Thread: Worth the heat

The wife and I went to an outdoor antique and junk sale on the 4th Emphasis on the junk. We walked around for several hours in 90 degree wether with no breeze and high humidity and a very dusty lot. When my wife was getting very tired of it an ready to leave I said please just one or two more rows. I'm not sure why I wanted to keep going since I'd only seen 2 razors 2 where really junky straights a Shumate and a Revisor that where not salvageable witch kinda made me sick because I've heard they are both excellent razors. The other 2 where DE's that I just wasn't interested in but probably should have grabbed at $3 each.

Then I found these and it made the whole day worth the sweeting and dust breathing. $2 for the DE this is and $7 for the Straight. the DE has an R 2 date code witch I'll look up later I wish straights had date codes I'd love to know how old it is. Its a 7/8 Wade and butcher in horn scales. There are some chips in the edge of the blade and the scales are chipped up a bit but that is what I am liking these days I will leave the scales as they are with just enough cleaning to be sanitary and probably some Neats foot oil and the same with the blade. Which I hope I can keep about 6/8 or a hair over after honing out the chips.
BTW what is a good way to sanitize a Straight that wont hurt old dry scales like these.

Originally Posted by gandrw

The wife and I went to an outdoor antique and junk sale on the 4th Emphasis on the junk. We walked around for several hours in 90 degree wether with no breeze and high humidity and a very dusty lot. When my wife was getting very tired of it an ready to leave I said please just one or two more rows. I'm not sure why I wanted to keep going since I'd only seen 2 razors 2 where really junky straights a Shumate and a Revisor that where not salvageable witch kinda made me sick because I've heard they are both excellent razors. The other 2 where DE's that I just wasn't interested in but probably should have grabbed at $3 each.

Then I found these and it made the whole day worth the sweeting and dust breathing. $2 for the DE this is and $7 for the Straight. the DE has an R 2 date code witch I'll look up later I wish straights had date codes I'd love to know how old it is. Its a 7/8 Wade and butcher in horn scales. There are some chips in the edge of the blade and the scales are chipped up a bit but that is what I am liking these days I will leave the scales as they are with just enough cleaning to be sanitary and probably some Neats foot oil and the same with the blade. Which I hope I can keep about 6/8 or a hair over after honing out the chips.
BTW what is a good way to sanitize a Straight that wont hurt old dry scales like these.

Hi gandrw,
Nice scores...and all for $9 ??!! Can't go wrong there. So, it seems that you just want to clean the "Celebrated" W&B and leave it as-is, chips and all...I would have sent this to one of the restorers here on SRP (e.g., Max, Glen, Alex, or others...no shortage of excellent magicians here) and have them bring out to bring out beauty...the scale needs a little TLC.

But great find...enjoy them

Nice scores!

And even better for $9! Hope you enjoy them..!

Nice find, I have the same W&B and those scales after a little cleaning will be awesome, also I found gently sanding them brought them out great, i've still gota few progressions to go on a finer grit but they already look lovely.

Incidentally I kept the chips in my scales gives them character

Geek

I'll probably make shinny and make some nice new scales out of horn like Undream (Brad) dose later on when I get time but for now I kind of like it rustic. I'm real into patina right now and figure once I shine it up thats it. So I might as well enjoy the natural patina it has at least for a while. Then when I make new scales I can decide wether to polish the blade or not. Also I can see how well it shaves after honing with out putting in allot of time on a restoration only to find out it dos't take a good edge for some reason. i have another W&B with similar qualities. You can check that one out here. http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...rn-scales.html

Geek you don't happen to know about how old these razors are do you.

Originally Posted by gandrw

Geek you don't happen to know about how old these razors are do you.

I asked someone about this awhile ago (since I am no expert on this) and if memory serves me right, they seemed to think these could be 1850-1870. That probably doesn't answer your question definitively, but just wanted to let you know what I know

The W&B is 1850-70, very nice grab for 7$, Get it restored and honed and you will love it for years to come. I do not shave my legs and know nothing about the DE.

I do not shave my legs and know nothing about the DE. [/QUOTE]

Thanks the 20 year range is close enough for me. I didn't expect to get a definitive it was made this or that specific year.
And nun2sharp thanks for the help with the DE smarty pants. I don't shave my legs either but don't always have time for a straight razor and when I shave my head again I don't think I'll be confident enough to use a straight yet. I also am getting my wife to use a DE now and our house will be cartridge razor free very soon.