Newly restored great grandfather's Morley Clover

[agibby5]

I had been interested in shaving with a straight razor for quite awhile. My interest was piqued again when a barber used a straight on my entire hairline to get it as precise as possible. At first I was a bit scared, especially hearing the razor cut the hairs, but it turned out okay. I'm only 26 now, but I remember seeing strops, mugs, andstraights way back when I was a kid at an old-fashioned barber shop. Though, I never saw them in action! Anyhow, I had been investigating what equipment I'd need to get for a few years now. I'd always feel overwhelmed when I looked at everything and I never acted on it. I decided to just jump in!


I ordered a strop and some diamond spray from starshaving.com. I picked up a starter kit of preshave oil, shaving cream, a badger brush, and aftershave from a local Art of Shaving store (had a $25 off coupon). Now... to decide on a razor. I really like antiques so I figured a vintage was the way to go.... plus they are cheaper. Here's where it gets a bit interesting (at least to me).


I remembered my Mom giving me a hope chest filled with family heirlooms. About 3 years ago, I was rooting through it and found a straight razor. It looked to be in very bad condition. It was in a case which was taped closed with masking tape. The box was in bad shape! The razor edge was badly scratched up and nicked in several places.

Sorry in advance for that terrible pics! Hopefully, you will get the idea.

Before:






I decided to have this razor restored as my first straight razor. I felt a little leery getting this restored in order to use... but I spoke with my Mom about this and she said as long as I did my research as to who to send it to, she's okay with me getting it restored and use it to shave. I just didn't want to disrespect my family by doing something like this, but she said this was the opposite and that it was great that I took an interest in something like this. I was pretty excited to have it done. I went to who I thought would be a good person based on his classifieds and feedback from honing other member's blades. He didn't want to touch it due to the“great grandfather” factor. He strongly recommended Glen (gssixgun) to do the work. I contacted him and viola! I got my razor restored.


There was a slight problem during the restore. Glen “simply opened the razor, and the scales fell apart in my hand, the good news is I had a match, so I cleaned them up and re-placed them”. He didn't charge me on top of what he quoted originally!

The pics don't look as good as the blade looks in person. In fact, it looks like the blade is damaged in the pics, but it is just coated in oil/residue.
After:







Link to picture album: Morley Clover

[Saxon]

Very cool story and post! It's great to see the razor back in action!

[Wintchase]

Very cool! I have my uncle's razor.. Really not a great one... I can't seem to take it out of the rotation though...

[matt789]

Nice post and razor. I wish my grandmother wouldn't have gotten rid of my grandfathers collection. I would give anything to have them back.

[zach5150]

very cool! I just bought some old razors on craigslist and am working on getting 1 or 2 of them shave ready. I was talking to my wife about it and a light bulb came on...she said 'Dang! I bet my Grandfather (RIP) had some. I'll ask my Mom!' We'll see.... Enjoy your journey!

[mcgyver74]

So have you shaved with it yet?

[agibby5]

So have you shaved with it yet?

Yes, here's the thread: http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...zor-shave.html

[DonR]

Very nice! I too had come across my Great Grand Fathers Wade and Butcher in a chest of family stuff my mom had passed down. I remember when I was a kid my moms mom used to show use some of these things when we went over to visit, so I knew a little about where the razor came from. Long story short I had Glen do my restore, love his work, and love my razor. BTW, my son already has his eye on it, someday it will be his to pass on to one of his sons.