Wadsworth Razor Co. XLNT

Hey there
I'm new here, and I'm lacking a whole lot of knowledge in the field of straight razors.
I recently bought this razor on eBay. When I first saw it, I was quite struck by the beautiful, ornate scales, and I thought I needed to have it. On the blade it says Wadsworth Razor Co. XLNT, with Germany on the the reverse side.

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/e...baka/photo.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/e...a/photo2-1.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/e...a/photo3-2.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/e...a/photo4-1.jpg

Obviously it's in pretty terrible condition, but I'm hoping to make it less so. I was wondering if anyone could give me some basic tips to clean up the scales, and the marks on the blade. The edge of the blade itself has a very large (at least it seems so to me) chip, so if that's also possible to fix, I'd like to eventually do so.

Also, if anyone knows of the history of the company, or of this specific razor, I'd love to know about it. It looks quite old to me, but, as previously stated, I have very untrained eyes in this field. I really want to find out the year (or range of years) it may have been created.

Thanks so much for your help,
Adam

Welcome to SRP.
Trademark Wadsworth Razor Co. XLNT , Germany was used by Adolph Kastor, 1905-1936.
Here some info about the trademark owner.

A short answer about repair potential: Yes you can. I'll leave details to others who can write about it with more experience. You'll be able to hone out that chip, too, with a little bit of shape change at the tip. I've been very happy to discover I could even hone past pitting at the blade edge.

Those beautiful scales will take slow, gentle attention. Don't even whisper the name "Dremel" under the same roof as them.

I have had a few of these razors cross my path and my bench :)
I can tell you this much, the shave they give is well worth the effort to fix up the razor...

If you check out the top of the Workshop forum you will find a highly informative thread there in RED that has a ton of great info for DIY's

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...wers-here.html

I just came back from a local antique store with my wife and found the same razor! Mine has a different scale though, a naked Venus with some flowers on top, and am going to give restoration a shot! Glad I found this thread.

I purchased one just like that earlier this year, in much better condition. I'm wondering if anyone happens to have any info on the year of manufacture for that particular razor?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pedigree

I purchased one just like that earlier this year, in much better condition. I'm wondering if anyone happens to have any info on the year of manufacture for that particular razor?

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I think you will find the best that can be done dating straight razors is to a period of time but no specific year much less date. None of the straight razors have serial numbers so no records of specific dates were kept.

Bob