I just scored this new razor. I'm looking forward to having her cleaned and honed up to see how she shaves! Now I have to decide whether to have her polished or just hand buffed and whether to rescale. Any thoughts?
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I just scored this new razor. I'm looking forward to having her cleaned and honed up to see how she shaves! Now I have to decide whether to have her polished or just hand buffed and whether to rescale. Any thoughts?
I've had a few of those. I found them to be great shavers. They take a wicked edge, so be sure you're shaving with a really light touch.
That's a beauty just the way it sits. Other than honing, don't do anything hasty, you can always polish/buff/rescale/whatever later -- but you can't undo any of those things.
Just one compromise I'd make -- tape before honing -- not usually my cup of tea, but I'd hate to lose any of that razor.
It looks to me that a high grit sanding and a little polish would go a long way to making her shine like she should! Good luck
Sweet! I really like those old Sheffields. They seem to have more character and variety than a lot of the other production run cookie cutter razors from the continent or the U.S. At the most I would give it a gentle going over with some 0000 steel wool and metal polish to take off some of the crud but leave the patina. The same for the horn scales. Then buff it good with some denim. There is, to me, something not right about restoring a razor of this age to a mirror shine. It's like giving a hundred-year-old man a face lift. It just ain't right. The patina on the blade and those little worm bites on the scales are testament to a life well lived and should be appreciated and not glossed over. Just my two cents worth.
Regards - Walt
i saw that on ebay last nite, would have bid on it but fell asleep! Nice score!!!!
I agree with this 100%. That razor is probably over 100 years old. It has seen a lot of time and now has its own unique "character".Quote:
Originally Posted by stimpy52
Would you have been as attracted to it if it were bright & shiny new?
Just my $.02,:)
What stimpy said, send her to someone how can remove the frameback and fix her up tender and maybe a very light buff + remove the bad stuff around the tang. Thatīs what I would do anyway. Nice score!!
Nice score!
I must admit, I'd be very tempted to leave it as is and just hone it. Its got a load of character now, and it would be a shame to lose that.
Otherwise, great score and enjoy it..! :)
I've been talking to Glenn about doing exactly that. I think she deserves to look like she's aged gracefully. I'll share pics when she's in shave shape!Quote:
Originally Posted by Mikael
Doesn't need much to spiff it up and removing all the patina is not necessary unless it just has to be shiny, IMO. I have one and it is super sharp and a great shaver. Enjoy!
Took some pics of this one as I tore it apart
The scales are in a bit worse shape in person, then they looked before in the pics...
After I took the razor apart you can see that the horn has some bigger bug bites in there... I use Acra-bed to "fix" these, and stop the problem when doing a "Vintage Restore", this stuff is stronger than the original material was..
I overfill the holes, then I will sand and polish this back to near factory looks...
The blade is being only hand polished to get rid of any active stuff, but not any "age" I am using only Blue Magic Polish, no sandpaper, or buffing compounds...
The scales will need to be straightened before I finish, so after I get them looking pretty good I'll use steam, and two flat pine boards, with clamps to straighten them up some....
Note the pivot pin in those pics, see how bent it was...
This is what I mean when I say sometimes no matter how careful you are, you WILL crack scales sooner or later..
If I had just driven this out from one side after clipping the lock-washer off these would have cracked...
I gently tapped from one side then clipped and filed the other side when I had enough room and gently tapped back and forth until she finally came loose...
The question is how did I know to do it like that????
First experience hehehehe, but also I tap with the same light hits as when peening, I do NOT increase the force if it doesn't pop loose.. I try a different approach, and do something like I explained, if I had continued from only one side I would have cracked these..
Will post more pics when she is done...
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Hey! You've been holding out on me. HA HA HA!! Didn't know you found such cool looking razors. Cant wait to see them restored.:beer2:
Those Wosty framebacks make really nice shavers. I know you'll make her look just as nice too.
Nice blade Bill...It certainly has character...An interesting project. Thanks for the pictorial Glen.
Can't wait for Glen to get done with the makeover.
I took some pics of two ways to straighten warped scales...
These work really well with natural scales... Steam seems to me, to be the safest way with these, I just don't go with the hair dryer / heat gun option myself YMMV etc:
The heavy duty way, with a wood press, you just steam them and clamp them between the two soft pine boards...
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And the fast way using two folder style clips, again just steam them, and leave them sitting over night...
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Excellent tutorial, and what a great way to have a razor restored! Thanks for all your efforts, Glen...
Here is a thread in the Gallery... of the razor all done...
http://straightrazorpalace.com/custo...tml#post635290
Very cool!
