Sad little ducks?

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08-21-2012, 12:23 AM
roughkype

3 Attachment(s)

Sad little ducks?

Gentle shavers,

I have these two Dubl Ducks from a batch of razors I bought a couple of years ago, and questions about them. First, the pictures:

Attachment 104285

Attachment 104286

Attachment 104287

The orange-scaled one is a Satin Wedge and the yellow-scaled one is a Special No. 1. Hone wear is significant; honed-out toes and broad, uneven spines. Otherwise the blades are sound, no pitting.

And my questions are...

1) can they be dated from the info on the tangs?
2) were these models originally 4/8 or 5/8 blades?
3) is the Special No. 1 honed so close to the stabilizer that I shouldn't bother with it any more?

I have no experience with Ducks. I've read here that they're very honer-friendly and shave sweetly, but are these two too far gone?
08-21-2012, 12:37 AM
mapleleafalumnus

Is it just me or does the Special No. 1 have a slight frown on the edge? I'm referring to your 3rd pic, and maybe it's just the shadow playing w/my eyes.
08-21-2012, 12:50 AM
roughkype

Good question, Maple. I just checked them against the bathroom mirror and neither frowns. Just a shadow, or a wave in the graph paper.
08-21-2012, 12:58 AM
mapleleafalumnus

I have no honing experience. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Rien. Nil. Other than my Swaty, and that doesn't count.
That being said, I've seen my old barber (retired since December) hone up worse looking razors than those, so hope exists for the lil' ducks!
08-21-2012, 01:07 AM
donv

I'll show you a frown!!

Tomorrow I'll borrow my son and his camera, then you guys can see a frowning blade! I've been in contact with Roughkype, and he suggested that I post some pics. I've been hesitant to post pics of it for fear of any possible ridicule I would receive for buying such a wreck. But, I need to know if it's saveable or just my new garlic slicer.

Back tomorrow!! Thanks, donv
08-22-2012, 08:53 PM
donv

1 Attachment(s)

These pictures didn't come out as well as I wanted, I'll try again, but here's these.Attachment 104488
08-22-2012, 08:56 PM
donv

2 Attachment(s)

unhappy duck

Attachment 104490

I'll try a different background, and a different camera. Can this be salvaged??
08-22-2012, 09:45 PM
roughkype

I think it can, but I'd put it into the hands of a pro like gsixxgun, who would straighten it out with a minimal removal of metal. It'll take a gentle touch to preserve the stabilizer while straightening the edge back out.

If the reflection truly matches the hone wear in your pic against notebook paper, you can see where the honing was heavy-handed in the middle of the guy's stroke. That caused both the wider hone wear at the spine and the frown in the blade.

Any of us can do that over time; the trick is to develop good honing habits at the outset, or to include strokes that mitigate against them. Most important is to develop an even stroke, then later as you encounter used blades, learn the heel-leading and rolling x strokes to prevent or correct slight frowns.

But this one is more than slight. Looks like it was a lifetime razor of a heavy honer. A first-time restorer would be tempted to leap in and breadknife the edge til it was parallel to the spine, but that wouldn't do anything to correct the hone wear on the spine and would waste an awful lot of metal. An experienced restorer would know how to keep as much metal as possible, and would also know the spine needs to be tuned along with the edge.

Myself, I would not step up to do this one for you. I only know in theory how it should play out. I've had one breadknifing tragedy in my own collection, so I know the cost of that error. Yours is too nice a blade to learn on--as was mine :-(

Ducks are very desirable razors; I think it's worth investing in a restore. I'd love to watch a resto like that; I've seen chips honed out but not a big frown corrected. If you were fantastically lucky, there would be a meetup near you soon, with a honemeister attending, and you could take it as a demo blade.

Good luck with it, and best wishes to you.
08-22-2012, 10:04 PM
donv

thanks Roughkype!

The closest meet I've seen is coming up in October in Washington, if I can make it I sure as heck will!! Hey, till then, I can always use it as a screwdriver!!

donv
08-22-2012, 10:35 PM
lz6

Quote:

Originally Posted by donv

Tomorrow I'll borrow my son and his camera, then you guys can see a frowning blade! I've been in contact with Roughkype, and he suggested that I post some pics. I've been hesitant to post pics of it for fear of any possible ridicule I would receive for buying such a wreck. But, I need to know if it's saveable or just my new garlic slicer.

Back tomorrow!! Thanks, donv

No one here will ridicule you for posting pictures of any razors you have purchased. Man, I have purchased some razors that make yours look like NOS. Learning never stops with wetshaving and you will get some sound advice about any razor you post and have questions about. I think your razor can certainly live to shave once again. Glad to have you here donv. Enjoy.
08-22-2012, 10:46 PM
nun2sharp

Quote:

Originally Posted by donv

Attachment 104490

I'll try a different background, and a different camera. Can this be salvaged??

Yes it can!
08-22-2012, 11:14 PM
thebigspendur

Bresduck was the in-between outfit when Charles Bresnick decided to go with the DD logo and changed the company name from Bresnick to Bresduck. I would surmise it's from around WWll.
08-22-2012, 11:32 PM
DFriedl

I saw a terribly ugly Bresduck Redhead for sale for a reasonable price recently, but I couldn't get past the logo of a funny-looking guy's face on the scales and tang instead of the ducks.
08-22-2012, 11:48 PM
WhiteLion

roughkype: Those razors have seen better days. They might be restored, but no one is going to mistake them for DDs even if restored.

donv: Here are two links you may find of interest to you. Indeed your DD can live a happy life again. The first post is where I got information from members about how to correct a frown. Heck, mine wasn't a frown, it was a sneer! Here's the link: http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...own-blade.html. The second link shows how the frown had been removed: http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...n-no-more.html. Hope the links are of some help.
08-23-2012, 03:23 AM
WhiteLion

Quote:

Originally Posted by roughkype

were these models originally 4/8 or 5/8 blades?

I did some research and to the best of my knowledge both blades were originally 5/8". Yours look substantially less than that.
08-23-2012, 03:42 AM
roughkype

Thanks, WhiteLion. The scales look like they belong with 4/8 blades, but the heels are about 4/8s now and that puts the edge awfully close to the stabilizer on the hollow blade.

Sad. I'll still hone them up, I guess, so I can experience Dubl Duck steel.
08-23-2012, 03:37 PM
thebigspendur

Quote:

Originally Posted by roughkype

Thanks, WhiteLion. The scales look like they belong with 4/8 blades, but the heels are about 4/8s now and that puts the edge awfully close to the stabilizer on the hollow blade.

Sad. I'll still hone them up, I guess, so I can experience Dubl Duck steel.

No such thing as DD Steel. DD never made anything they were just a retailer-wholesaler. The razors were made in Germany by a series of mainly unknown manufacturers.
08-23-2012, 04:49 PM
roughkype

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

No such thing as DD Steel. DD never made anything they were just a retailer-wholesaler. The razors were made in Germany by a series of mainly unknown manufacturers.

Ouch! My poor, wet parade!
08-23-2012, 10:34 PM
thebigspendur

I've heard rumors Charlie Bresnick was really a warlock and late at night in the basement of his store he bestowed magical powers to all his razors before sending them on their way. They say the grim reaper was his tribute piece.:rofl2: