Thread: Some oldtimers

The blade of the Helje is 20 mm so that must be 7/8 (?). I've always found inch system very confusing
On the back side of the Heljestrand there is 'M (three crowns) K. No 32'
Those 3 crowns are obvious as we are talking about the Swedish razor, but i do not know what MK means.

Maybe i just have to try to learn to live with the fact that the scales might be ivory. Sorry, poor elephant. One day he was walking happily in Africa, doing things that elephants usually do. Guess he never knew that one day he has to give away his life just to be my razor scales. Such a poor and useless destiny.
May the dust lie lightly on you under the earth, elephant.

On the Ward razor there's groove on the front side only. No markings on the back side.

I belive the MK stands for Magnus Kindal, who ran the Heljestrand company in the early 1900 I think..
Maybe he is the designer?

Very nice finds Sailor! To get the rust off I would scrape it off with a disposable single edge razor blade. Then put some oil on the blade. You can use metal polish on it but that would take off the lovely patine and black in the etching. With the thin scales and pins w/o washers I would bet that the Heljestrand has ivory scales. A light coat of mineral oil on the ivory will help preserve them. Keep the out of long exposure to direct sunlight and wipe them down after handling them as skin oils will darken them. Aren't local finds just GREAT!

Originally Posted by Joed

VTo get the rust off I would scrape it off with a disposable single edge razor blade. Then put some oil on the blade. You can use metal polish on it but that would take off the lovely patine and black in the etching.

Removing rust with DE blade is great idea. I already put WD40 on the blade to soften the rust for few days. Although metal polish usually works well, it works too well with these old blades. I'm no trying to remove patine, but let these nice blades carry their age with proudness.

These findings were really something special. It is already very difficult to find other than junk razors here, but finding English blades from Finland is against all odds. In fact i've never seen English blades in any live or internet auction here before. Only Swedish, German and Russian straights, and even those are very rare.

Fantastic historical blades!

Originally Posted by BKratchmer

Sailor, I could be wrong, because I don't have them in my hands, but I'm pretty darn sure those Heljestrand scales are ivory.

More than you would ever want to know about ivory ID.

http://www.cites.org/eng/resources/p...vory-guide.pdf