Very thin E.A. Berg

Hello,

I recently acquired this Erik Anton Berg. I am looking for some more information about it. The razor is very thin, 2mm, also at the spine and tang. I have never seen anything quite like it. The spine also has strange markings on the side.Too irregular to be ornaments, too regular to be damage of some sort.

I can't imagine it can be honed with such a small spine. Is there a piece of the razor missing? How would I go at trying to restore this one?

Thanks,
Luc

Attachment 128624Attachment 128625Attachment 128626Attachment 128627

It is a frame back. Yu are missing the top piece. You can make one ou of some copper tubing.

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Originally Posted by Wintchase

It is a faux-frameback. Yu are missing the top piece. You can make one ou of some copper tubing.

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There, fixed. :p

Or use tape, lots and lots of tape!

There was a thread about making a new back for one of these a while back.

In original, it was something like this:

http://www.strazors.com/uploads/gallery/berg_1.jpg

If you want an original back piece, you can probably find a blade in bad condition really cheep and take the back from it.

Thanks, you guys. That certainly is enough info to get me going. I thought I was starting to know something about straights, but apparently, I know nothing. :)

It will be a bit of a challenge to restore that one, good!

Luc

If you know a competent machinist with the proper tools and skill it wouldn't be that difficult to machine a back out of stock and epoxy it in place. If you found a similar model to get the proper dimension for the spine thickness you'd be good to go.

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Originally Posted by Lemur

Or use tape, lots and lots of tape!

There was a thread about making a new back for one of these a while back.

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Here the thread about making a new frame for your razor: http://straightrazorpalace.com/vendo...r-customs.html

This is the type of backing sleeve it would have had, not one of those solid ones (the solid ones don't often come adrift, but the tube ones do!):

Attachment 128639

The one above is a bit battered, but originally it would have been a tube, slit along its length and shaped at the back. You could use brass, but it wears a bit quickly when honing, or you could find some steel or stainless tube and slit it with a fine diamond wheel that is less than 1mm thick. Helps if you have a friend with a machine shop like Jimmy said, or if you can make a holder for the tube and set the saw - maybe a dremel - fixed in one position, using the tube holder to slide the tube under the wheel against a rail. The saw wheel width should be less than the width of the blade, so it makes a spring-fit.

You can use a fine blade saw like a jewellers saw, but you have to have a steady hand and a number of blades - they snap real easy!

They do trap water, so you might want to seal with silicone or epoxy.

Good luck!

Neil

I've seen one with a lead back, almost sorry I didn't buy that one... but I wouldn't want lead on my hones.

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Originally Posted by Lemur

I've seen one with a lead back, almost sorry I didn't buy that one... but I wouldn't want lead on my hones.

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Was that someone's attempt to fix it, do you think Lemur? Lead would wear even faster than tape on rough hones - before entirely sealing the surface of the hone and being a swine to remove without lapping!

Regards,
Neil

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Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Was that someone's attempt to fix it, do you think Lemur? Lead would wear even faster than tape on rough hones - before entirely sealing the surface of the hone and being a swine to remove without lapping!

Regards,
Neil

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My thought to, it looked kind of funny!
As goldsmith I'm scared of anything lead, it you get it on your tools, you will get it on the jewellery and then there will be trouble!

If I was going to do it I would get some solid round stock and have a machinist mill a slot for the blade. Give enough clearance to epoxy the spine into the milled slot. Make sure the OD of the stock was going to give the proper geometry for the blade width when honing. Might be too pricey for what the project would be worth once completed, unless you know someone, or have the wherewithal to do it yourself. :thinking:

I don' t have a lot of power tools, but I do own a dremel. I think it shouldn't be that hard to clamp it, build a guide and 'rout' the groove myself, like the other poster suggested. I'll give a shot, if it doesn't work out, I can always try something else. The money by itself isn't a deal-breaker, I'm not looking to make a profit, but I'm in for the fun of restoring.

Why would you take solid stock exactly, for the water that could get trapped otherwise?

It'll be interesting to see if the demel can actually help restoring a blade. So far, it's has done more bad than good. :banghead:

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Originally Posted by raven65536

Why would you take solid stock exactly, for the water that could get trapped otherwise?

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Not because I "know" what I'm doing ..... :p I just like the idea of solid, as opposed to tube. OTOH, the important thing is that the geometry is correct and the gizmo is secure. :gl:

+ 1 on the above.
I cant explain how frustrating it is to sharpen a razor that just wont get there and then you find the back or blade sometimes shift!