Thomas Ellin, needs some work

Stumbled upon this on the 'bay early last week. Was looking for an older Sheffield, one that wasn't a W&B, Frederick Reynolds, Wostie, wanted a lesser known maker. Couldn't pass it up at that price (less than $10 with free shipping), even with the fugly scales. Came in Friday, a day early in fact. Other than the scales, a little active rust, and the staining, it's actually in good shape. The heel does look a little off to me, but I'm fine with that. Other than taking a razor blade and 5 minutes of steel wool rubbing to remove the active rust, I haven't had a chance to do much to it. I'll be pulling out the sandpaper later this week. I've never replaced scales before, but I do think it'd look good with some honey horn ones. It'll definitely end up in Glen's hands when it's finished, for a honing, but,considering how awesome he is, I might see if he can throw on some old vintage scales as well. Tell me what y'all thinkAttachment 236259Attachment 236260Attachment 236261Attachment 236262Attachment 236257Attachment 236259Attachment 236260Attachment 236261Attachment 236262

Nice piece. Why not let him do the whole thing and be done with it. Just a thought.

I love the look of that razor reminds me of a farm restore razor, where the farmer drives a nail thru the scales or tie string around to hold together. The pivot pin collar is especially cool. Is it were mine Id try to keep the scales intact they have far to much character to loose.

looks like it has potential. i would bet it is going to turn out to be a nice razor. i've seen wedges in a lot worse condition than that turn into real beauties. keep us posted on the progress.

I have a few thought. First it looks like it is recoverable, but to make sure that very first thing you should do is make sure you can get a clean bevel. It would be a shame to spend a lot of time on it only to find out it won't hold a bevel. It is a nicely shaped blade from a lesser known maker so it is exactly what you wanted. I do like the scales that are on it. There is just something about the character of them. The pinning has to go though, but you might salvage those scales. I have a Torrey that I really like that has a black plastic scale on one side and a really old oak scale on the other. Eventually I will fix up the pinning job. I kind of feel the same about those farmer scales.

I will say that it has character. I don't have any experience in honing, so I reckon it'd end up going to Glen to try to set a bevel.

I'm not gonna say that I'm sold on the scales, but I do like that someone loved the blade enough to make their own scales when the originals broke. It must've meant something to them, either something that they really liked or they couldn't afford to replace it. Either way, that does kinda get to know. And, being a country boy myself and a former Marine), I do know something about doing the most with the least

Yup, looks like that should fix up real nice. I'd try to salvage the scales though. "Character".


Mike

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Originally Posted by mglindo

Yup, looks like that should fix up real nice. I'd try to salvage the scales though. "Character".


Mike

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LOL there seems to be a consensus to keep the scales. I hadn't really given it any thought until I decided to post the pics here. Something to consider now..........

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Originally Posted by Hacker7

Nice piece. Why not let him do the whole thing and be done with it. Just a thought.

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I gave some serious thought to letting him do the whole thing, and he's cleaned up a restore project that I started (my beautiful Dubl Duck), but I like getting my hands dirty and I like learning. I figure I'll give it a shot. Worse case scenario, I can't get it cleaned up past a certain point, I'll send it to him to finish up and get shave-ready. Trust me, he's the only person that I've ever had hone or touch any of my razors, and his work is absolutely awesome

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Originally Posted by priest2705

LOL there seems to be a consensus to keep the scales. I hadn't really given it any thought until I decided to post the pics here. Something to consider now..........

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As much "character" as those scales have, they are not even close to the right shape that anyone would also instruct to be made for a restored razor. So I say either reshape them into a proper razor scale or just toss them completely.

The scales will need work for sure. Hopefully you will be able to keep the raised grain and patina. If you decide to toss them, I would like a chance to play around with them, however I do have a very large pile of projects. I would be happy to put them in the pile if you are going to toss them anyway.

Sort of on topic .......... the book in the background of the pic showing the razor, by Dashiell Hammet, the Big Knockover. Years ago I read that, and darn near everything he wrote. The Maltese Falcon was the best, and the dialogue in the movie follows the book darn near word for word. Great writer of that genre. Nice project razor too.

+1 for keeping the scales. They may not be right, but the character counts for something. (At least I have to assume so, my wife sticks around with me for some reason!)

That said, one the blade is restored they may look even more out of place. Hard to say at this point.

I'm still undecided about whether to keep and resize the scales or rescale it altogether. I haven't had the chance to really get the sandpaper on it this week, work's been crazy.
That being said, I have found some info in the forums, such as http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...tml#post826770 and http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...-any-info.html. But, I'm trying to get a rough approximation of age. I've seen a couple of threads from people who own Thomas Ellin's, and I've seen the Vulcan logo as well. But, my Vulcan logo looks a little different. Might not find out anything, but I am curious about age, etc