Thread: Ivory scaled wedges

Thought I would share a couple of recent acquisitions with ya'll as I'm quite excited. I recently bought a 7 razors and two strops from a lady who was cleaning out her late uncles stuff. She offered the 7+2 to me for $105.
In it were these two, 3 very nice Bengalls, one Henckels and one other I can't remember. The two Ivory scaled ones are:
- a 3/4" Joseph Rogers, round point with "Universally Approved, Fine India Steel" stamped on the blade. Also, the spine has a very nice scallop on the front half. It's in great shape apart from some very light pitting and the ink spot on the front scale. Any suggestions on how I might be able to remove this without damaging the scales?
The second is a 3/4" James Barlow and Son(s) slight barbers notch(?) with fancy Ivory scales.
Both are manufactured in Sheffield and I am familiar with the J. Rogers but not with the Barlow.
The Ivory on the Barlow is in much worse condition and has both of the tips at the pivot end broken and the pivot pin is quite rusted.

Both are heavy wedges and I can't wait to shave with them.
Also would appreciate any info you might have on approximate dates of manufacture.

Thanks in advance.

Sweet. Looks like they will be great shavers and very attractive. I especially like the second one. The flow of the blade is simply delightful.

Sorry, can't help you about the the ink spot.

Those are both really beautiful. A worked ivory scale is super rare AFAIK. On the ink spot I would try water and a soft toothbrush for starters. On the rusted pivot dental floss is good with some metal polish if you aren't unpinning the razor.

if the soap and water doesn't work, the next step would be a mild abrasive polish. if that doesn't work, you could, in fact, sand down the ivory using very high grit paper (1,500-2,000+) to see if the ink blotch could be removed. ivory will buff back up to a high polish after you sand it.

Oh, also, you might care to know.. the pivot hole on the 2nd razor has actually been moved. I imagine the razor closes very close to the pin on the wedge end of the razor, am I correct? You can see the original hole, where the scales had cracked..and someone decided to save the scales by drilling a new hole

will that second one close? looks close after the repin

Ivory being a natural / porous substance and most fountain pen inks (assuming it is due to age of scales and such) being waterbased and designed to work well with capillary action I'd guess sanding would reveal that the ink has permeated the substrate as well as the surface.

Assuming it's an old, non-permanent ink... tepid water, a soft brush and gentle scrubbing should do the trick.

Fountain pen inks can often be removed using a drop of dish soap or ammonia in tepid water, but I'd be afraid to use either on ivory as it may discolor permanently.

Try tepid water and a soft brush first... dish soap or ammonia water I'd be hesitant to recommend. A good gentle abrasive such as toothpaste and a toothbrush might also do some good... but I'd be afraid that no matter how much of the surface you remove, you'll reveal more ink staining below.

Beautiful razors by the way... I'm particularly attracted to the blade on the Barlow.

the only way to remove pitting is to remove the surrounding metal until it's leveled with the bottom of the pits. If the pits are deeper than the stamp you can't keep the stamp while getting rid of the pits (unless you sand only around the pit and turn it into a pothole).
So if you want you can sand it a bit and stop before the stamp is gone and live with whatever pitting is left over at that point.

The second razor has replacement scales - you can see the original pivot pins before the new ones were drilled half a centimeter or so lower.

Thanks for the feedback and advice. I will try the water and toothbrush but I'm not holding my breath.

As for the second razor, it closes with about half a millimeter to spare...