Thread: Pretty Scales

I picked up this razor for the scales. See the little cherub face. Both sides match.

I knew the blade was chipped and planned to trash them. But there is absolutely no hone wear. At the least, I'll spend some time practice honing on it.

They look good. I always like seeing unique original scales. Do you have a blade in mind for it?

Originally Posted by MrHouston

I picked up this razor for the scales. See the little cherub face. Both sides match.

I knew the blade was chipped and planned to trash them. But there is absolutely no hone wear. At the least, I'll spend some time practice honing on it.

Pretty scales indeed!

If you get an edge on it it might be down to 9/16" or so, but if you don't mind the skinny ones it should be a nice shaver. F.A. Clauberg made the Tonsorial Gem razors and while I've never had one, lots of people report they're excellent.

Alternatively if you get it shaving and you don't want it you could put it in some other scales and donate it for the monthly giveaway.

My advice on honing past the chips -- go ahead and tape the spine until you're past the chips and ready to set the bevel, or you may end up losing more of the spine than you intended. It's a nice hollow grind so you should be able to get past the chips pretty quick on a DMT 325 or even a 1K stone. Just keep an eye on the geometry, use differential pressure to make sure you keep the edge profile you want, be patient and change out the tape every so often so you don't wear through it.

You will probably want to grind the heel a little or you'll find the stabilizer getting in the way of honing because the blade will be narrower. Here is a thread on that:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...file-heel.html



And by gum, don't listen to anyone who tries to convince you to make a wind chime of it! Even if he is a mentor who does beautiful restorations. That man has an itchy trigger finger when it comes to chipped blades.

I like the scales and the blade. If you are not experienced at razor honing you absolutely should tape the spine. What happens is when people are new to honing they tend to put pressure on the spine, in fact more pressure on the spine than the edge, where it needs to be. It causes the spine to wear faster than the edge and messes up the geometry of the razor. You can use tape and create the opposite issue, but that would be a ton taken from the edge. I am happy I used tape in the early days. All of the razors I learned to hone with are still in fine shape.

Looks like something that can be fixed to me. I wouldnt trash the blade. Good learning experiances to be had on that one.

Love the scale.


Roger

That's a simple fix, the chips aren't that bad. As suggested before, tape the spine and it will be good as new when it's honed. I would recommend to bread knife the edge to remove the chips before normal honing because you run the risk of cracking the blade, especially if too much pressure is used. The cracks can cause a weak spot. Have fun!

-Matt

Originally Posted by mattluthier

That's a simple fix, the chips aren't that bad. As suggested before, tape the spine and it will be good as new when it's honed. I would recommend to bread knife the edge to remove the chips before normal honing because you run the risk of cracking the blade, especially if too much pressure is used. The cracks can cause a weak spot. Have fun!

-Matt

Thanks for that thought. I would likely have bread knifed it for the sake of removing steel quickly. I hadn't though about cracks from the stress of honing - that makes good sense. Learning every day!

Those are very lovely scales.

Taking your advice, I've honed out the chips and maintained more steel than expected. I shaved with it today. It took a good edge.

I may keep this one, as I've been wanting a french point. It has some weight to it and is a bit wedgie.