Thread: I'm a little disappointed in this one.

I received the Joseph Wostenholm I bought on eBay recently:



To me it looked like a nice 3/4" blade. There where no dimensions given in the auction, and what I got was a 9/16" x 2 3/4" blade. Here it is pictured with two other razors, one with a similar 2 3/4" cutting edge and another with a 3" edge:



The short blade isn't that unusual but the scales are. While they are well fitted to the height of the blade, the length is off:



About 1/4" too long.
Of course my first thought was of it having been shortened some time in it's life but if it has been it was early on as the patina on the tip is identical to the patina on the tail:



I also wondered if the small height was do to a regrind but the finish, buff and grind marks, are identical from toe to tail.

So is this just an oddball razor?

Looks like it was reworked at the factory to me Hart. Unless put into different scales maybe? Again probably early on.
Good smile for what looks like so little spine wear too.
Interesting..

Originally Posted by MikeB52

Looks like it was reworked at the factory to me Hart. Unless put into different scales maybe? Again probably early on.
Good smile for what looks like so little spine wear too.
Interesting..

Ugh, that's it, I'm so busy looking at the blade I don't notice that the pivot pinning differs from the wedge end. Pivot has silver pin with brass washer and is larger and rougher looking, while wedge has silver on silver.
Thanks.



It doesn't have much hone wear at all, I guess I should be happier about it, just the slight shock at the size scale I wasn't expecting. Need to be far more observant and ask a few questions about missing details. Anyway, I'm not buying any more razors for a while , would have preferred to go out on a better purchase. (A few months at least)

Not to imply this purchase has put me off buying, it's a decision I made just after winning the razor. I need to bring the RAD under control

Hart,

You aren't alone with getting a razor that looked like what you wanted but turned out to be something else.

I recently purchased a Friodur and the description said that there were chips in the blade and the razor was bent. After looking at the pictures I presumed that it must be warped. I bought it and found that the tip of the blade was actually bent! How the hell it didn't just break is beyond me.

Long story made shorter. The razor is now a round point with a shaving edge of 2.25" and it's a really nice shaver! I thought about shortening the scales but with the Friodur wording on the scales it just wouldn't look right. With that said, I'm still looking at working on the scales at the pivot.

I do hope this is of some condolences to you.

Disappointments will put me off as well, Hart. All is not lost, however! It looks like unpinning it, sawing off the top of the scales at the pin-hole, reshaping and drilling a new pivot hole will bring it back to scale.
Should be a good-shaving smiling wedge!

Originally Posted by sharptonn

It looks like unpinning it, sawing off the top of the scales at the pin-hole, reshaping and drilling a new pivot hole will bring it back to scale.

I concur, however Please take the time to make many, many measurements before doing any cutting!!! You can always make a second, third or etc cut. You can't put the pieces back in.

Well maybe Glen could!?!?

Originally Posted by cudarunner

I concur, however Please take the time to make many, many measurements before doing any cutting!!! You can always make a second, third or etc cut. You can't put the pieces back in.

Well maybe Glen could!?!?

Certainly true. The pin hole dictates the maximum, however. But remember, the lead wedge can be trimmed if you need a tiny bit of room.
Don't ask me how I know.......

If I were to cut it back to the pivot, there wouldn't be enough space left for another hole and clearing the wedge. I do have another idea though that modifying the scales brought to mind:



These are more than large enough to accommodate the needed changes, and are much nicer too

Well, get it on! We need results!

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Certainly true. The pin hole dictates the maximum, however. But remember, the lead wedge can be trimmed if you need a tiny bit of room.
Don't ask me how I know.......

Tom I've had to do the same for a friend. He sent me a bunch of FleaBay razors and I needed to do some serious Scale Swapping! Grinding down the wedges on about three to 'make' the blades fit.

He was very pleased with the end result.