sheen satin,taking all those BAD pits out too... and the scales restored to the high gloss they were when they left the factory IF they are solid and straight hehehe
I like a nice patina, but I also like a nice shiny blade. Well, I guess I like all of them to be perfectly honest. I actually intentionally put patina on a blade tonight for an effect (that's why your thread caught my interest).
Put me down for a vote on both sides :D