Imperial Razor with aluminum scales

RAD hit me again, As soon as I saw her I knew I was taking her home even though I was not 100% sure, i have not seen very many aluminum scale razors. I don't even know the earliest date of a aluminum razor..

I took some deep breaths and started researching, I soon found out the blade is vintage, but those scales..hmmmmm... They look almost too good....perhaps its just because I had not seen any like it before....it's time to ask the SRP brethren, do you guys have any thoughts?

Regardless I took the gamble and await her arrival.

After the purchase I found out the seller is a 65 year old collector who has hundreds of razors and has been collecting for 40 years, this set my mind at ease. as his other razors are equally nice and vintage, I still hope to get some history about this particular razor soon from him.

I will be crossing my fingers..


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...erial_alum.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...rial_alum1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...rial_alum3.jpg

I don't think you got the right link posted man. It just took me to My Ebay page.

fixed it, sorry I have been digging all over SRP. And can't find any scales like this...

Somebody posted a razor with aluminum scales just today. Not exactly like yours though. I looks pretty cool to me. How could you screw up? You wanted it....You bought it..Done deal. Now as long as it's not made in Pakistan you should be good to go. I think it looks pretty nice. Sorry, that's all the thoughts I can muster. I got finals tomorrow. HIH


http://straightrazorpalace.com/custo...minumholm.html

There seems to be a period when Aluminum was used in scales quite a bit though it was never very popular. I guess in general any all metal scales has never been very popular. You know, at one time Aluminum was worth more than gold.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

You know, at one time Aluminum was worth more than gold.

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Now all it's good for is an occasional beer can.................

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mrsell63

Now all it's good for is an occasional beer can.................

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so is it not good for Razor handles?

It depends what you mean by good. It serves. Just that aluminum tends to tarnish and looks very unattractive when it does. There are just better materials to use.

Nice looking razor . I'm not too crazy about metal scales , but I could get used to that one . Good find !

I know this post is old, and someone has probably mentioned it before ... but you can have your scales hard anodized with clear or any other colour of your liking. Since your scales here are etched and have some engraving work I would just go with a clear or light gold anodize/chem film.

You'll want to keep the razor nice and dry. Galvanic corrosion as a result of the dissimilarity of the metals is a potential problem. In a conducive environment (warm, damp) aluminum can oxidize faster than you'd think.

As PHANTZM mentioned, should you choose function over form (detracting somewhat from originality in favor of durability) anodizing is an excellent option to prevent this condition. Anodizing can be done relatively easily at home: Anodizing Metal at Home (The LJS method)

Good Luck!


EDIT: Just noticed I was replying to the OP from 2011.

Never mind! :p

I have several with aluminum scales, including the one linked by regularjoe above. Never any issues with them. Looks like this one had some gold decoration in the carving. Might be neat to polish them and redo that?